Apple 2004 Annual Report Download - page 6

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classes, including the popular "Getting Started" class, and have brought back the concept of customer service with innovations like the Genius
Bar.
Education
For more than 25 years, the Company has focused on the use of technology in education and has been committed to delivering tools to help
educators teach and students learn. The Company believes effective integration of technology into classroom instruction can result in higher
levels of student achievement, especially when used to support collaboration, information access, and the expression and representation of
student thought and ideas. The Company creates solutions that enable new modes of curriculum delivery, better ways of conducting research,
and opportunities for professional development of faculty, students, and staff. A range of products and services is designed by the Company to
help schools maximize their investments in technology. This is manifested in many of the Company's products and services that are designed to
meet the needs of education customers, including the eMac™ and the iBook®, video editing solutions, wireless networking capabilities, student
information systems, one-to-one learning solutions, and high-quality curriculum and professional development solutions.
Creative Professionals
Creative professionals constitute one of the Company's most important markets for both hardware and software products. This market is also
important to many third-party developers who provide Macintosh compatible hardware and software solutions. Creative customers utilize the
Company's products for a variety of creative activities including digital video and film production and editing; digital video and film special
effects, compositing, and titling; digital still photography; graphic design, publishing, and print production; music performance and production;
audio production and sound design; and web design, development and administration.
The Company designs its high-end hardware solutions, including servers, desktops, and portable Macintosh systems, to incorporate the power,
expandability, and features desired by creative professionals. Additionally, the Company's operating system, Mac OS X, incorporates powerful
graphics and audio technologies and features developer tools to optimize system and application performance when running powerful creative
solutions provided by the Company or third-party developers. The Company also offers various software solutions to meet the needs of its
creative customers, many of which are described below.
Business Organization
The Company manages its business primarily on a geographic basis. The Company's reportable operating segments are comprised of the
Americas, Europe, Japan, and Retail. The Americas segment includes both North and South America, except for the activities of the Company's
Retail segment. The Europe segment includes European countries as well as the Middle East and Africa. The Japan segment includes only Japan
and excludes revenue from the Company's own retail stores in Japan, which is included in the Company's Retail segment. The Retail segment
currently operates Apple-owned retail stores in the U.S., Japan and England. Other operating segments include Asia-Pacific, which includes
Australia and Asia except for Japan, and the Company's subsidiary, FileMaker, Inc. Each reportable geographic operating segment provides
similar hardware and software products and similar services. Further information regarding the Company's operating segments may be found in
Part II, Item 7 of this Form 10-K under the heading "Segment Operating Performance," and in Part II, Item 8 of this Form 10-K in the Notes to
Consolidated Financial Statements at Note 11, "Segment Information and Geographic Data."
Hardware Products
The Company offers a range of personal computing products including desktop and notebook personal computers, related devices and
peripherals, and various third-party hardware products. All of the Company's Macintosh® products utilize PowerPC® RISC-based
microprocessors. The Company's entire line of Macintosh systems, excluding servers and storage systems, features the Company's Mac OS® X
3