Apple Sales Surge 174% in Asia-Pacific

Apple's revenue from the Asia-Pacific region jumped 174 percent to $14.3 billion in fiscal 2011. The Asia-Pacific market now accounts for 21 percent of Apple's revenue, compared to 13 percent in 2010 and 7 percent in 2009.

Full-year revenue for Cupertino, Calif.-based Apple rose 66 percent to a record $108.3 billion. Net income nearly doubled to $25.9 billion.

Most of Apple's growth stems from the Greater China region, which includes Taiwan and Hong Kong, and was driven by high demand for the iPhone 4 and iPad. In fact, the area accounted for 12 percent of Apple's sales in fiscal 2011, which ended Sept. 24, compared to 2009, when the region only accounted for 2 percent..

In my lifetime, I've never seen a country with as many people rising into the middle class that aspire to buy products that Apple makes, said Apple CEO Tim Cook the 2011 conference call. [It's an] enormous opportunity.

Japan sales were also surprisingly strong, considering the country was devastated by earthquakes and a tsunami in March. Net sales rose 37 percent to $1.5 billion, even though the company still only accounts for about 5 percent of Apple's overall net sales.

The Americas accounted for 35 percent of Apple's total 2011 revnue with $13.8 billion, up 56 percent from last year. Europe accounted for 28 percent of sales at $9.1 billion, an increase of about 49 percent from 2010.

Starting Friday, Apple began to fill international pre-orders for the iPhone 4S for 22 countries, including Austria, Belgium, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Mexico, the Netherlands, Norway, Singapore, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland. Apple will ship its new smartphone to 70 more countries by Dec. 31.