Apple (AAPL) 10-K2021 FY Annual report

The Company’s ability to compete successfully depends heavily on ensuring the continuing and timely introduction of innovative new products, services and technologies to the marketplace. The Company designs and develops nearly the entire solution for its products, including the hardware, operating system, numerous software applications and related services. Principal competitive factors important to the Company include price, product and service features (including security features), relative price and performance, product and service quality and reliability, design innovation, a strong third-party software and accessories ecosystem, marketing and distribution capability, service and support, and corporate reputation.

The Company is focused on expanding its market opportunities related to smartphones, personal computers, tablets, wearables and accessories, and services. The Company faces substantial competition in these markets from companies that have significant technical, marketing, distribution and other resources, as well as established hardware, software, and service offerings with large customer bases. In addition, some of the Company’s competitors have broader product lines, lower-priced products and a larger installed base of active devices. Competition has been particularly intense as competitors have aggressively cut prices and lowered product margins. Certain competitors have the resources, experience or cost structures to provide products at little or no profit or even at a loss. The Company’s services compete with business models that provide content to users for free and use illegitimate means to obtain third-party digital content and applications. The Company faces significant competition as competitors imitate the Company’s product features and applications within their products, or collaborate to offer integrated solutions that are more competitive than those they currently offer.

The Company uses some custom components that are not commonly used by its competitors, and new products introduced by the Company often utilize custom components available from only one source. When a component or product uses new technologies, initial capacity constraints may exist until the suppliers’ yields have matured or their manufacturing capacities have increased. The continued availability of these components at acceptable prices, or at all, may be affected if suppliers decide to concentrate on the production of common components instead of components customized to meet the Company’s requirements.

The Company has entered into agreements for the supply of many components; however, there can be no guarantee that the Company will be able to extend or renew these agreements on similar terms, or at all.

Substantially all of the Company’s hardware products are manufactured by outsourcing partners that are located primarily in Asia, with some Mac computers manufactured in the U.S. and Ireland.

The Company regularly files patent applications to protect innovations arising from its research, development and design, and is currently pursuing thousands of patent applications around the world. Over time, the Company has accumulated a large portfolio of issued patents, including utility patents, design patents and others. The Company also holds copyrights relating to certain aspects of its products and services. No single intellectual property right is solely responsible for protecting the Company’s products. The Company believes the duration of its intellectual property rights is adequate relative to the expected lives of its products.

In addition to Company-owned intellectual property, many of the Company’s products and services are designed to include intellectual property owned by third parties. It may be necessary in the future to seek or renew licenses relating to various aspects of the Company’s products, processes and services. While the Company has generally been able to obtain such licenses on commercially reasonable terms in the past, there is no guarantee that such licenses could be obtained in the future on reasonable terms or at all.

The Company has initiatives in place to implement its commitment to increase diverse representation, including creating diverse interview panels and candidate slates, focusing on robust diversity recruiting efforts, and expanding diversity outreach efforts through organizations that serve and engage talent from underrepresented communities. The Company also offers team members access to ongoing inclusion and diversity education, and support throughout their career journey and helps them find community and connection through employee groups that create spaces for belonging, learning, and growing inclusivity, diversity and equity efforts.

Because of the following factors, as well as other factors affecting the Company’s results of operations and financial condition, past financial performance should not be considered to be a reliable indicator of future performance, and investors should not use historical trends to anticipate results or trends in future periods. This discussion of risk factors contains forward-looking statements.

The COVID-19 pandemic and the measures taken by many countries in response have adversely affected and could in the future materially adversely impact the Company’s business, results of operations and financial condition, as well as the price of the Company’s stock. During the course of the pandemic, certain of the Company’s component suppliers and manufacturing and logistical service providers have experienced disruptions, resulting in supply shortages that affected sales worldwide, and similar disruptions could occur in the future. The Company’s retail stores, as well as channel partner points of sale, have been temporarily closed at various times. In many cases, as stores and points of sale have reopened, they are subject to operating restrictions to protect public health and the health and safety of employees and customers. The Company has at times required substantially all of its employees to work remotely.

The Company continues to monitor the situation and take appropriate actions in accordance with the recommendations and requirements of relevant authorities. The extent to which the COVID-19 pandemic may impact the Company’s operational and financial performance remains uncertain and will depend on many factors outside the Company’s control, including the timing, extent, trajectory and duration of the pandemic, the emergence of new variants, the development, availability, distribution and effectiveness of vaccines and treatments, the imposition of protective public safety measures, and the impact of the pandemic on the global economy and demand for consumer products. Additional future impacts on the Company may include, but are not limited to, material adverse effects on demand for the Company’s products and services, the Company’s supply chain and sales and distribution channels, the Company’s ability to execute its strategic plans, and the Company’s profitability and cost structure.

To the extent the COVID-19 pandemic adversely affects the Company’s business, results of operations, financial condition and stock price, it may also have the effect of heightening many of the other risks described in this Part I, Item 1A of this Form 10-K.

