All You Need to Know About Apple In Brief
- Company Name: Apple Inc.
- NASDAQ: AAPL
- Headquarters: Apple Park, Cupertino, California, United States.
- Founded: 1 April 1976, Los Altos, California, United States.
- Founders: Steve Jobs and Steve Wojniak.
- CEO: Tim Cook.
- CFO: Luca Maestri.
- COO: Jeff Williams.
- Number of Employees 2021: 154,000.
- Markets Served: Global Market.
- Leading Markets: The US and China.
- Global Revenues 2021: $365.8 billion.
- Net Income 2021: $94.7 billion.
- Market Capitalization: $2.96 trillion (Dec. 28 2021)
- Research and development expenses 2021: $21.9 billion.
- Gross Margin percentage: 41.8%
Home Pod by Apple.
ABOUT APPLE INC
Apple Inc was founded by Steve Jobs and Steve Wojniak in 1976 in Los Altos, California, United States.
The company has since then grown to become the largest technology company in the world.
Its market cap as of December 2021 was $2.89 trillion.
Apple is mainly a hardware company.
However, in recent years, it has grown the range of services it offers.
Its core and most famous product is the iPhone that runs on iOS.
The latest model of iPhones offered by the company is iPhone 13.
In 2021, Apple experienced a solid growth in its global net revenues, which reached $365.8 billion compared to $274.5 billion.
Now, Apple generates a significant portion of its revenues from services.
The CEO of Apple Inc is Tim Cook.
As of 2021, Apple employed around 154,000 employees.
Apple operates its business on a geographic basis and sells its products globally through physical and digital channels.
However, its largest markets are the United States and China.
Apple’s global popularity is driven by its focus on innovation and marketing.
GLOBAL OPERATIONS
Apple is a global technology brand that offers hardware products and a nice range of services.
It operates its business mainly on a geographic basis.
The company has its headquarters located in Cupertino, California, United States.
On a geographic basis, the company has divided its operations into five geographic regions that include the Americas, Europe, Greater China, Japan, and the Rest of Asia Pacific.
The largest market region of the company is the Americas followed by Europe and then Greater China.
Americas includes both North and South America.
The European region includes the European market, India, the Middle East & Africa.
The Greater China region includes mainland China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan.
The Rest of Asia Pacific includes Australia, and the other Asian countries that are not included in the other reportable segments of the company.
Greater China experienced the highest growth in its net revenues in 2020 compared to 2019.
In 2020, Apple’s revenue from Greater China grew by 70% compared to the previous year.
APPLE PRODUCTS AND SERVICES
Apple offers a nice range of products that include iPhone, Mac, iPad, wearables, home, and accessories.
Its range of services includes advertising services, Apple care, cloud services, digital content and payment services.
IPHONE
Apple’s core product category is the iPhone.
The iPhone is Apple’s smartphone range that runs on its iOS operating system.
In 2020, Apple released its iPhone 12 range including iPhone 12, iPhone 12 mini, iPhone 12 Pro and iPhone 12 Pro Max, all equipped with 5G technology.
In 2021, the company released its iPhone 13 range including iPhone 13, iPhone 13 mini, iPhone 13 Pro and iPhone 13 Pro Max.
MAC
Mac is Apple’s range of PCs and laptops that runs on MacOS.
Apple released new versions of MacBook Air , 13-inch MacBook Pro and Mac mini in November 2020.
In May 2021, it released an all new redesigned iMac which is powered with Apple’s M1 Chip.
Again in October 2021, the company released a redesigned MacBook Pro, which comes in 14 and 16 inch models, and is powered by Apple’s M1 Pro or M1 Max chip.
IPAD
Apple’s line of multipurpose tablets is called iPad and operates on Apple’s iPadOS operating system.
The company released new iPad models in 2020 and 2021.
It released a new iPad Air in October 2020 and then another iPad Pro in April 2021, which is powered by M1 chip.
Apple also released an iPad mini in September 2021 and an updated model of iPad.
WEARABLES, HOME AND ACCESSORIES
Apple also offers a nice range of wearables, home and accessories products.
Its range of wearables and accessories include AirPods , Apple TV , Apple Watch , Beats products, HomePod (and HomePod mini) , iPod touch and accessories.
Apple offers wireless headphones with Siri enabled that are called Airpods.
It released Airpods Max, its range of new wireless over the ear headphones in December 2020.
