Apple Now Has 132K Full-Time Employees, Spent $14.2B on R&D in 2018 Fiscal Year

[MacRumors]

Following the conclusion of its 2018 fiscal year, which ended September 29, Apple today filed its annual Form 10-K [PDF] with the SEC. We've combed through the exhaustive, legalese-rich 72-page report so you don't have to.

Highlights:9,000 more employees: Apple has 132,000 full-time employees as of the end of its 2018 fiscal year, up from 123,000 a year prior.
R&D expenses rose nearly $3 billion: Apple spent $14.2 billion on research and development in its 2018 fiscal year, a nearly 23 percent increase over the $11.5 billion it spent in its 2017 fiscal year.
Apple continues to execute its share repurchase program: Apple had 23,712 shareholders of record as of October 26, 2018, down from 25,333 as of October 20, 2017. There were 4,754,986,000 outstanding shares of Apple stock as of the end of its 2018 fiscal year.
Genius Bar expenses are down: Apple's expenses from warranty claims totaled $4.1 billion in its 2018 fiscal year, down from $4.3 billion in its 2017 fiscal year and $4.6 billion in its 2016 fiscal year.
CapEx to drop: Apple anticipates utilizing approximately $14 billion for capital expenditures during its 2019 fiscal year, down from $16.7 billion in its 2018 fiscal year. The capital is used towards Apple's manufacturing equipment, data centers, corporate facilities, and retail stores.
Apple snaps up more office space: Apple owned 16.5 million square feet and leased 24.3 million square feet of building space as of September 29, 2018. By comparison, Apple owned 13.4 million square feet and leased 23.0 million square feet of building space as of September 30, 2017.Apple's annual Form 10-K also acknowledges that "international trade disputes" could adversely affect its business, almost certainly referring to an ongoing trade dispute between the United States and China:

International trade disputes could result in tariffs and other protectionist measures that could adversely affect the Company's business. Tariffs could increase the cost of the Company's products and the components and raw materials that go into making them. These increased costs could adversely impact the gross margin that the Company earns on its products. Tariffs could also make the Company's products more expensive for customers, which could make the Company's products less competitive and reduce consumer demand. Countries may also adopt other protectionist measures that could limit the Company's ability to offer its products and services. Political uncertainty surrounding international trade disputes and protectionist measures could also have a negative effect on consumer confidence and spending, which could adversely affect the Company's business.

Apple's annual Form 10-K can be viewed or downloaded in a variety of formats from the company's Investor Relations website.

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Article Link: Apple Now Has 132K Full-Time Employees, Spent $14.2B on R&D in 2018 Fiscal Year

 

[DrJohnnyN]

Impressive numbers. Hopefully magical products are a result!

 

[donster28]

That's where the price increases are going, I guess.

 

[justperry]

That's where the price increases are going, I guess.

Guess so, spending 14.200 million on R&D, that's a lot.

 

[ignatius345]

International trade disputes could result in tariffs and other protectionist measures that could adversely affect the Company's business. Tariffs could increase the cost of the Company's products and the components and raw materials that go into making them. These increased costs could adversely impact the gross margin that the Company earns on its products. Tariffs could also make the Company's products more expensive for customers, which could make the Company's products less competitive and reduce consumer demand. Countries may also adopt other protectionist measures that could limit the Company's ability to offer its products and services. Political uncertainty surrounding international trade disputes and protectionist measures could also have a negative effect on consumer confidence and spending, which could adversely affect the Company's business.

I always find it clarifying to read financial guidance like this, which tends to cut through the news rhetoric and get to the nitty-gritty. Protectionism ain't great for international business!
[doublepost=1541431925][/doublepost]

spending 14.200 million

(I will never get used to the European way of talking about millions and billions.)

 

[justperry]

.....
(I will never get used to the European way of talking about millions and billions.)

Explain please.....it IS fourteen thousand two hundred million, I explicitly said it this way so it
becomes clear it's a big FAT number.

 

[sw1tcher]

Guess so, spending 14.200 billion on R&D, that's a lot.

When you no longer have Steve Jobs around to come up with product ideas, you gotta spend.

 

[ksec]

I am now starting to think R&D are just a way Apple hide their profits. Apple are earning so much more some of these numbers and their productivity don’t make sense. May be now it is normal, but Steve Jobs era manage to do so much more with so little.

 

[neutralguy]

So many people to write the iPhone throttling software? Because the phone is being made in China .

 

[Dorje Sylas]

14.2 mill in R&D. So many jokes to be made about heat issues, keyboards, user repair/serviceability, overly thin devices, and more....

But recycled aluminum shavings. Got that on lockdown!

 

[joueboy]

Is this the same close number they claim as their employee even if an employees by their part suppliers like Corning Glass? They've done this I think last year or year before that where Apple claims a huge a huge number that is not Apple employees just to make it look good.

 

[lunarworks]

And half of them are working on emoji, if you believe the comments here.

 

[timborama]

When you no longer have Steve Jobs around to come up with product ideas, you gotta spend.

LOL. If it were only that simple. We’re now seeing the real brilliance of Cook (er, the lack thereof). Where’s this so-called pipeline?!

 

[Nozuka]

I am now starting to think R&D are just a way Apple hide their profits. Apple are earning so much more some of these numbers and their productivity don’t make sense. May be now it is normal, but Steve Jobs era manage to do so much more with so little.

They didn't release as many new devices every year, as they do now.

They didn't design their own CPUs.

And there are many new projects running that we don't know (much) about.

 

[Mike MA]

That's why I stick with Apple products. Apple is investing in R&D heavily and this is what you see in mostly every product introduction.

 

[CIA]

Missing three zeros on the outstanding share count. 4.55 billion, not million.

Wish is was 4.55 million, my shares would hopefully be worth 100 times more! (Or, Alternatively, the company would have a massive loss of value if it was still ~$210/share and only 4.5 million outstanding shares.

 

[rizzo41999]

That R&D pricetag is exactly what Chinese companies don’t want to pay.

 

[alwaysbeincontact]

some crazy big numbers

 

[zombierunner]

Apple: Apple spent $14.2 billion on research and development in its 2018 fiscal year.

Me:

 

[usersince86]

Shouldn't $14.2B have brought a more cost-effective MBA and Mac-mini, and produced a new MacPro by now? (Among other things...)

 

[dogslobber]

9K people to get us a new Mini and MBA?

 

[PracticalMac]

"$14.2 billion on research and development"

I wonder what sekrit projects Apple has?

I bet even DARPA would be envious.

 

[the johnmc]

Explain please.....it IS fourteen thousand two hundred million, I explicitly said it this way so it
becomes clear it's a big FAT number.

From what I understand, the confusion comes from the difference in separator characters. In many European countries, a thousand (with two decimal places) is written as 1.000,00. The same number in the US (and other places) is written as 1,000.00.

 

[Return Zero]

It may be hard to imagine this when seeing these numbers, but last I checked, Apple actually spends significantly less on R&D than Amazon, Google, or Microsoft in common-size terms (percentage of revenue), which is a common way to compare firms. As they expand cloud services, auto software/integration, AR, and other areas, look for this budget to continue to grow.

 

[justperry]

From what I understand, the confusion comes from the difference in separator characters. In many European countries, a thousand (with two decimal places) is written as 1.000,00. The same number in the US (and other places) is written as 1,000.00.

Ah yeah, that's it, cheers.

I could tell the OP the same, the US system confuses Europeans, and it's not limited to Europeans....

Apple: Apple spent $14.2 billion on research and development in its 2018 fiscal year.

Me:

Not funny, as in, that thing wasn't designed in 2018.