Tim Cook: Apple makes $25 billion a year selling to businesses now

On Tuesday, Apple CEO Tim Cook took the stage at BoxWorks, the annual conference held by enterprise storage company Box, and shared some of his thoughts about the enterprise market Apple has been going after lately.

"In the 12 months ending in June, it was about $25 billion," Cook said, referring the size of Apple's enterprise business. "So this is not a hobby, it's a real business."

Cook acknowledged that Apple's strategy in the enterprise sector is to partner with big players and expand its presence through the partners' expertise.

"We don't have deep knowledge of all the verticals of enterprises," Cook continued. "We can build incredible devices and an app ecosystem, but we're not going to know the details of the finincial services vertical, healthcare, or whatever..,we know some things, but mostly it will be by working with companies like IBM, Cisco, and Box and others to give customers a full solution."

Apple partnered with IBM last year to work on building and selling enteprise apps together. Last month, Apple also partnered with Cisco to create a "fast lane" for iOS users in the enterprise. Box is also working with IBM to integrate its solution in the iOS apps Apple and IBM are building together.

"Now, you don't say I want an enterprise smartphone, just like you don't get an enterprise car or an enterprise pen," Cook added. "If you look today, the companies' mobility are too much arond email, the basic things, not reinventing or transforming the business...so there's a huge opportunity for us."