Data includes desk-based PCs, mobile PCs, including mini-notebooks but not media tablets such as the iPad.

You have probably been hearing that the PC era is over. Now there is evidence that it really is over. The latest Gartner and IDC “PC” shipments reports show that PC growth declined by 5.9% in Q4 2011 and Apple growth increased 20.7% over the same period.

Total 4Q11: 15,854,964
Total 4Q10: 17,342,605
4Q11-4Q10 Growth: -8.5

The result is a decline of 8.5%, which is far worst that the originally reported decline of 5.9% for PC growth. That 2.6% delta is not insignificant, it’s over 40% worse than what was reported.

Apple’s earnings were so huge here is a little perspective on how big it was.

Who would have thought 10 years ago that Apple would make more money than Microsoft. This quarter Apple’s revenues came in at $46.33 billion, more than Microsoft’s $20.9 billion. Apple also earned a profit of $13.06, again, more that double Microsoft’s $6.62 billion.

Apple’s profits for the last quarter exceed Google’s entire revenue for the last quarter. Apple’s profit for the entire year now beats Google’s revenue for the entire year.

The Apple iTunes Store alone generated 50 percent more revenue than all of Yahoo did last quarter. The amount Apple paid to third-party developers via the App Store last quarter ($700 million) is more than double Yahoo’s overall profits.

Apple’s profit last quarter was $3 billion more than all of Hollywood’s gross box office receipts for all of last year.

Apple’s stock popped nearly 10 percent from where it closed to $460 a share, after hours. That pushes Apple well beyond the $400 billion market cap — and once again past Exxon as the most valuable public company in the world.

Apple, just released its Q1 2012 earning, and it was a spectacular blowout.

Apple now has $97 billion in cash, short term, and long term securities, which is more than the US government has, not counting debt.

Here is the breakdown of Apple’s Q1 numbers:

Revenue: $46.33 billion versus expectation of $38.76 billion

EPS: $13.87 versus expectation of $10.07

iPhones: 37 million versus expectation 30 million

iPads: 15.4 million versus expectation 13 million

Macs: 5.2 million versus expectation 5 million

iPod: 15.4 million versus expectation 13.9 million

Gross Margin: 44.7% versus expectation 41.8%

March quarter revenue: $32.5 billion versus expectation $31.9 billion

March quarter EPS: $8.50 versus expectation $8.00

I have accomplished something many Apple & Steve Jobs’ fans weren’t able to. I was able to pull up my Mercedes right behind Steve Jobs’ Mercedes at his home in Palo Alto, California.

I call it is an accomplishment because Steve Jobs, was not just any CEO. He was a rock star. The rock star co-founder of Apple (AAPL), the greatest company in the world. When he was alive it was practically impossible to pull up your car next to his. His discreet security detail would have prevented that from happening.

That was because everybody wanted a piece of him. Heads of nations, ceos, celebrities, media, entrepreneurs, community organizations all wanted a piece of him. Hence it was not possible to get close to him, let alone to pull up behind him, and in front of his house at that.

In fact, you still really can’t, just pull up behind his car, which is parked in the same spot where he last parked it. His security team, always kind as ever, gave me special permission to do so for this picture. When I asked how things were, the security agent shared with me that, 600 people from all over the world still visit Steve Jobs home everyday, to take pictures and to pay homage to the Great One.

I have accomplished something many Apple & Steve Jobs’ fans weren’t able to. I was able to pull up my Mercedes right behind Steve Jobs’ Mercedes at his home in Palo Alto, California.

I call it is an accomplishment because Steve Jobs, was not just any CEO. He was a rock star. The rock star co-founder of Apple (AAPL), the greatest company in the world. When he was alive it was practically impossible to pull up your car next to his. His discreet security detail would have prevented that from happening.

That was because everybody wanted a piece of him. Heads of nations, ceos, celebrities, media, entrepreneurs, community organizations all wanted a piece of him. Hence it was not possible to get close to him let alone to pull your car up behind behind his in front of his house.

