Apple slices retail staff as sales slide Apple has cut the number of full-time retail staff it employs from 15,600 to 14,000 as sales growth slowed in the second quarter of 2009. According to an SEC filing Apple's retail sales grew by $20m, or one per cent, in the second quarter of fiscal 2009 compared to the same period of 2008. iPhone and Macbook sales made up most …
What a NASTY thing to say! What a silly little boy you are! It's sad that ANYBODY should loose their job, wheter they work for Microsoft, Apple, Sun, or whoever. I hope that you loose yours...
So thats approximately 6 people PER store just to put some perspective on things, still why change "journalsitic" style, eh Reg? When were you bought by the Daily Express Group?
'Equivalent full time staff hours' is an accounting procedure to help grasp the likely bill in wages, and does not record the actual number of workers that make up those hours worked. So.... a drop in this figure could mean that staff are working fewer hours, or that there are indeed fewer staff. Or combinations thereof.
"An assumption is a conveniently tempting platform from which to jump to a conclusion. It's usually further than you think."
I believe if you ready closely you will see that these are not people but people hour equivalents. In other words if Apple cuts back on hours, the numbers drop. Also note that its before the holidays and after the holidays. Takes a real genius to know that you have more store hours during the holidays than after....
PS. note that last year same time Apple reported 12,000 mhe units and 14,000 this year. More people or just super overtime????
Brains on you folks. And remember to read the words.... they are important. :-)
Just a thought.
en
We'll maybe with all the redundant retail space it could actually sell apples and apple products. You know - pies, cobbler, dumplings - candy apples. It would mean having to retrain the staff to know what Brown Betty meant or a Macintosh other than an old doorstop of a computer. Just a thought.
1) This has already been debunked... fully...
No, Apple did not fire 1,600 retail store employees
http://macdailynews.com/index....blog/comments/20915/
2) The number of full-time equivalent employees went UP year-over-year from 12,000 to 14,000...
"Apple's SEC 10-Q filing, dated May 1, 2008, clearly and unequivocally stated, "As of March 29, 2008, the Retail segment had approximately 12,000 full-time equivalent employees." 14,000 today - 12,000 a year ago = 2,000 new employees! Okay, "full-time equivalents" or "man-hours," whatever. "
3a) This is also wrong... it's 15,900 not 15,600...
"The Wall Street Journal noted that the filing also indicated that Apple's estimate of roughly 14,000 "full-time equivalent employees" is down from 15,600 reported in Apple's 10-Q filing from January."
3b) As someone already pointed out the reduction was a result of holiday staff...
"[The cuts were] in retail. After Christmas. Meaning holiday staff, as usual, did not continue past the holidays. Also in the same 10-Q filing, conversely, Apple increased R&D headcount in the current year to support expanded R&D activities, but did not provide a hard figure, perhaps in order to protect that information from competitors. We predict that these facts will not be present in many (if any) other media outlets' news stories about this issue."
4) The Register just had a system failure on the facts. Please re-boot and fix your article.
5) These are much more fun to read... these are not holiday staff... since MS has no retail stores!
Microsoft quarterly revenue drops for first time in company history; net income plummets 32%
http://macdailynews.com/index....blog/comments/20901/
Analyst predicts more Microsoft layoffs than 5,000 already announced
http://macdailynews.com/index....blog/comments/20860/
@Alexis Vallance
Apple hasn't raised prices, the £ has simply lowered against the $ in the last 8 months. So your complaint lies elsewhere... this handy chart will show you why prices for you... are increasing.
http://finance.yahoo.com/q/bc?s=GBPUSD=X&t=1y&l=on&z=m&q=l&c=
When the old prices were set, it was over $2 to the pound; today it's $1.47. It's your pounds that have shrunk, not Apple's prices that have grown. Currency hedging by Apple protected customers before recent model changes, so that's why I bought my Macbook in December.
Also, "Full time equivalents" means total man-hours worked divided by total hours available to work. It's nothing to do with "full time employees" versus temporary. There was a surge in the second half of 2008, using extra temporary staff and overtime related to the holiday period and the iPhone G3 launch, which is now passed. (Selling an iPhone 3G is labour intensive including carrier activation). No-one's been laid off, so far as anyone knows.
However, Apple's retail sales per-store are down substantially.
"Apple hasn't raised prices, the £ has simply lowered against the $ in the last 8 months. So your complaint lies elsewhere... this handy chart will show you why prices for you... are increasing."
Yes its always interesting when american companies do that, yet when the pound gets better against the dollor....... the price doesn't go down and tends to stay the same!!!
That is why us brits get annoyed with price rises like this, because they never seem to go down as quick as they should, but shoot up the moment the pound gets weaker.
The Register 
Biting the hand that feeds IT
Copyright. All rights reserved © 1998–2025
