Apple filed its 2012 annual report today with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, and the document gives us some nice insights into the Cupertino based company.
In the filing, Apple notes that it has appointed CFO Peter Oppenheimer as its Principal Accounting Offices, and says that as of October 29, Scott Forstall has been moved to the role of Special Advisor to the Chief Executive Officer.
The filing also outlines Apple’s perceived weaknesses, such as when it mentions lower profit margins. While competing products like the Amazon Kindle Fire lineup, and the Google Nexus 7 are not mentioned by name, they are referenced when the report says, “current and potential competitors have substantial resources and may be able to provide such products and services [including iPad] at little or no profit or even at a loss to compete with [Apple’s] offerings.”
Lawsuits are referenced, listed as a possible risk factor due to the company’s products relying on patented wireless technologies, and the need to successfully defend its own patents. The Samsung patent fight win is mentioned, but since the $1.05 billion judgement is subject to appeal, it is not included in the report.
Interesting tidbits from the report include:
- Apple now has 72,800 “full-time equivalent” employees, up from 60,400 last year. The company also employs 3,300 “full-time equivalent” temporary employees and contractors up from 2,900. 42,400 of the employees are in the retail division, up from 36,000 last year.
- Apple had 390 stores at the end of fiscal 2012, up 33 from the year prior. Apple earned an average of $51.5 million per store, up from $43.3 million last year. Apple Retail accounted for 12% and 13% of the Company’s total net sales for 2012 and 2011, and 15% in 2010.
- The Company owns or leases approximately 17.3 million square feet of building space, mostly in the U.S. Approximately 10.9 million square feet of that space was leased building space, which includes approximately 4.1 million square feet of retail store space.
- As of September 29, 2012, the Company owned a manufacturing facility in Cork, Ireland that also housed a customer support call center, and also had facilities in Elk Grove, California that included warehousing and distribution operations and a customer support call center.
- The Company owns land in Austin, Texas where it will build office space and a customer support call center. The Company also owned data centers in Newark, California; Maiden, North Carolina; and Prineville, Oregon. Outside the U.S., the Company owned additional facilities for various purposes.
- Apple’s Research & Development expense was $3.4 billion, $2.4 billion, and $1.8 billion in 2012, 2011, and 2010, respectively. An increase of $1B in the last year alone, the biggest increase ever.
The company also said it “expects to pay quarterly dividends in the future.”
The document, available here, includes information of all sorts related to how the company makes money, invests its money, and pays taxes, among other things.
