Linked by Thom Holwerda on Fri 28th Oct 2011 14:49 UTC
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They do count shipments to carriers/operators/resellers as a sale(aka revenue)
To quote the SEC 10K filing from Apple:
Part II. Item 7. Page 26
Critical Accounting Policies and Estimates > Revenue recognition
Net sales consist primarily of revenue from the sale of hardware, software, digital content and applications, peripherals, and service and support contracts. The Company recognizes revenue when persuasive evidence of an arrangement exists, delivery has occurred, the sales price is fixed or determinable, and collection is probable. Product is considered delivered to the customer once it has been shipped and title and risk of loss have been transferred. For most of the Company’s product sales, these criteria are met at the time the product is shipped. For online sales to individuals, for some sales to education customers in the U.S., and for certain other sales, the Company defers recognition of revenue until the customer receives the product because the Company retains a portion of the risk of loss on these sales during transit.
Then I wonder why Apple says "sold" and most companies say "shipped" and people point at the difference between those terms. Of course the difference reflects on the question of changing marketshare, but not on money collected.
Demand for Apple stuff is sow high that there is little difference between shipped and sold for them anyway.
Does Apple sell their iPhones to stores and does Samsung let stores sell their devices in commission, taking back unsold devices?





Member since:
2011-05-12
I have no idea. I guess non-Apple shops report, just like Apple stores, what they have sold.
The numbers Apple report are very likely correct, Apple would be in violation of US law if they weren't.