Adverse macroeconomic conditions, including inflation, slower growth or recession, new or increased tariffs and other barriers to trade, changes to fiscal and monetary policy, tighter credit, higher interest rates, high unemployment and currency fluctuations can materially adversely affect demand for the Company’s products and services. In addition, consumer confidence and spending can be adversely affected in response to financial market volatility, negative financial news, conditions in the real estate and mortgage markets, declines in income or asset values, changes to fuel and other energy costs, labor and healthcare costs and other economic factors.

In addition to an adverse impact on demand for the Company’s products, uncertainty about, or a decline in, global or regional economic conditions can have a significant impact on the Company’s suppliers, contract manufacturers, logistics providers, distributors, cellular network carriers and other channel partners. Potential effects include financial instability; inability to obtain credit to finance operations and purchases of the Company’s products; and insolvency.

A downturn in the economic environment can also lead to increased credit and collectibility risk on the Company’s trade receivables; the failure of derivative counterparties and other financial institutions; limitations on the Company’s ability to issue new debt; reduced liquidity; and declines in the fair value of the Company’s financial instruments. These and other economic factors can materially adversely affect the Company’s business, results of operations and financial condition.

The Company has a large, global business, and the Company believes that it generally benefits from growth in international trade. Trade and other international disputes can result in tariffs, sanctions, and other measures that restrict international trade and can adversely affect the Company’s business. For example, tensions between the U.S. and China have led to a series of tariffs being imposed by the U.S. on imports from China mainland, as well as other business restrictions. Tariffs increase the cost of the Company’s products and the components and raw materials that go into making them. These increased costs adversely impact the gross margin that the Company earns on its products. Tariffs can 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 measures, such as controls on imports or exports of goods, technology or data, that could adversely impact the Company’s operations and supply chain and limit the Company’s ability to offer its products and services as designed. These measures can require the Company to take various actions, including changing suppliers, restructuring business relationships, and ceasing to offer third-party applications on its platforms. Changing the Company’s operations in accordance with new or changed trade restrictions can be expensive, time-consuming, disruptive to the Company’s operations and distracting to management. Such restrictions can be announced with little or no advance notice and the Company may not be able to effectively mitigate all adverse impacts from such measures. Political uncertainty surrounding trade and other international disputes could also have a negative effect on consumer confidence and spending, which could adversely affect the Company’s business.

Many of the Company’s operations and facilities, as well as critical business operations of the Company’s suppliers and contract manufacturers, are in locations that are prone to earthquakes and other natural disasters. In addition, such operations and facilities are subject to the risk of interruption by fire, power shortages, nuclear power plant accidents and other industrial accidents, terrorist attacks and other hostile acts, ransomware and other cybersecurity attacks, labor disputes, public health issues, including pandemics such as the COVID-19 pandemic, and other events beyond the Company’s control. Global climate change is resulting in certain types of natural disasters occurring more frequently or with more intense effects. Such events can make it difficult or impossible for the Company to manufacture and deliver products to its customers, create delays and inefficiencies in the Company’s supply and manufacturing chain, and result in slowdowns and outages to the Company’s service offerings. Following an interruption to its business, the Company can require substantial recovery time, experience significant expenditures to resume operations, and lose significant sales. Because the Company relies on single or limited sources for the supply and manufacture of many critical components, a business interruption affecting such sources would exacerbate any negative consequences to the Company.

The Company’s operations are also subject to the risks of industrial accidents at its suppliers and contract manufacturers. While the Company’s suppliers are required to maintain safe working environments and operations, an industrial accident could occur and could result in disruption to the Company’s business and harm to the Company’s reputation. Major public health issues, including pandemics such as the COVID-19 pandemic, have adversely affected, and could in the future adversely affect, the Company due to their impact on the global economy and demand for consumer products; the imposition of protective public safety measures, such as stringent employee travel restrictions and limitations on freight services and the movement of products between regions; and disruptions in the Company’s supply chain and sales and distribution channels, resulting in interruptions of the supply of current products and delays in production ramps of new products.

While the Company maintains insurance coverage for certain types of losses, such insurance coverage may be insufficient to cover all losses that may arise.

The Company’s ability to compete successfully depends heavily on ensuring the continuing and timely introduction of innovative new products, services and technologies to the marketplace. The Company designs and develops nearly the entire solution for its products, including the hardware, operating system, numerous software applications and related services. As a result, the Company must make significant investments in R&D. There can be no assurance these investments will achieve expected returns, and the Company may not be able to develop and market new products and services successfully.

The Company currently holds a significant number of patents, trademarks and copyrights and has registered, and applied to register, additional patents, trademarks and copyrights. In contrast, many of the Company’s competitors seek to compete primarily through aggressive pricing and very low cost structures, and by imitating the Company’s products and infringing on its intellectual property. Effective intellectual property protection is not consistently available in every country in which the Company operates. If the Company is unable to continue to develop and sell innovative new products with attractive margins or if competitors infringe on the Company’s intellectual property, the Company’s ability to maintain a competitive advantage could be adversely affected.

The Company has a minority market share in the global smartphone, personal computer and tablet markets. The Company faces substantial competition in these markets from companies that have significant technical, marketing, distribution and other resources, as well as established hardware, software and digital content supplier relationships. In addition, some of the Company’s competitors have broader product lines, lower-priced products and a larger installed base of active devices. Competition has been particularly intense as competitors have aggressively cut prices and lowered product margins. Certain competitors have the resources, experience or cost structures to provide products at little or no profit or even at a loss. Some of the markets in which the Company competes have from time to time experienced little to no growth or contracted overall.

