Apple 2007 Annual Report Download - page 4

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The Business section and other parts of this Annual Report on Form 10-K ("Form 10-K") contain forward-looking statements that involve risks
and uncertainties. Many of the forward-looking statements are located in "Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and
Results of Operations." Forward
-looking statements provide current expectations of future events based on certain assumptions and include any
statement that does not directly relate to any historical or current fact. Forward-looking statements can also be identified by words such as
"anticipates," "believes," "estimates," "expects," "intends," "plans," "predicts," and similar terms. Forward-looking statements are not
guarantees of future performance and the Company's actual results may differ significantly from the results discussed in the forward
-looking
statements. Factors that might cause such differences include, but are not limited to, those discussed in the subsection entitled "Risk Factors"
under Part I, Item 1A of this Form 10-K. The Company assumes no obligation to revise or update any forward-looking statements for any
reason, except as required by law.
PART I
Item 1. Business
Company Background
Apple Inc. and its wholly-owned subsidiaries (collectively "Apple" or the "Company") design, manufacture, and market personal computers,
portable digital music players, and mobile communication devices and sells a variety of related software, services, peripherals, and networking
solutions. The Company sells its products worldwide through its online stores, its retail stores, its direct sales force, and third-party wholesalers,
resellers, and value-added resellers. In addition, the Company sells a variety of third-party Macintosh ("Mac"), iPod and iPhone compatible
products, including application software, printers, storage devices, speakers, headphones, and various other accessories and peripherals through
its online and retail stores. The Company sells to education, consumer, creative professional, business, and government customers. The
Company's fiscal year is the 52 or 53-
week period that ends on the last Saturday of September. Unless otherwise stated, all information presented
in this Form 10-K is based on the Company's fiscal calendar.
Business Strategy
The Company is committed to bringing the best personal computing, portable digital music and mobile communication experience to students,
educators, creative professionals, businesses, government agencies, and consumers through its innovative hardware, software, peripherals,
services, and Internet offerings. The Company's business strategy leverages its unique ability to design and develop its own operating system,
hardware, application software, and services to provide its customers new products and solutions with superior ease-of-
use, seamless integration,
and innovative industrial design. The Company believes continual investment in research and development is critical to the development and
enhancement of innovative products and technologies. In addition to evolving its personal computers and related solutions, the Company
continues to capitalize on the convergence of the personal computer, digital consumer electronics and mobile communications by creating and
refining innovations, such as the iPod, iPhone, iTunes Store, and Apple TV. The Company's strategy also includes expanding its distribution
network to effectively reach more of its targeted customers and provide them with a high-quality sales and post-sales support experience.
Digital Lifestyle
The Company believes that for both professionals and consumers the personal computer has become the center of an evolving digital lifestyle by
integrating with and enhancing the utility of advanced digital devices such as the Company's iPods, iPhones, digital video and still cameras,
televisions, personal digital assistants, and other digital devices. The attributes of the personal computer that enable this functionality include a
high-quality user interface, easy access to relatively inexpensive data storage, the ability to run complex applications, and the ability to connect
easily to a wide variety of other digital devices and to the Internet. The Company is the only participant in the personal computer industry that
controls the design
1