Just some more garnishing on the dish,
iPhone 5c Channel Fill Helped Apple To Report Nine Million Units Sold - Forbes
The Company (Apple) recognizes revenue when persuasive evidence of an arrangement exists, delivery has occurred, the sales price is fixed or determinable, and collection is probable. Product is considered delivered to the customer once it has been shipped and title and risk of loss have been transferred. For most of the Company’s product sales, these criteria are met at the time the product is shipped. For online sales to individuals, for some sales to education customers in the U.S., and for certain other sales, the Company defers revenue until the customer receives the product because the Company retains a portion of the risk of loss on these sales during transit.
It seems like a small thing, but it is important to keep in mind when evaluating the mobile market, especially as it matures and multiple sales channels are employed. In order to present the clearest possible picture of how demand for Apple’s products stands in relation to its competitors, we will be referring to Apple’s announced numbers as “shipped” from now on
Please read Apples latest 10-k filing, specifically end of page 26 last para, its on their own website
Apple Inc. - Financial History
What Apple really means when it says it has “sold” a product — Tech News and Analysis
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The data still shows an impressive result for Apple: about 400 million iPhones sold in total since the product line’s introduction. But the whole picture is far less positive. As we all know,
iPhone sales have declined over the last three quarters and, if the slight drop in the slope at the tip of the chart is reflective of actual sales, Apple will again reveal another decline during its fourth fiscal quarter report at the end of October.
Another issue with the chart is that it
hides important
realities about Apple’s customer base and the number of iPhones still in use. There’s no question that Apple CEO Tim Cook wanted to present an impression that the company’s iPhone is “on the rise,” both in terms of hardware sales and customers. While the company is adding likely millions of new customers every month, the chart
hides the fact that
many of those cumulative iPhone sales went to existing customers who either upgraded to a new model or replaced an existing model due to loss or damage.
Related to upgrades and replacements, the chart also hides the fact that many millions of units are no longer in service, having been sent to landfills or otherwise destroyed.
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I hope it clears some fog off the road.