Additionally, the Company faces significant competition as competitors imitate the Company’s product features and applications within their products or collaborate to offer solutions that are more competitive than those they currently offer. The Company also expects competition to intensify as competitors imitate the Company’s approach to providing components seamlessly within their offerings or work collaboratively to offer integrated solutions.

The Company’s services also face substantial competition, including from companies that have significant resources and experience and have established service offerings with large customer bases. The Company competes with business models that provide content to users for free. The Company also competes with illegitimate means to obtain third-party digital content and applications.

The Company’s business, results of operations and financial condition depend substantially on the Company’s ability to continually improve its products and services to maintain their functional and design advantages. There can be no assurance the Company will be able to continue to provide products and services that compete effectively.

The Company relies on single-source outsourcing partners in the U.S., Asia and Europe to supply and manufacture many components, and on outsourcing partners primarily located in Asia, for final assembly of substantially all of the Company’s hardware products. Any failure of these partners to perform can have a negative impact on the Company’s cost or supply of components or finished goods. In addition, manufacturing or logistics in these locations or transit to final destinations can be disrupted for a variety of reasons, including natural and man-made disasters, information technology system failures, commercial disputes, military actions, economic, business, labor, environmental, public health or political issues, or international trade disputes.

The Company has invested in manufacturing process equipment, much of which is held at certain of its outsourcing partners, and has made prepayments to certain of its suppliers associated with long-term supply agreements. While these arrangements help ensure the supply of components and finished goods, if these outsourcing partners or suppliers experience severe financial problems or other disruptions in their business, such continued supply can be reduced or terminated, and the recoverability of manufacturing process equipment or prepayments can be negatively impacted.

The Company’s new products often utilize custom components available from only one source. When a component or product uses new technologies, initial capacity constraints may exist until the suppliers’ yields have matured or their manufacturing capacities have increased. The continued availability of these components at acceptable prices, or at all, can be affected for any number of reasons, including if suppliers decide to concentrate on the production of common components instead of components customized to meet the Company’s requirements. When the Company’s supply of components for a new or existing product has been delayed or constrained, or when an outsourcing partner has delayed shipments of completed products to the Company, the Company’s business, results of operations and financial condition have been adversely affected and future delays or constraints could materially adversely affect the Company’s business, results of operations and financial condition. The Company’s business and financial performance could also be materially adversely affected depending on the time required to obtain sufficient quantities from the source, or to identify and obtain sufficient quantities from an alternative source.

The Company orders components for its products and builds inventory in advance of product announcements and shipments. Manufacturing purchase obligations cover the Company’s forecasted component and manufacturing requirements, typically for periods up to 150 days. Because the Company’s markets are volatile, competitive and subject to rapid technology and price changes, there is a risk the Company will forecast incorrectly and order or produce excess or insufficient amounts of components or products, or not fully utilize firm purchase commitments.

The Company believes the availability of third-party software applications and services for its products depends in part on the developers’ perception and analysis of the relative benefits of developing, maintaining and upgrading such software and services for the Company’s products compared to competitors’ platforms, such as Android for smartphones and tablets, Windows for personal computers and tablets, and PlayStation, Nintendo and Xbox for gaming platforms. This analysis may be based on factors such as the market position of the Company and its products, the anticipated revenue that may be generated, expected future growth of product sales, and the costs of developing such applications and services.

The Company’s minority market share in the global smartphone, personal computer and tablet markets can make developers less inclined to develop or upgrade software for the Company’s products and more inclined to devote their resources to developing and upgrading software for competitors’ products with larger market share. When developers focus their efforts on these competing platforms, the availability and quality of applications for the Company’s devices can suffer.

The Company relies on the continued availability and development of compelling and innovative software applications for its products. The Company’s products and operating systems are subject to rapid technological change, and when third-party developers are unable to or choose not to keep up with this pace of change, their applications can fail to take advantage of these changes to deliver improved customer experiences and can operate incorrectly and can result in dissatisfied customers.

The Company distributes third-party applications for its products through the App Store. For the vast majority of applications, developers keep all of the revenue they generate on the App Store. The Company only retains a commission from sales of applications and sales of digital services or goods within an application. From time to time, the Company has made changes to its App Store, including actions taken in response to competition, market and legal conditions. The Company may make further business changes in the future. New legislative initiatives, such as the proposed European Union (“EU”) Digital Markets Act, could, if enacted, require further changes. The Company is also subject to litigation and investigations relating to the App Store, which have resulted in changes to the Company’s business practices, and may in the future result in further changes. These changes could include how and to what extent the Company charges developers for access to its platforms and manages distribution of apps outside of the App Store. This could reduce the volume of sales, and the commission that the Company earns on those sales, would decrease. If the rate of the commission that the Company retains on such sales is reduced, or if it is otherwise narrowed in scope or eliminated, the Company’s business, results of operations and financial condition could be materially adversely affected.

