iPhone, the golden core of Apple's sales universe

Since it was first released in 2007, the iPhone has more or less taken over Apple - accounting for 57 per cent of its revenue as of April, up from 2 per cent in 2007. Photo / AFP

Apple is under a lot of pressure to deliver on its next generation of the iPhone - the iPhone 6, if the company keeps to its naming scheme. And it's not only because the company is under some customer pressure to wow with the next iPhone.

The iPhone is the most important piece in the Apple solar system. How important, you ask? Since it was first released in 2007, the iPhone has more or less taken over the company - accounting for 57 per cent of its revenue as of April, up from 2 per cent in 2007.

This week, Apple proved once again with its quarterly earnings that it's practically minting money selling iPhones. The company posted a profit of $7.75 billion, up 12 per cent from last year.

Apple finished the quarter with a staggering $164.5 billion in cash and investments. International sales made up 59 per cent of its revenue.

And there is nowhere in the world that Apple is growing faster than in China, bolstered by recent lucrative deals with China's largest wireless carriers.

"It's very, very exciting what we're seeing there," chief executive Tim Cook said.

And that's not even where Apple has the biggest revenue - at least not yet. Both the Americas and Europe beat out China in terms of places where the firm pulls in the most sales.

Sales of the iPhone and iPad were up about 50 per cent from the same period last year, he said. And the strongest category of growth this past quarter was in the section that contains the App Store.

"That area is almost doubling year-over-year," he said.

Watch: Apple fans rush to buy new iPhones after long wait

Still, the next generation iPhone launch is particularly important because many of the Apple faithful sat out the last round of upgrades - holding on to their iPhone 4 or 4S models - and are itching for the next one.

That new model is expected to have a larger screen than its current 4-inch display, to keep up with consumer appetites for watching video.

Apple has asked its suppliers to produce at least 70 million phones for the fall, the Wall Street Journal reported, as opposed to the initial 50 million to 60 million order the company placed for the 5s and 5c.

APPLE REVENUE: $45.6 billion, according to a April 2014 Securities and Exchange Commission report:

The breakdown (%):

- Washington Post