Apple’s numbers
As you may know, profits at Apple for Q4, 2014 were some $18billion. This is reportedly the largest quarterly profit in history.
One of the things accountants often do is use ratios to compare businesses from one year to another and with other businesses. With such a large profit at Apple, I’d begin to think that any comparisons might not be of great value. So is there any way we could our such a number is perspective. Certainly Apple could probably clear all Irish sovereign debt with there cash pile, but here is an interesting presentation from the BBC
What is the margin on the Apple iPhone 5S and 5C?
This is a question I often asked, well about all iPhone models since my iPhone 3. Below is a link to a post by Wendy Tietz which includes good estimates. It is set out like a student exercise too, so give it a go if you have the time. Seems Apple make quite a margin, and it seem the mobile operators subsidise quite a bit too.
Martin's accounting blog 