The Company also produces its own digital content, which can be costly to produce due to intense and increasing competition for talent, content and subscribers, and may fail to appeal to the Company’s customers. The COVID-19 pandemic has also caused additional restrictions on production and increased costs for digital content.

Some third-party digital content providers require the Company to provide digital rights management and other security solutions. If requirements change, the Company may have to develop or license new technology to provide these solutions. There can be no assurance the Company will be able to develop or license such solutions at a reasonable cost and in a timely manner.

Some carriers providing cellular network service for the Company’s products offer financing, installment payment plans or subsidies for users’ purchases of the device. There can be no assurance such offers will be continued at all or in the same amounts.

The Company has invested and will continue to invest in programs to enhance reseller sales, including staffing selected resellers’ stores with Company employees and contractors, and improving product placement displays. These programs can require a substantial investment while not assuring return or incremental sales. The financial condition of these resellers could weaken, these resellers could stop distributing the Company’s products, or uncertainty regarding demand for some or all of the Company’s products could cause resellers to reduce their ordering and marketing of the Company’s products.

The Company’s business also requires it to share confidential information with suppliers and other third parties. The Company relies on global suppliers that are also exposed to ransomware and other malicious attacks that can disrupt business operations. Although the Company takes steps to secure confidential information that is provided to or accessible by third parties working on the Company’s behalf, such measures are not always effective and losses or unauthorized access to or releases of confidential information occur. Such incidents and other malicious attacks could materially adversely affect the Company’s business, reputation, results of operations and financial condition.

The Company experiences malicious attacks and other attempts to gain unauthorized access to its systems on a regular basis. These attacks seek to compromise the confidentiality, integrity or availability of confidential information or disrupt normal business operations, and could, among other things, impair the Company’s ability to attract and retain customers for its products and services, impact the price of the Company’s stock, materially damage commercial relationships, and expose the Company to litigation or government investigations, which could result in penalties, fines or judgments against the Company. Globally, attacks are expected to continue accelerating in both frequency and sophistication with increasing use by actors of tools and techniques that are designed to circumvent controls, avoid detection, and remove or obfuscate forensic evidence, all of which hinders the Company’s ability to identify, investigate and recover from incidents.

Although malicious attacks perpetrated to gain access to confidential information, including personal information, affect many companies across various industries, the Company is at a relatively greater risk of being targeted because of its high profile and the value of the confidential information it creates, owns, manages, stores and processes.

The Company has implemented systems and processes intended to secure its information technology systems and prevent unauthorized access to or loss of sensitive data, and mitigate the impact of unauthorized access, including through the use of encryption and authentication technologies. As with all companies, these security measures may not be sufficient for all eventualities and may be vulnerable to hacking, ransomware attacks, employee error, malfeasance, system error, faulty password management or other irregularities. For example, third parties can fraudulently induce the Company’s or its vendors’ employees or customers into disclosing user names, passwords or other sensitive information, which can, in turn, be used for unauthorized access to the Company’s or its vendors’ systems and services. To help protect customers and the Company, the Company deploys and makes available technologies like multifactor authentication, monitors its services and systems for unusual activity and may freeze accounts under suspicious circumstances, which, among other things, can result in the delay or loss of customer orders or impede customer access to the Company’s products and services.

While the Company maintains insurance coverage that is intended to address certain aspects of data security risks, such insurance coverage may be insufficient to cover all losses or all types of claims that may arise.

The Company’s retail operations are subject to many factors that pose risks and uncertainties and could adversely impact the Company’s business, results of operations and financial condition, including macro-economic factors that could have an adverse effect on general retail activity. Other factors include the Company’s ability to: manage costs associated with retail store construction and operation; manage relationships with existing retail partners; manage costs associated with fluctuations in the value of retail inventory; and obtain and renew leases in quality retail locations at a reasonable cost.

The Company has faced and continues to face a significant number of patent claims relating to its cellular-enabled products, and new claims may arise in the future. For example, technology and other patent-holding companies frequently assert their patents and seek royalties and often enter into litigation based on allegations of patent infringement or other violations of intellectual property rights. The Company is vigorously defending infringement actions in courts in several U.S. jurisdictions, as well as internationally in various countries. The plaintiffs in these actions frequently seek injunctions and substantial damages.

Regardless of the merit of particular claims, defending against litigation or responding to government investigations can be expensive, time-consuming, disruptive to the Company’s operations and distracting to management. In recognition of these considerations, the Company may enter into agreements or other arrangements to settle litigation and resolve such challenges. There can be no assurance such agreements can be obtained on acceptable terms or that litigation will not occur. These agreements can also significantly increase the Company’s cost of sales and operating expenses and require the Company to change its business practices and limit the Company’s ability to offer certain products and services.

Except as described in Part I, Item 3 of this Form 10-K under the heading “Legal Proceedings” and in Part II, Item 8 of this Form 10-K in the Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements in Note 10, “Commitments and Contingencies” under the heading “Contingencies,” in the opinion of management, there was not at least a reasonable possibility the Company may have incurred a material loss, or a material loss greater than a recorded accrual, concerning loss contingencies for asserted legal and other claims.

