Apple Company Overview

Apple Inc. is a designer and marketer of consumer electronic devices. The company's main products are the iPhone smartphone, the iPad tablet, the iPod line of music players, and lines of personal computers. The company is vertically integrated with respect to design, so it also has a significant revenue source from its software, most of which complements its devices. Apple has its design headquarters in California. The company operates retail locations in several countries around the world, including dozens of locations in the United States. Where there is no Apple retail outlet, the company uses third party retailers. Apple is also one of the world's largest Internet retailers.

Vulnerability to Financial Threats

The consumer electronics industry is heavily driven by new product development. The product life cycle is generally short, and must be extended with new product iterations every year or two. Consumption of consumer electronics is increasing globally, and rapidly. The companies that can deliver the cutting edge devices are the ones that the market is most willing to reward. The need for consumer electronics from consumers is very high, so there is demand for these products even during recession. Apple's two largest products -- the iPhone and the iPad -- rose to prominence during the latest recession. As such, Apple's financial condition has improved rapidly over the past five years. Revenue in 2008 was $37.4 billion, and in 2012 it was...

Net income in 2008 was $6.1 billion and in 2012 it was $41.7 billion.
This rapid growth in the company has translated to its balance sheet as well. The company's total assets have increased from $36 billion in 2008 to $176 billion in 2012. During that period, the company's liabilities grew from $13.8 billion to $57.8 billion, and the company did not add any long-term debt. The value of Apple equity has therefore increased significantly, from $22.3 billion in 2008 to $118.2 billion in 2012. The growth of the company has been so rapid that it has had little opportunity to plow that money back into new business ventures. Apple has instead kept most of its profits on the balance sheet in the form of long-term investments. These were worth $2.3 billion in 2008, and total the book value of these is $92.1 billion.

Given these figures, and the fact that they occurred during the worst recession since the 1930s, the only reasonable conclusion is that Apple's performance is based on new product introductions, and is not in the slightest bit affected by the external economic conditions. Interest rates are not a big factor, apparently. Moreover, Apple competes globally, and quite effectively if the numbers are any indication. Competition has reduced the company's market share in both smartphones and tablets (Satariano, 2013), but this reduced competition has not removed Apple's status as a superstar financial performer. Over time, however, if the competition launches products…