Apple 2000 Annual Report Download - page 8

Download and view the complete annual report

Please find page 8 of the 2000 Apple annual report below. You can navigate through the pages in the report by either clicking on the pages listed below, or by using the keyword search tool below to find specific information within the annual report.

Page out of 85

  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5
  • 6
  • 7
  • 8
  • 9
  • 10
  • 11
  • 12
  • 13
  • 14
  • 15
  • 16
  • 17
  • 18
  • 19
  • 20
  • 21
  • 22
  • 23
  • 24
  • 25
  • 26
  • 27
  • 28
  • 29
  • 30
  • 31
  • 32
  • 33
  • 34
  • 35
  • 36
  • 37
  • 38
  • 39
  • 40
  • 41
  • 42
  • 43
  • 44
  • 45
  • 46
  • 47
  • 48
  • 49
  • 50
  • 51
  • 52
  • 53
  • 54
  • 55
  • 56
  • 57
  • 58
  • 59
  • 60
  • 61
  • 62
  • 63
  • 64
  • 65
  • 66
  • 67
  • 68
  • 69
  • 70
  • 71
  • 72
  • 73
  • 74
  • 75
  • 76
  • 77
  • 78
  • 79
  • 80
  • 81
  • 82
  • 83
  • 84
  • 85

Company's existing products. The principal competitive factors in this market are relative price/performance, product quality and reliability,
peripherals, and corporate reputation. The Company is currently taking and will continue to take steps to respond to the competitive pressures
being placed on its personal computer sales as a result of innovations in the Windows platform. The Company's future operating results and
financial condition are substantially dependent on its ability to continue to develop improvements to the Macintosh platform in order to
maintain perceived functional and design advantages over competing platforms.
Further information relating to the competitive conditions of the personal computing industry and the Company's competitive position in that
market place may be found in Part II, Item 7 of this Form 10-K under the subheading "Competition," included under the heading "Factors That
May Affect Future Results and Financial Condition," which information is hereby incorporated by reference.
RAW MATERIALS
Although certain components essential to the Company's business are generally available from multiple sources, other key components
(including microprocessors and application-specific integrated circuits ("ASICs")) are currently obtained by the Company from single or
limited sources. Some other key components, while currently available to the Company from multiple sources, are at times subject to industry
wide availability and pricing pressures. In addition, the Company uses some components that are not common to the rest of the personal
the Company has evaluated whether there is a need for and subsequently qualifies additional suppliers. If the supply of a key or single-sourced
to the Company, the Company's ability to ship related products in desired quantities and in a timely manner could be adversely affected. The
Company's business and financial performance could also be adversely affected depending on the time required to obtain sufficient quantities
from the original source, or to identify and obtain sufficient quantities from an alternative source. Continued availability of these components
may be affected if producers were to decide to concentrate on the production of common components instead of components customized to
meet the Company's requirements. The Company attempts to mitigate these potential risks by working closely with these and other key
suppliers on product introduction plans, strategic inventories, coordinated product introductions, and internal and external manufacturing
schedules and levels. Consistent with industry practice, components are normally acquired through purchase orders typically covering the
Company's forecasted requirements for periods from 30 to 130 days. However, the Company continues to evaluate the need for a supply
contract in each situation.
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 position. At this time, such vendors include Alpha-Top Corporation, Ambit
Microsystems Corporation, ATI Technologies, Inc., Darfon Electronics Corporation, Hon Hai Precision Industry Co., Ltd., IBM Corporation,
LG Electronics, Lucent Technologies Inc., Matsushita, Mitsubishi Electric Corporation, Motorola, Inc., NatSteel Electronics PTE Ltd., Philips
Semiconductors, Samsung Electronics, and Quanta Computer, Inc.
Further discussion relating to availability and supply of components and product may be found in Part II, Item 7 of this Form 10-K under the
subheading "Inventory and Supply" included under the heading "Factors That May Affect Future Results and Financial Condition," and in Part
II, Item 8 of this Form 10-
K in the Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements at Note 9 under the subheading "Concentrations in the Available
Sources of Supply of Materials and Product," which information is hereby incorporated by reference.
5