After disclosing the financial results for its fourth fiscal quarter, Apple today sent to U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) your annual form 10-K (PDF), in which it describes on 72 pages the investments made in research and development, employees, shares, properties and other information.
With regard to R&D, Ma's investments in this area were expected to be greater than the US $ 11.6 billion invested in 2017. And this is what happened: this year, Apple invested around $ 14.2 billion in research and development, growth of almost $ 3 billion compared to last year.
In addition, the Cupertino giant just got bigger; in 2017, the company owned more than 1.2 million square meters under its name and leased more than 2.1 million square meters. This year, Ma's expansions culminated in 1,486,448m of constructed area and 2,257,543m in places rented by the company.
So much space was needed, since Apple hired more than 9 thousand employees this year and now has 132,000 employees worldwide. Both new and old employees have been instructed, however, to follow a strict protocol regarding warranties and device repairs in Ma stores, which has reduced warranty claim expenses by $ 200 million since 2016, totaling US $ 4.1 billion this year.
The company continues to execute its share buyback program, reducing its number of shareholders. Last year, Apple had more than 25,000 registered shareholders; this year, that number dropped to just under 24,000. At the level of curiosity, more than 4.7 million of Apple papers.
On the other hand, investments in 2019 are expected to fall: Apple anticipated that it will invest US $ 14 billion next year, much less than the US $ 16.7 billion invested this year in the construction of data centers, stores and equipment. The company also informed that "international trade disputes" should also negatively affect its business, referring to the trade battle between the United States and China.
International trade disputes can result in tariffs and other protectionist measures that could adversely affect the company's business. Tariffs can increase the cost of the company's products and the components and raw materials that are used to produce them. These rising costs can negatively affect the gross margin that the company obtains from its products.
Not least that we call Apple “Cupertino giant”. Everything related to the company is immense.
via MacRumors