In fact, you still really can’t, just pull up behind his car, which is parked in the same spot where he last parked it. His security team, always kind as ever, gave me special permission to do so for this picture. When I asked how things were, the security agent shared with me that, 600 people from all over the world still visit Steve Jobs home everyday, to take pictures and to pay homage to the Great One.

Apple unveiled iBooks 2, at the Guggenheim Museum in New York. iBooks will make available text books for high-school students and it will be priced at $14.99 or less. The move is expected to save students hundreds if not thousands of dollars.

Eventually, Apple said, it expects textbooks for almost every subject and grade level from kindergarten through to university, to be available on iBooks.

To kick things off, textbook from leading publishers McGraw-Hill, Pearson and Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, which account for 90% of the $8 billion text book publishing market, will be available on iBooks.

The digital textbook market is young but growing. Only about 6% of education-textbook sales will be digital this year, up from 3% in 2011, according to textbook distributor MBS Direct Digital, but that number is expected to rise to more than 50% by 2020.

Over 1,000 education institutions already use the iBooks companion product iTunes U, which has 20,000 education apps which have been downloaded over  700 million times.

iBooks 2 allows users to take notes, create study cards, search within text, and take quizzes, among other features. “The bottom line is immediate feedback,” said Roger Rosner, Apple’s vice president for productivity applications, in charge of its iWork document, spreadsheet and presentation software.

The new iBooks has a feature called iBooks Author that will allow, authors, publishers and users to create and publish their own textbooks. It allows teachers and authors to create full online courses with syllabuses, assignments and lectures. Apple said six universities already have made more than 100 courses available for free. With iBooks Author, developers can use Apple-designed templates to create textbooks with interactive media. All the products will be available free in Apple’s App store.

iBooks was the brain child of Apple co-founder the Great Steve Jobs, who had long aimed to reform education with technology. The Great One, had set his sights on the textbook market, envisioning lowering the cost of textbooks by distributing them on the iPad, according to people familiar with the matter.

Apple unveiled iBooks 2, at the Guggenheim Museum in New York. iBooks will make available text books for high-school students and it will be priced at $14.99 or less. The move is expected to save students hundreds if not thousands of dollars.

Eventually, Apple said, it expects textbooks for almost every subject and grade level from kindergarten through to university, to be available on iBooks.

To kick things off, textbook from leading publishers McGraw-Hill, Pearson and Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, which account for 90% of the $8 billion text book publishing market, will be available on iBooks.

The digital textbook market is young but growing. Only about 6% of education-textbook sales will be digital this year, up from 3% in 2011, according to textbook distributor MBS Direct Digital, but that number is expected to rise to more than 50% by 2020.

Over 1,000 education institutions already use the iBooks companion product iTunes U, which has 20,000 education apps which have been downloaded over  700 million times.

iBooks 2 allows users to take notes, create study cards, search within text, and take quizzes, among other features. “The bottom line is immediate feedback,” said Roger Rosner, Apple’s vice president for productivity applications, in charge of its iWork document, spreadsheet and presentation software.

The new iBooks has a feature called iBooks Author that will allow, authors, publishers and users to create and publish their own textbooks. It allows teachers and authors to create full online courses with syllabuses, assignments and lectures. Apple said six universities already have made more than 100 courses available for free. With iBooks Author, developers can use Apple-designed templates to create textbooks with interactive media. All the products will be available free in Apple’s App store.

iBooks was the brain child of Apple co-founder the Great Steve Jobs, who had long aimed to reform education with technology. The Great One, had set his sights on the textbook market, envisioning lowering the cost of textbooks by distributing them on the iPad, according to people familiar with the matter.

Yahoo (YHOO) cofounder Jerry Yang is out of the company he started with David Filo. Yang is stepping down from the board of Yahoo as well as the boards of Yahoo Japan and Alibaba.

Yahoo’s stock is up 5% on the news after hours.

“The time has come for me to pursue other interests outside of Yahoo!”, said Yang.

Yahoo has been through the wringer since Tim Koogle, left the company. It hired a bunch of mediocres starting with Terry Semel, who knew nothing about the technology business and who was so pre-occupied with being a Holloywood celebrity like Terri Hatcher.  Next Yahoo hire Carol Bartz who was a complete disaster. She ended up closing Yahoo Search, its crown jewel getting Microsoft provide to provide search, so she did not have to deal with it.