The outcome of litigation or government investigations is inherently uncertain. If one or more legal matters were resolved against the Company or an indemnified third party in a reporting period for amounts above management’s expectations, the Company’s results of operations and financial condition for that reporting period could be materially adversely affected. Further, such an outcome can result in significant compensatory, punitive or trebled monetary damages, disgorgement of revenue or profits, remedial corporate measures or injunctive relief against the Company, and can require the Company to change its business practices and limit the Company’s ability to offer certain products and services, all of which could materially adversely affect the Company’s business, results of operations and financial condition.

While the Company maintains insurance coverage for certain types of claims, such insurance coverage may be insufficient to cover all losses or all types of claims that may arise.

Compliance with these laws and regulations is onerous and expensive, increasing the cost of conducting the Company’s global operations. Changes to laws and regulations can adversely affect the Company’s business by increasing the Company’s costs, limiting the Company’s ability to offer a product or service to customers, requiring changes to the Company’s supply chain and business practices or otherwise making the Company’s products and services less attractive to customers. The Company has implemented policies and procedures designed to ensure compliance with applicable laws and regulations, but there can be no assurance the Company’s employees, contractors or agents will not violate such laws and regulations or the Company’s policies and procedures. If the Company is found to have violated laws and regulations, it could materially adversely affect the Company’s business, reputation, results of operations and financial condition. Regulatory changes and other actions that materially adversely affect the Company’s business may be announced with little or no advance notice and the Company may not be able to effectively mitigate all adverse impacts from such measures.

The Company is also currently subject to antitrust investigations in various jurisdictions around the world, which can result in legal proceedings and claims against the Company that could, individually or in the aggregate, have a materially adverse impact on the Company’s business, results of operations and financial condition. For example, the Company is the subject of investigations in Europe and other jurisdictions relating to App Store terms and conditions. If such investigations result in adverse findings against the Company, the Company could be exposed to significant fines and may be required to make changes to its App Store business, all of which could materially adversely affect the Company’s business, results of operations and financial condition. The Company is also subject to litigation relating to the App Store, which has resulted in changes to the Company’s business practices, and may in the future result in further changes.

Further, the Company has commercial relationships with other companies in the technology industry that are or may become subject to investigations and litigation that, if resolved against those other companies, could adversely affect the Company’s commercial relationships with those business partners and materially adversely affect the Company’s business, results of operations and financial condition. For example, the Company earns revenue from licensing arrangements with other companies to offer their search services on the Company’s platforms and apps, and certain of these arrangements are currently subject to government investigations and legal proceedings.

There can be no assurance the Company’s business will not be materially adversely affected, individually or in the aggregate, by the outcomes of such investigations, litigation or changes to laws and regulations in the future. Changes to the Company’s business practices to comply with new laws and regulations or in connection with other legal proceedings could negatively impact the reputation of the Company’s products for privacy and security and otherwise adversely affect the experience for users of the Company’s products and services, and result in harm to the Company’s reputation, loss of competitive advantage, poor market acceptance, reduced demand for products and services, and lost sales.

The Company makes statements about its use and disclosure of personal information through its privacy policy, information provided on its website, press statements and other privacy notices provided to customers. Any failure by the Company to comply with these public statements or with other federal, state or international privacy or data protection laws and regulations could result in inquiries or proceedings against the Company by governmental entities or others. In addition to reputational impacts, penalties could include ongoing audit requirements and significant legal liability.

In addition to the risks generally relating to the collection, use, retention, security and transfer of personal information, the Company is also subject to specific obligations relating to information considered sensitive under applicable laws, such as health data, financial data and biometric data. Health data is subject to additional privacy, security and breach notification requirements, and the Company is subject to audit by governmental authorities regarding the Company’s compliance with these obligations. If the Company fails to adequately comply with these rules and requirements, or if health data is handled in a manner not permitted by law or under the Company’s agreements with healthcare institutions, the Company can be subject to litigation or government investigations, and can be liable for associated investigatory expenses, and can also incur significant fees or fines.

Financial data, such as payment card data, is also subject to additional requirements. Under payment card rules and obligations, if cardholder information is potentially compromised, the Company can be liable for associated investigatory expenses and can also incur significant fees or fines if the Company fails to follow payment card industry data security standards. The Company could also experience a significant increase in payment card transaction costs or lose the ability to process payment cards if it fails to follow payment card industry data security standards, which would materially adversely affect the Company’s business, reputation, results of operations and financial condition.

The Company has historically experienced higher net sales in its first quarter compared to other quarters in its fiscal year due in part to seasonal holiday demand. Additionally, new product and service introductions can significantly impact net sales, cost of sales and operating expenses. Further, the Company generates a significant portion of its net sales from a single product and a decline in demand for that product could significantly impact quarterly net sales. The Company could also be subject to unexpected developments, such as lower-than-anticipated demand for the Company’s products or services, issues with new product or service introductions, information technology system failures or network disruptions, or failure of one of the Company’s logistics, components supply, or manufacturing partners.

The weakening of foreign currencies relative to the U.S. dollar adversely affects the U.S. dollar value of the Company’s foreign currency–denominated sales and earnings, and generally leads the Company to raise international pricing, potentially reducing demand for the Company’s products. In some circumstances, for competitive or other reasons, the Company may decide not to raise international pricing to offset the U.S. dollar’s strengthening, which would adversely affect the U.S. dollar value of the gross margins the Company earns on foreign currency–denominated sales.

