One look at Apple’s balance sheet and you quickly realize what a massive firm it’s become. This infographic looks at Apple’s massive revenues and breaks down where the company spends its money.
The infographic comes from David Sawers of Master-Business-Administration.com. Last year, Apple broke its own earning records going from $108 billion in net sales in 2011 to over $156 billion in 2012. Where did the company put the money?
In 2011, more of the operating costs went towards R&D, with a smaller percentage going to selling, general and administrative costs. However, by 2012 those figures had flipped. They also spent 94% more in 2012 than 2011 on data centers.
It’s interesting to note that Apple reported record earnings in 2012, yet the stock went down upon the news being released.
Tech-Earning Report Infographics
This Chart Takes a Closer Look at Apple’s Balance Sheet
Trend Themes
1. Apple's Revenue Growth - Apple has continuously broken its own earning records, indicating significant growth in revenues and opportunities for revenue diversification.
2. R&D and Investment Priorities - The shift in Apple's spending priorities towards data centers suggests potential disruptive innovation opportunities in cloud computing and big data analysis.
3. Stock Market Performance Disconnection - Despite positive earnings, Apple's stock market performance can create opportunities for the challenge of balancing stakeholder expectations.
Industry Implications
1. Technology - Opportunities in cloud computing and big data analytics through the significant investment Apple is placing in data centers.
2. Finance - Given the disconnection between Apple's stock market performance and record earnings, there may be opportunities to innovate novel metrics to assess the diverse stakeholder value derived from a company's performance.
3. Business Administration - Opportunities for organizations in revenue diversification as shown by Apple's shift in investment priorities from R&D to data centers.