Here’s the release announcing the move:

SUNNYVALE, Calif., Jan 17, 2012 (BUSINESS WIRE) — Yahoo! Inc., the premier digital media company, today announced that Jerry Yang has resigned from its Board of Directors and all other positions with the company, effective today. In addition, Yang resigned from the Boards of Yahoo Japan Corporation and Alibaba Group Holding Limited, effective today.

In a letter to the Yahoo! Board Chairman Roy Bostock, Yang wrote:

“My time at Yahoo!, from its founding to the present, has encompassed some of the most exciting and rewarding experiences of my life. However, the time has come for me to pursue other interests outside of Yahoo! As I leave the company I co-founded nearly 17 years ago, I am enthusiastic about the appointment of Scott Thompson as Chief Executive Officer and his ability, along with the entire Yahoo! leadership team, to guide Yahoo! into an exciting and successful future.”

Yang co-founded Yahoo! Inc. in 1995 with David Filo and served as a member of the Board of Directors since March 1995 and as Chief Executive Officer from June 2007 to January 2009. The Company went public in 1996.

“Jerry Yang is a visionary and a pioneer, who has contributed enormously to Yahoo! during his many years of service,” said Roy Bostock, Chairman of the Yahoo! Board. “It has been a pleasure to work with Jerry. His unique strategic insights have been invaluable. He has always remained focused on the best interests of Yahoo!’s stakeholders, including shareholders, employees and more than 700 million users. And while I and the entire Board respect his decision, we will miss his remarkable perspective, vision and wise counsel. On behalf of the Board, we thank Jerry and wish him all the very best in his future endeavors.”

Bostock concluded, “We appreciate Jerry’s comments and share his enthusiasm for the company’s prospects. With Scott Thompson leading an outstanding team of Yahoos to deliver innovative products and an engaging customer experience, Yahoo!’s future is bright.”

“I am grateful for the warm welcome and support Jerry provided me during my early days here,” said Scott Thompson, Yahoo!’s Chief Executive Officer. “Jerry leaves behind a legacy of innovation and customer focus for this iconic brand, having shaped our culture by fostering a spirit of innovation that began 17 years ago and continues to grow even stronger today. Jerry has great confidence in the future of Yahoo!, and I share his confidence in the enormous potential of Yahoo! in the days ahead.”

Free anti-virus software maker AVG Technologies filed to raise up to $125 million in an IPO.

AVG, provides free anti-virus and monetizes it by serving targeted advertisements and by driving traffic to online search engines such as Google  and Yahoo. Yahoo accounted for 21.6 percent of the AVG’s total revenue in 2010, while Google contributed less than 10 percent to its revenue in the fourth quarter of the same year, according to IPO filing.

“The whole ‘freemium’ model has been effective in gaining subscribers, so their strategy seems to be less focused on growing the subscription revenue – if you look at the growth rate year over year.” William Blair & Co analyst Jonathan Ho told Reuters.

Using the ‘freemium’ model, AVG pulled in $130 million in the first nine months of 2011, AVG’s subscription revenue rose marginally to $130.1 million, while its platform-derived revenue almost doubled to $68.02 million. AVG reported a net income of $99.7 million on total revenue of $198.1 million for the nine months ended September 30. AVG had a user base of 106 million of which 15 million are paid users, which is very high for a fremium model.

“I think that (there is) strong demand for security, given the recent cyber-security headlines, and that’s giving the folks (a) chance to take advantage of the high valuations these stocks are attracting”, said Ho.

Avast Software BV, another anti-virus software maker, filed for a $200 million IPO recently and Imperva, data security raised $90 million in its IPO.

The Apple iPhone 4S went on sale in China today and thousands, lined up outside Apple stores in Beijing and Shanghai, which started selling the popular mobile phones at 12:01 a.m. local time. China is the world’s largest mobile after India, but it a far more modern, richer and sophisticated marketed than India’s. China is Apple’s largest market outside of the U.S. at present. See the awesome pictures from the San Jose Mercury.