Conversely, a strengthening of foreign currencies relative to the U.S. dollar, while generally beneficial to the Company’s foreign currency–denominated sales and earnings, could cause the Company to reduce international pricing and incur losses on its foreign currency derivative instruments, thereby limiting the benefit. Additionally, strengthening of foreign currencies may increase the Company’s cost of product components denominated in those currencies, thus adversely affecting gross margins.

The Company uses derivative instruments, such as foreign currency forward and option contracts, to hedge certain exposures to fluctuations in foreign currency exchange rates. The use of such hedging activities may not be effective to offset any, or more than a portion, of the adverse financial effects of unfavorable movements in foreign exchange rates over the limited time the hedges are in place.

The Company is also subject to the examination of its tax returns and other tax matters by the U.S. Internal Revenue Service and other tax authorities and governmental bodies. The Company regularly assesses the likelihood of an adverse outcome resulting from these examinations to determine the adequacy of its provision for taxes. There can be no assurance as to the outcome of these examinations. If the Company’s effective tax rates were to increase, particularly in the U.S. or Ireland, or if the ultimate determination of the Company’s taxes owed is for an amount in excess of amounts previously accrued, the Company’s business, results of operations and financial condition could be materially adversely affected.

The outcome of litigation is inherently uncertain. If one or more legal matters were resolved against the Company in a reporting period for amounts above management’s expectations, the Company’s financial condition and operating results for that reporting period could be materially adversely affected. The Company settled certain matters during the fourth quarter of 2021 that did not individually or in the aggregate have a material impact on the Company’s financial condition or operating results.

During 2021, aspects of the Company’s business continued to be affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, with many of the Company’s retail stores, as well as channel partner points of sale, temporarily closed at various times, and a significant number of the Company’s employees working remotely. The Company has reopened all of its retail stores and substantially all of its other facilities, subject to operating restrictions to protect public health and the health and safety of employees and customers, and it continues to work on safely reopening the remainder of its facilities, subject to local rules and regulations. During the fourth quarter of 2021, certain of the Company’s component suppliers and logistical service providers experienced disruptions, resulting in supply shortages that affected sales worldwide. Similar disruptions could occur in the future.

The extent of the continuing impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the Company’s operational and financial performance is uncertain and will depend on many factors outside the Company’s control, including the timing, extent, trajectory and duration of the pandemic, the emergence of new variants, the development, availability, distribution and effectiveness of vaccines and treatments, the imposition of protective public safety measures, and the impact of the pandemic on the global economy and demand for consumer products. Refer to Part I, Item 1A of this Form 10-K under the heading “Risk Factors” for more information.

In April 2021, the Company announced an increase to its current share repurchase program authorization from $225 billion to $315 billion and raised its quarterly dividend from $0.205 to $0.22 per share beginning in May 2021. During 2021, the Company repurchased $85.5 billion of its common stock and paid dividends and dividend equivalents of $14.5 billion.

The following table shows net sales by reportable segment for 2021, 2020 and 2019 (dollars in millions):

The year-over-year decrease in OI&E during 2021 was due primarily to lower interest income and net losses on marketable securities, partially offset by positive fair value adjustments on non-marketable securities and lower interest expense on term debt.

The Company’s effective tax rate for 2021 was lower than the statutory federal income tax rate due primarily to a lower effective tax rate on foreign earnings, tax benefits from share-based compensation and foreign-derived intangible income deductions. The Company’s effective tax rate for 2020 was lower than the statutory federal income tax rate due primarily to the lower tax rate on foreign earnings, including the impact of tax settlements, and tax benefits from share-based compensation.

The Company’s effective tax rate for 2021 was lower compared to 2020 due primarily to higher tax benefits from foreign-derived intangible income deductions and share-based compensation and the favorable impact of changes in unrecognized tax benefits, partially offset by a one-time adjustment in 2020 of U.S. foreign tax credits in response to regulations issued by the U.S. Department of the Treasury in December 2019.

During 2021, the Company established deferred tax assets (“DTAs”) for foreign tax credit carryforwards in Ireland and increased DTAs for R&D tax credit carryforwards in California, which resulted in a combined $3.5 billion increase in the valuation allowance on the Company’s DTAs, with no effect on net income. Management believes it is more likely than not that forecasted income, together with future reversals of existing taxable temporary differences, will be sufficient to realize substantially all of the Company’s remaining DTAs.

The Company’s material cash requirements include the following contractual and other obligations.

The Company also issues unsecured short-term promissory notes (“Commercial Paper”) pursuant to a commercial paper program. As of September 25, 2021, the Company had $6.0 billion of Commercial Paper outstanding, all of which was payable within 12 months.

