Apple’s 10-K Shows Asian Stake Sizzling
Apple has found a real sweet spot in the Asia Pacific. The company’s retail presence in the region, along with a fast-developing brand preference for its products among higher-income consumers there, is generating blockbuster sales and profits.
To wit, the company’s latest 10-K filing, issued Wednesday, which shows net sales in the Asia Pacific region rising to $14.3 billion during 2011, compared to 2010.
That’s an increase of 174 percent.
Another data point: In 2010, the Asia Pacific segment represented 13 percent of Apple’s total net sales.
And in 2011?
21 percent.
That’s quite a year-over-year spike, but not all that surprising given Apple’s momentum in Greater China, which includes Hong Kong and Taiwan.
As Apple CEO Tim Cook said during the latest earnings call, the company’s prospects in China are very strong right now. “In my lifetime I’ve never seen a country with as many people rising into the middle class aspiring to buy products that Apple makes,” Cook said. “It’s an area of enormous opportunity. It has quickly become No. 2 on our list of top revenue countries very, very quickly.”