Apple's most valuable vendors; New campus on tap; Jobs raise possible
Apple filed its annual report with the Securities and Exchange Commission Thursday and outlined a few notable items: A list of most valuable vendors, a second corporate campus on tap, component costs and a potential raise for Steve Jobs.
Among the highlights:
The company outlined its most valuable vendors. A passage from the SEC filing that reveals a few suppliers that aren't exactly household names:
The Company believes there are several component suppliers and manufacturing vendors whose loss to the Company could have a material adverse effect upon the Company's business and financial condition. At this time, such vendors include Agere Systems, Inc., Ambit Microsystems Corporation, Amperex Technology Limited, ASUSTeK Corporation, ATI Technologies, Inc., Atheros Communications Inc., AU Optronics Corporation, Broadcom Corporation, Chi Mei Optoelectronics Corporation, Cypress Semiconductor Corporation, Hitachi Global Storage Technologies, Hon Hai Precision Industry Co., Ltd., Infineon Technologies AG, Intel Corporation, Inventec Appliances Corporation, LG. Phillips Co., Ltd., Matsushita, Murata Manufacturing Co., Ltd., National Semiconductor Corporation, NVIDIA Corp., Inc., Quanta Computer, Inc., Renesas Semiconductor Co. Ltd., Samsung Electronics, Sony Corporation, Synaptics, Inc., Texas Instruments, and Toshiba Corporation. Certain of these vendors are the sole-sourced supplier of components and manufacturing outsourcing for many of the Company's key products, including but not limited to, assembly of most of the Company's portable Mac computers, iPods, and iPhones.
Jobs may get a raise (Techmeme). From the filing:
Apple's CEO, Steve Jobs, currently holds approximately 5.5 million shares of Apple common stock. Since rejoining Apple in 1997, Mr. Jobs has never sold a share of Apple stock. His last equity grant was awarded in 2003, and vested in full in 2006. Mr. Jobs currently holds no unvested equity awards. In fiscal 2007, Mr. Jobs's entire compensation consisted of his $1 annual salary. Because Mr. Jobs's continued leadership is critical to Apple, the Compensation Committee is considering additional compensation arrangements for him.
Apple's annual research and development expenditures totaled $782 million, $712 million, and $535 million in 2007, 2006, and 2005, respectively.
Apple expects component costs to rise. "The Company expects to experience decreases in its gross margin percentage in fiscal year 2008, as compared to levels achieved during fiscal year 2007, due in part to current and expected future price increases for certain components," said Apple.
A second corporate campus is on deck in the future. "The company owns approximately 2.4 million square feet of facilities for research and development and corporate functions in Cupertino, California, including approximately 1.0 million square feet purchased in 2007 and 2006 for the future development of the Company's second corporate campus in Cupertino, California, and approximately 107,000 square feet for a data center in Newark, California."
Jobs flew a bit more in 2007. "The Company entered into a Reimbursement Agreement with its CEO, Steve Jobs, for the reimbursement of expenses incurred by Mr. Jobs in the operation of his private plane when used for Apple business. The Company recognized a total of approximately $776,000, $202,000, and $1,100,000 in expenses pursuant to the Reimbursement Agreement during 2007, 2006, and 2005, respectively."