Column: Did Apple just reveal its next big thing?

Last week's earnings report was a bruiser for Apple iPhone sales disappointed, the outlook for the current quarter was gloomy, and unit prices continued their long fall as consumers embraced older, cheaper models.

These trends aren't surprising, or even new, but the quarterly conference call had an air of frustration as one analyst asked CEO Tim Cook, "Are you still a growth company?"

In fact, Apple's chief executive had already mentioned a big growth opportunity: "We are seeing that people love being able to buy content, whether it's music or movies or books, from their iPhone using Touch ID. It's incredibly simple and easy and elegant and it's clear there's a lot of opportunity there. The mobile payment area in general is one that we've been intrigued with. That was one of the thoughts behind Touch ID."

Full story at Minyanville.