The Company’s investment policy and strategy are focused on the preservation of capital and supporting the Company’s liquidity requirements. The Company uses a combination of internal and external management to execute its investment strategy and achieve its investment objectives. The Company typically invests in highly rated securities, with the primary objective of minimizing the potential risk of principal loss. The Company’s investment policy generally requires securities to be investment grade and limits the amount of credit exposure to any one issuer. To provide a meaningful assessment of the interest rate risk associated with the Company’s investment portfolio, the Company performed a sensitivity analysis to determine the impact a change in interest rates would have on the value of the investment portfolio assuming a 100 basis point parallel shift in the yield curve. Based on investment positions as of September 25, 2021 and September 26, 2020, a hypothetical 100 basis point increase in interest rates across all maturities would result in a $4.1 billion and $3.1 billion incremental decline in the fair market value of the portfolio, respectively. Such losses would only be realized if the Company sold the investments prior to maturity.

As of September 25, 2021 and September 26, 2020, the Company had outstanding floating- and fixed-rate notes with varying maturities for an aggregate carrying amount of $118.7 billion and $107.4 billion, respectively. The Company has entered, and in the future may enter, into interest rate swaps to manage interest rate risk on its outstanding term debt. Interest rate swaps allow the Company to effectively convert fixed-rate payments into floating-rate payments or floating-rate payments into fixed-rate payments. Gains and losses on term debt are generally offset by the corresponding losses and gains on the related hedging instrument. A 100 basis point increase in market interest rates would cause interest expense on the Company’s debt as of September 25, 2021 and September 26, 2020 to increase by $186 million and $218 million on an annualized basis, respectively.

The Company may enter into foreign currency forward and option contracts with financial institutions to protect against foreign exchange risks associated with certain existing assets and liabilities, certain firmly committed transactions, forecasted future cash flows and net investments in foreign subsidiaries. In addition, the Company has entered, and in the future may enter, into foreign currency contracts to partially offset the foreign currency exchange gains and losses on its foreign currency–denominated debt issuances. The Company generally hedges portions of its forecasted foreign currency exposure associated with revenue and inventory purchases, typically for up to 12 months. However, the Company may choose not to hedge certain foreign exchange exposures for a variety of reasons including, but not limited to, accounting considerations or the prohibitive economic cost of hedging particular exposures.

To provide an assessment of the foreign currency risk associated with certain of the Company’s foreign currency derivative positions, the Company performed a sensitivity analysis using a value-at-risk (“VAR”) model to assess the potential impact of fluctuations in exchange rates. The VAR model consisted of using a Monte Carlo simulation to generate thousands of random market price paths assuming normal market conditions. The VAR is the maximum expected loss in fair value, for a given confidence interval, to the Company’s foreign currency derivative positions due to adverse movements in rates. The VAR model is not intended to represent actual losses but is used as a risk estimation and management tool. Forecasted transactions, firm commitments and assets and liabilities denominated in foreign currencies were excluded from the model. Based on the results of the model, the Company estimates with 95% confidence, a maximum one-day loss in fair value of $550 million as of September 25, 2021, compared to a maximum one-day loss in fair value of $551 million as of September 26, 2020. Because the Company uses foreign currency instruments for hedging purposes, the losses in fair value incurred on those instruments are generally offset by increases in the fair value of the underlying exposures.

Actual future gains and losses associated with the Company’s investment portfolio, debt and derivative positions may differ materially from the sensitivity analyses performed as of September 25, 2021 due to the inherent limitations associated with predicting the timing and amount of changes in interest rates, foreign currency exchange rates and the Company’s actual exposures and positions.

All financial statement schedules have been omitted, since the required information is not applicable or is not present in amounts sufficient to require submission of the schedule, or because the information required is included in the consolidated financial statements and accompanying notes.

See accompanying Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements.

See accompanying Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements.

See accompanying Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements.

See accompanying Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements.

The Company’s fiscal year is the 52- or 53-week period that ends on the last Saturday of September. An additional week is included in the first fiscal quarter every five or six years to realign the Company’s fiscal quarters with calendar quarters. The Company’s fiscal years 2021, 2020 and 2019 spanned 52 weeks each. Unless otherwise stated, references to particular years, quarters, months and periods refer to the Company’s fiscal years ended in September and the associated quarters, months and periods of those fiscal years.

The Company applies the treasury stock method to determine the dilutive effect of potentially dilutive securities. Potentially dilutive securities representing 62 million shares of common stock were excluded from the computation of diluted earnings per share for 2019 because their effect would have been antidilutive.

The Company’s investments in marketable debt securities have been classified and accounted for as available-for-sale. The Company classifies its marketable debt securities as either short-term or long-term based on each instrument’s underlying contractual maturity date. Unrealized gains and losses on marketable debt securities classified as available-for-sale are recognized in other comprehensive income/(loss) (“OCI”).

The Company’s investments in marketable equity securities are classified based on the nature of the securities and their availability for use in current operations. The Company’s marketable equity securities are measured at fair value with gains and losses recognized in other income/(expense), net (“OI&E”).

The cost of securities sold is determined using the specific identification method.

Noncash investing activities involving property, plant and equipment resulted in a net decrease to accounts payable and other current liabilities of $2.9 billion during 2019.

Gains and losses arising from amounts that are included in the assessment of cash flow hedge effectiveness are initially deferred in accumulated other comprehensive income/(loss) (“AOCI”) and subsequently reclassified into earnings when the hedged transaction affects earnings, and in the same line item in the Consolidated Statements of Operations. For options designated as cash flow hedges, the Company excludes time value from the assessment of hedge effectiveness and recognizes it on a straight-line basis over the life of the hedge in the Consolidated Statements of Operations line item to which the hedge relates. Changes in the fair value of amounts excluded from the assessment of hedge effectiveness are recognized in OCI.

