In case you missed it, that was sarcasm. Apple is simply doing what every other company strives for but doesn’t have the chops to pull off in most instances. For years Apple has been the cool company always lurking on the periphery with the best gadgets and toys. For a variety of reasons they were usually very successful but the ups and downs of sales of their computers made life difficult at times.

Enter the iPhone. Apple’s market changer has done just as advertised. It has been so successful that wannabes like the BlackBerry Storm pale in comparison. If it weren’t for the AT&T drawback there would probably be twice as many iPhones in the world as there are now.

As it is Apple is having trouble keeping up with demand for the product so maybe the whole AT&T thing has its benefits. TechCrunch reports that the performance of the company in Q2 was stellar

The quarterly numbers are in for Apple. And once again they’re very good. It was another non-holiday record quarter in terms of revenues and earnings. But the real number that jumps off the page is the iPhone sales. Let’s just say it: The iPhone looks well on its way to being Apple’s primary business.

Last quarter, Apple sold 5.2 million iPhones. That’s a colossal 626 percent growth over the year ago period, when Apple sold 717,000 iPhones. Now, it’s important to note that the iPhone 3G wasn’t released last year until July, while the new iPhone 3GS dropped in June this year. But still, the difference is huge.

What is more amazing is the new economy that has been created due to the iPhone. Development of iPhone apps is occurring at a dizzying pace and appears o be gaining speed. The money that is available to many through this can make one wonder since there are now over 50,000 apps in the AppStore and there have been approximately 1.5 billion (with a b) downloads. While many of those are free more and more are 99 cents and when you do that math it can be astounding. Latest numbers put the money spent monthly on iPhone apps at around $82 million and that will only continue to grow.

If there is a downside, iPod sales are moving in the other direction but that seems natural considering the functionality of the iPhone. When the iPod touch with a camera is introduced in the coming months there will likely be a rebound there as well. Also, the folks at Apple were being very cryptic about specifics on sales of the $99 iPhone which led to some speculation.

So aside from distractions like Steve Jobs health issues there is nothing in the way of Apple moving full steam ahead and maybe even becoming more of the norm. Wouldn’t that be interesting.

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Steve Jobs let the world know and issued a prepared statement on Apple’s earnings.

Even in these economically challenging times, we are incredibly pleased to report our best quarterly revenue and earnings in Apple history,” the CEO said.

That’s to the tune of over $10 billion dollars. A big number for sure. Increased sales of Macs and iPhones led the charge in the fourth quarter but Apple is already advising that Q1 of this year may not be so great. Interestingly enough it’s not the business of Apple that is getting the most attention these days. In fact, it seems as if the great performance in otherwise dark days is an afterthought when compared to the news swirling around the health of Steve Jobs and the SEC’s interest in the whole situation.

Jobs is on a leave of absence until June of this year to work out some more complex medical concerns than the initially reported hormone imbalance that kept him away from MacWorld for the first time ever. There has been widespread speculation as to his health. Mr. Jobs is a pancreatic cancer survivor which in and of itself is amazing. Unfortunately, if you have ever dealt with a situation either personally or with someone close to you regarding cancer (which I have) it’s hard to feel like you are ever out of the woods.

Many feel that Steve Jobs IS Apple which is fair and unfair all at once. He is just one man but he has branded the company with his own image for so long that many people act as if he sits in his office and develops these products himself. Apple is a company of incredible minds and it often goes unmentioned amid the celebrity treatment of Jobs.

The SEC is concerned that the disclosures of Jobs’ health condition will affect investors’ ability to ‘predict’ what will happen to the company. Apple’s response was as expected:

In a conference call, Apple executives also sought to play down Mr. Jobs’s leave. “Apple will do extremely well” regardless of who is leading the company, said Tim Cook, Apple’s chief operating officer, who has assumed Mr. Jobs’s day-to-day duties while the CEO is away. Peter Oppenheimer, Apple’s chief financial officer, added that “Steve is the CEO of Apple and plans to remain involved in major strategic decisions.”

Personally, I wish we didn’t have to concentrate so hard on this poor guy’s health. I suspect that the increased scrutiny and the SEC digging into the situation (although no one knows how deeply yet) doesn’t help him recover any. I hope that for one moment today we can all take some time and pray for him (or whatever it is you do to wish him well).

What is your feeling about products and people and branding having the blurred lines like they do at Apple? Is it good to put too much on a person who could have health issues, a car wreck or something else that suddenly leaves a void that may or may not exist? If Steve Jobs were not able to return to Apple will the innovation stop? Hard questions for hard times and there are no right or wrong answers.

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