Apple 2010 Annual Report Download - page 5

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Table of Contents
Consumer and Small and Mid-Sized Business
The Company believes a high-quality buying experience with knowledgeable salespersons who can convey the value of the Company’
s products
and services greatly enhances its ability to attract and retain customers. The Company sells many of its products and resells certain third-
party
products in most of its major markets directly to consumers and businesses through its retail and online stores. The Company has also invested in
programs to enhance reseller sales by placing high quality Apple fixtures, merchandising materials and other resources within selected third-
party reseller locations. Through the Apple Premium Reseller Program, certain third-
party resellers focus on the Apple platform by providing a
high level of integration and support services, and product expertise.
As of September 25, 2010, the Company had opened a total of 317 retail stores, including 233 stores in the U.S. and 84 stores internationally.
The Company has typically located its stores at high-
traffic locations in quality shopping malls and urban shopping districts. By operating its
own stores and locating them in desirable high-
traffic locations, the Company is better positioned to control the customer buying experience and
attract new customers. The stores are designed to simplify and enhance the presentation and marketing of the Company’
s products and related
solutions. To that end, retail store configurations have evolved into various sizes to accommodate market-
specific demands. The Company
believes providing direct contact with its targeted customers is an effective way to demonstrate the advantages of its products over those of its
competitors. The stores employ experienced and knowledgeable personnel who provide product advice, service and training. The stores offer a
wide selection of third-party hardware, software, and various other accessories and peripherals that complement the Company’s products.
Education
Throughout its history, 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 thoughts and ideas. The Company has designed a range of products, services and programs to address the needs of education customers,
including individual laptop programs and education road shows. In addition, the Company supports mobile learning and real-
time distribution
and accessibility of education related materials through iTunes U, which allows students and teachers to share and distribute educational media
directly through their computers and mobile communication and media devices. The Company sells its products to the education market through
its direct sales force, select third-party resellers and its online and retail stores.
Enterprise, Government and Creative
The Company also sells its hardware and software products to customers in enterprise, government and creative markets in each of its
geographic segments. These markets are also important to many third-party developers who provide Mac-
compatible hardware and software
solutions. Customers in these markets utilize the Company’s products because of their high-
powered computing performance and expansion
capabilities, networking functionality, and seamless integration with complementary products. The Company designs its high-
end hardware
solutions to incorporate the power, expandability, compatibility and other features desired by these markets.
Other
In addition to consumer, SMB, education, enterprise, government and creative markets, the Company provides hardware and software products
and solutions for customers in the information technology and scientific markets.
Business Organization
The Company manages its business primarily on a geographic basis. The Company’
s reportable operating segments consist of the Americas,
Europe, Japan, Asia-Pacific and Retail. The Americas, Europe, Japan and
2