Apple has established a reputation for itself as a company that manages to keep both R&D and lobbying costs low while keeping profit margins wide. The tech mogul has created an excellent model for business spending as well, though it’s not always clear how Apple spends its money. The more we know about its spending habits, however, the better we can understand Apple’s massive success.
Each year, Apple manages to break its own sales records. In 2011, Apple’s net sales totaled $108.249 billion, but in 2012, they topped $156.58 billion. In 2011, the company’s gross margin was equal to $43.818 – minus the cost of sales – and in 2012, it was $68.662 billion.
If these numbers don’t impress you, perhaps this statistic will: during the fiscal year of 2011, Apple managed a 58 percent growth. Its total operating expenses that year were $13.421 billion, while its net income before taxes was equal to $55.763 billion.
Let’s leave aside the news of upcoming smartphones/tablets and look at a different picture.
The smartphone that is lying down idle in front of you or on your table will surely get replaced within months. There will be one point when you would actually think of renewing your phone and ditching it eventually.
Everything has a final destination. Most likely, your old phone will be in your drawer or you might even consider selling it.
When smartphones entered the market, it created a lot of hype which resulted in those normal mobile phones finding themselves in the drawers. Even if you have considered selling it, I am pretty sure you received an offer thats one sixth of the real price. According to the infographic below, mobile phones were recycled which ensured a better and a cleaner society. As the numbers of smartphone purchases have been increasing at a fast pace over the years, the question of wastage also comes into context.
Imagine you are an iPhone user and had bought the first iPhone smartphone. If you are an iPhone fanatic, there is no way you don’t have an iPhone 5. Have you ever thought where are the previous versions? Let’s say, you sold it to a person. There is no way the person you sold to still has the phone with him as the utility (benefit) has already reached its limit. Thus, the iPhone is either in the bins already or in the drawer, rotting.
The infographic below gives us a good information about the rising usage of smartphones
Source: Take A Bite Out of Apple