Gains and losses arising from amounts that are included in the assessment of fair value hedge effectiveness are recognized in the Consolidated Statements of Operations line item to which the hedge relates along with offsetting losses and gains related to the change in value of the hedged item. For foreign exchange forward contracts designated as fair value hedges, the Company excludes the forward carry component from the assessment of hedge effectiveness and recognizes it in OI&E on a straight-line basis over the life of the hedge. Changes in the fair value of amounts excluded from the assessment of hedge effectiveness are recognized in OCI.

Gains and losses arising from changes in the fair values of derivative instruments that are not designated as accounting hedges are recognized in the Consolidated Statements of Operations line items to which the derivative instruments relate.

The Company presents derivative assets and liabilities at their gross fair values in the Consolidated Balance Sheets. The Company classifies cash flows related to derivative instruments as operating activities in the Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows.

The Company records reductions to Products net sales related to future product returns, price protection and other customer incentive programs based on the Company’s expectations and historical experience.

For arrangements with multiple performance obligations, which represent promises within an arrangement that are distinct, the Company allocates revenue to all distinct performance obligations based on their relative stand-alone selling prices (“SSPs”). When available, the Company uses observable prices to determine SSPs. When observable prices are not available, SSPs are established that reflect the Company’s best estimates of what the selling prices of the performance obligations would be if they were sold regularly on a stand-alone basis. The Company’s process for estimating SSPs without observable prices considers multiple factors that may vary depending upon the unique facts and circumstances related to each performance obligation including, where applicable, prices charged by the Company for similar offerings, market trends in the pricing for similar offerings, product-specific business objectives and the estimated cost to provide the performance obligation.

For certain long-term service arrangements, the Company has performance obligations for services it has not yet delivered. For these arrangements, the Company does not have a right to bill for the undelivered services. The Company has determined that any unbilled consideration relates entirely to the value of the undelivered services. Accordingly, the Company has not recognized revenue, and has elected not to disclose amounts, related to these undelivered services.

For the sale of third-party products where the Company obtains control of the product before transferring it to the customer, the Company recognizes revenue based on the gross amount billed to customers. The Company considers multiple factors when determining whether it obtains control of third-party products including, but not limited to, evaluating if it can establish the price of the product, retains inventory risk for tangible products or has the responsibility for ensuring acceptability of the product. For third-party applications sold through the App Store and certain digital content sold through the Company’s other digital content stores, the Company does not obtain control of the product before transferring it to the customer. Therefore, the Company accounts for such sales on a net basis by recognizing in Services net sales only the commission it retains.

The Company has elected to record revenue net of taxes collected from customers that are remitted to governmental authorities, with the collected taxes recorded within other current liabilities until remitted to the relevant government authority.

The Company’s proportion of net sales by disaggregated revenue source was generally consistent for each reportable segment in Note 11, “Segment Information and Geographic Data” for 2021, 2020 and 2019.

The Company may sell certain of its marketable debt securities prior to their stated maturities for reasons including, but not limited to, managing liquidity, credit risk, duration and asset allocation. The following table shows the fair value of the Company’s non-current marketable debt securities, by contractual maturity, as of September 25, 2021 (in millions):

The Company typically invests in highly rated securities, with the primary objective of minimizing the potential risk of principal loss. The Company’s investment policy generally requires securities to be investment grade and limits the amount of credit exposure to any one issuer. Fair values were determined for each individual security in the investment portfolio.

To protect the Company’s foreign currency–denominated term debt or marketable securities from fluctuations in foreign currency exchange rates, the Company may enter into forward contracts, cross-currency swaps or other instruments. The Company designates these instruments as either cash flow or fair value hedges. As of September 25, 2021, the Company’s hedged term debt– and marketable securities–related foreign currency transactions are expected to be recognized within 21 years.

The Company may also enter into derivative instruments that are not designated as accounting hedges to protect gross margins from certain fluctuations in foreign currency exchange rates, as well as to offset a portion of the foreign currency exchange gains and losses generated by the remeasurement of certain assets and liabilities denominated in non-functional currencies.

The gains and losses recognized in OCI and amounts reclassified from AOCI to net income for the Company’s derivative instruments designated as cash flow hedges were not material in 2021, 2020 and 2019.

The gains and losses on the Company’s derivative instruments designated as fair value hedges and the related hedged item adjustments were not material in 2021, 2020 and 2019.

As of both September 25, 2021 and September 26, 2020, the Company had no customers that individually represented 10% or more of total trade receivables. The Company’s cellular network carriers accounted for 42% of total trade receivables as of September 25, 2021.

The foreign provision for income taxes is based on foreign pretax earnings of $68.7 billion, $38.1 billion and $44.3 billion in 2021, 2020 and 2019, respectively.

A reconciliation of the provision for income taxes, with the amount computed by applying the statutory federal income tax rate (21% in 2021, 2020 and 2019) to income before provision for income taxes for 2021, 2020 and 2019, is as follows (dollars in millions):