Bare Figures

Motivation

After Apple’s impressive first quarter results 2012, I started looking for a handy overview of the long-term development that has led to the current state. I couldn’t find one so I decided to make one myself. Enjoy!

How to use it

Toggle the visibility of data series

By clicking on a legend item you can toggle its visibility. The chart is highly customizable to fit your needs.

Zoom in on a specific region

By clicking and dragging you can zoom in on a particular time frame you’re interested in.

Compare financial performances

To show Apple’s position in the industry, I added financial metrics like revenues and net income of other big players.

Download the chart

Export the chart in the data format you need. Use it for your next presentation or article (CC BY 3.0 license).

Side notes

• I use Apple’s updated figures from the amended accounting principles and the reclassification of historical information. For all other companies I also use the appropriate amended, updated figures.
• The iPod was released in Q1/02 but Apple declared unit sales and revenues only since Q4/02. Thus the first three quarters are based on reconstructed values. However they should be pretty accurate.
• “Software” and “Peripherals” revenues were listed separately only since Q1/01. For convenience I halved revenues before Q1/01 for those items, which should roughly reflect reality.
• “Restructuring costs”, “Purchased in-process research and development” and “Executive bonus” aren’t listed in “Cost and operating expenses”. So far those assets only showed up in the time period from Q2/99 to Q4/04. Contact me if you’re interested in the total operating expenses from that time period.
• In some quarters of 1999 and 2000 internal-use software from “Property, plant and equipment” was listed as a separate asset. For the sake of consistency I incorporated that asset into “Machinery and equpiment” for those quarters.
• Apple didn’t mention the number of retail employees for Q3/05. The SEC filing mentions 456 terminated positions, but it’s doubtable that they are retail related. I just took half the increase from Q2/05 to Q4/05 which should roughly reflect reality.
• The average time an employee spends with a visitor is calculated by dividing ( 12 weeks/quarter × 40 hours/week × 60 minutes/hour ) by the average number of visitors per employee. Please keep in mind: the number of visitors to retail stores is a hard figure as counted by the ShopperTrak system. It does not indicate the number of those people who actually make contact with a store employee. Apple has previously said that about 25 % of visitors go to the Genius Bar. Of the remaining 75 %, probably a fairly large percentage of visitors don’t contact an employee, but rather are just browsing by themselves or are using the products for non-purchase purposes.
• Q4/12 was the last quarter Apple reported Mac unit sales by operating segment and Mac Portables vs. Mac Desktops unit sales.