In October 2021, it released the third generation of Airpods.
Apple also offers its own range of smart watches called Apple Watch that run on its WatchOS operating system.
The company released Apple Watch Series 7 in September 2021 and it was available in Apple stores and along other distribution channels starting October 2021.
APPLE SERVICES:
ADVERTISING:
Apple also offers search ads like Google and Microsoft.
Its search ads are designed to help businesses be discovered.
People searching for apps in the app store can discover promoted apps through these search ads.
The company offers both basic and advanced search ads.
According to Apple, more than 70% of the app store visitors discover their next app through the search feature.
Apple enjoys a higher than 50% conversion rate in terms of search ads.
Apart from its own advertising services, the company has also entered various third party licensing arrangements.
APPLE CARE:
Apple Care is Apple’s range of support and customer service products.
It offers fee based support and service products under the Apple care brand.
Customers can purchase these offerings to gain priority access to technical support offered by Apple professionals and engineers.
Its portfolio of fee based services also provides access to the global Apple authorized service network for repair and replacement services.
In various markets, Apple also provides protection against accidental loss, theft or other types of damage.
These protections differ for different products.
CLOUD SERVICES
The company also offers cloud services for its customers who need to store their data in the clouds.
Using Apple’s cloud services customers can keep their content up to date and available across several devices including Apple devices and windows computers.
DIGITAL CONTENT
Apple also offers digital and streaming content.
It operates many platforms including the App store from which users can download applications and other digital content like books, music, video, games and podcasts.
Apple also offers digital content through subscription based services.
It includes subscription based services like Apple arcade.
Apple Arcade is a gaming subscription service.
Apple Music is a subscription based online music streaming service.
Users can also subscribe to Apple News for news and magazines or to Apple TV+ for streaming movies and shows like Netflix.
In 2021, the company also released Apple Fitness+, which is a subscription service for users who want to remain fit at their homes.
PAYMENT SERVICES
The company also offers two types of payment services.
They included Apple Pay which is a cashless payment service and Apple co branded credit card called Apple card.
APPLE CUSTOMERS & DISTRIBUTION CHANNELS
Apart from the individual customers, the small and mid sized businesses, educational institutions, large enterprises and government buyers are also the customers of Apple Inc.
The company sells its products to various categories of customers through physical and online channels as well as through its direct sales force.
It has also employed a large variety of indirect distribution channels like third-party cellular network carriers, wholesalers, retailers and resellers.
Apple’s sales through its direct channels has grown in recent years.
In fiscal 2021, it achieved 36% of its net sales and revenues through direct channels.
It achieved 64% of its net sales through indirect sales channels.
Apple sells its products through its physical stores in several markets.
However, it has not established its physical store network in all the markets where it operates.
So, in the other markets where Apple does not have a physical presence, it sells its products through its digital store.
Apple products are also available at authorized resellers and ecommerce channels like Amazon.
APPLE COMPETITIVE ENVIRONMENT
The tech industry is marked by intense competition.
Apple operates in a highly competitive market and industry environment.
The markets where the company sells its products and services are characterized by heavy price competition.
There are a large number of smartphone brands that sell products at competitive prices resulting in downward pressure on gross margin.
Competitors release new products and innovations frequently.
The tech industry is characterized by fast paced innovation, swift change, and intense rivalry among incumbents.
In this industry product life cycles are short and the industry standards are evolving.
Apple has released several new models of iPhone and other products over the past few years.
Its rivals including Samsung, and other smartphone brands, PC brands and other competitors in the tech industry are also investing aggressively in innovation and development of new products and technologies.
Consumers including individuals and businesses are price sensitive.
Apple is a maker of premium products.
Its rivals mainly try to attract consumers through setting aggressively competitive prices and many times imitating features, which may also include copyright infringement, (Apple has filed cases against Samsung related to copyright infringement), to compete against Apple and its products.
Security and privacy features are an important area where rivals have been trying to outperform Apple with little success.
Apple is known for providing superior security and privacy features compared to its rivals in the market.
However, Apple’s leadership position is intact owing to its focus on innovation, marketing and distribution capabilities and a strong reputation.
The main competitors of Apple in the smartphone industry include Samsung, LG, Lenovo, OnePlus, Oppo, Vivo, Xiaomi, and Huawei.
