Horace Dediu:

Indeed, since the launch of the iPhone the net profits earned by the collection of protagonists shown was $215 billion. 60% has been earned by Apple, a newcomer to the market. That figure is also consistent on an ongoing basis, having reached 60% as early as 2011 and remained in a band around that figure since.

The fact that this happened without corresponding dominance in units shipped shows evidence of something startling: Consistent value creation.

To earn profit is hard, to do so in an outsized way is very hard and to do so with consistency shows a defensibility of market access that is rarest of all. The only cases where this typical is in a monopoly or protected market situation (aka cronyism.) Apple’s lack of market monopoly coupled with a (near-) monopoly in profits can only be explained by disproportionate value creation.
Value creation is one of those things Wall Street has a problem with because they can’t quantify value beyond the tangibles like the quality of manufacturing.
Apple perplexes analysts because they create different types of value, the most elusive being emotional value. “You can’t put a number on emotional value,” they say.
Meanwhile, Apple continues to do just that.