What changed for Apple in fiscal 2008
Of all the reporters who have tried to slog their way through Apple's 100-page Form 10-K for fiscal year 2008, nobody has done a better job digging out nuggets of news than AppleInsider's Prince McLean. (We got bogged down in the page-turning boilerplate of the Risk Factors section.)
What did Mr. McLean discover? Here are his highlights:
- A shift in business strategy. From "digital lifestyle" products to "high-end hardware solutions" for "enterprise, government and creative" markets.
- A big push in retail. Apple now has 247 retail stores, up from 197 in 2007, aimed at reaching people who "do not already own the Company's products."
- A huge investment in R&D. Spending for research and development has nearly doubled in three years, from $535 million in fiscal 2005 to $1.1 billion in 2008.
- A lot more air miles for Steve Jobs. Jobs was reimbursed $202,000 for company use of his private jet in 2006, $776,000 in 2007 and $871,000 in 2008. As a rule of thumb, the more time Jobs spends in the air, the more deals with overseas vendors Apple cuts.
- An increasingly global outlook. The share of Apple sales made in the United States fell from 60% in 2007 to 57% in 2008, reflecting the company's accelerating expansion beyond our borders.
- A lot of new hires. The headcount of full-time equivalent employees jumped nearly 50%, from 21,600 in 2007 to 32,000 in 2008. Temps grew nearly as fast, from 2,100 to 3,100.
- A pair of golden handcuffs for Tony Fadell. As he leaves Apple, the man who made the iPod will receive an annual salary of $300,000 to act as a Special Advisor to Steve Jobs, as well as 77,500 shares of restricted Apple (AAPL) stock that vest on March 24, 2010 — provided Fadell doesn't jump ship before then.
You can download Apple's Form 10-K here. You can read McLean's full summary here.
Thanks Phillip,
This is a great informative piece. I'd already read the original Prince McClean report and your article adds a welcome reminder of its high notes.
Along with McClean, any future pointers from Turley Muller, Daniel Elger, John Martello, and Andy Zaky will always have your readers' respect and interest.
These bloggers (apologies to others I unmentioned) all live and breathe the evolving Apple story. They're all professional in their breadth of knowledge and careful to stick to analysis (as opposed to making things up).
Please consider adding your own relevant skepticism or thinking to your article. Seems like the space you've given yourself is to only be a 'reporter', not a commenter.
Some of the stuff you report with no comment is clearly fantastical (I think you know what I mean here.). You ought to include references to analysts' histories of accuracy and factual integrity.
Keep on keeping on and we'll reap the benefits.
AAPL Has a plan.
AAPL Does NOT listen to ANAL ists.
AAPL Listens to customers.
AAPL Does what is best for AAPL which in turn will reward the INVESTOR….. NOT the DAY TRADER.
AAPL Owns the BEST OS on the planet today.
AAPL Designs & builds it's own hardware.
AAPL Has a PLATFORM from desktop to hand held to web to apps.
AAPL IS Insanely Great!! And other companies ONLY WISHED they had AAPL's problems.
iJah420 says The best has yet to come from 1 Infinite Loop…. 
Did they pick 1 as their address because USPS would not let them specify 0 as their street number?