Its rivals in the tech industry include Microsoft, Google, HP, Dell and SONY.
APPLE IN 2021: FINANCIAL PERFORMANCE IN BRIEF
In 2021, Apple experienced solid growth in its net revenues driven by higher sales of iPhones and increased sales in Greater China and Americas.
Apple also experienced growth in net sales across all the geographic regions.
| Region | Net revenues 2021 (Millions) | Net Revenues 2020 (Millions) |
| Americas | $153,306 | $124,556 |
| Europe | $89,307 | $68,640 |
| Greater China | $68,366 | $40,308 |
| Japan | $28,482 | $21,418 |
| Rest of Asia Pacific | $26,356 | $19,593 |
| Total | $365,817 | $274,515 |
Apple geographic revenues in 2021 and 2020.
In the Americas, Apple’s net sales increased driven by higher net sales of iPhone, Mac, and services.
Apple’s net sales in the Americas increased by 23% compared to the previous year, rising to $153.3 billion from $124.56 billion in the previous year.
In the European region, there was an increase in Apple’s net sales due to the higher sales of iPhone, iPad and services.
The favorable impact of currency exchange rates in the European region also led to growth in revenues.
Apple’s net sales in Europe grew to $89.3 billion in 2021 from $68.6 billion in 2020.
Net sales in Greater China increased due to higher sales of iPhone, iPad, and services.
Apple’s net sales in Greater China increased to $68.4 billion from $40.3 billion, or an increase of 70% over the last year.
In Japan, Apple experienced growth in sales of iPhone and services.
Apple’s revenue from Japan increased 33% over the previous year.
Its net revenues increased to $28.5 billion in 2021, from $21.4 billion in 2020.
In the Rest of Asia Pacific also, the company experienced growth in sales of iPhones, iPads, and services.
Apple’s revenue jumped 35% from the rest of Asia Pacific in 2021 compared to 2020, reaching $26.35 billion from $19.6 billion.
Overall, the company experienced a 33% increase in its net revenues in 2021 compared to 2020.
Total annual net revenues of the company increased to $365.82 billion in 2021 from $274.5 billion in 2020.
| Products | Net revenues 2021 | Net Revenues 2020 |
| iPhone | $191,973 | $137,781 |
| Mac | $35,190 | $28,622 |
| iPad | $31,862 | $23,724 |
| Wearables, Home & Accessories | $38,367 | $30,620 |
| Services | $68,425 | $53,768 |
| Total | $365,817 | $274,515 |
Apple revenues from products and services in 2020 and 2021.
Sales of iPhones contributed to more than half of the net revenues of the company in 2021.
Apple’s revenues in 2021 from the sales of iPhone remained $191.97 billion or 39% higehr thna the previous year, when it was $137.8 billion.
Its second largest source of revenues in 2021 were services, which generated $68.4 billion compared to $53.77 billion in 2020; yoy increase of 27%.
Apple’s iPad revenues also experienced a signifcant jump in 2021 compared to the previous year, rising by 35%.
iPad revenues of Apple jumped to $31.9 bilion from $23.7 billion during the previous year.
The company generated $35.2 billion in net revenues from the sales of Mac in 2021 compared to $28.6 billion in 2020; yoy increase of 23%.
Wearables, home and accessories were the third largest cproduct category based on net revenues in 2021.
Apple generated $38.37 billion in net revenues from the sales of wearables, home and accessories in 2021 compared to $30.6 billion in 2020; yoy increase of 25%.
Apple’s gross margin increased for both products and services.
Its products gross margin in 2021 remained $105.13 billion compared to $69.5 billion in 2020.
Apple’s services gross margin in 2021 remained $47.7 billion compared to $35.5 billion in 2020.
Its total gross margin in 2021 reached $152.84 billion from $104.96 billion in 2020.
Apple’s total operating expenses in 2021 grew 13% compared to the previous year.
Its R&D expenses grew 17% compared to the previous year, rising to $21.9 billion in 2021 from $18.75 billion in 2020.
Apple’s net income in 2021 grew to $94.7 billion from $57.4 billion in 2020.
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Abhijeet Pratap is a passionate blogger with seven years of experience in the field. Specializing in business management and digital marketing, he has developed a keen understanding of the intricacies of these domains. Through his insightful articles, Abhijeet shares his knowledge, helping readers navigate the complexities of modern business landscapes and digital strategies.