Apple Workforce Up - and Power Mac Profits Down


Apple's total workforce numbered over 12,000 for fiscal 2002, according to documents filed by the company with the SEC, and cited by ZDNet UK This compares with 11,434 employees at the end of fiscal 2001.

However, ThinkSecret reported this week that 40-50% of the (now) decimated PowerSchool operation were given the pink slip recently.

Apple's SEC filing notes that its share of the educaiton market has declined over the last two years. PowerSchool chief Cheryl Vedoe left the operation in September this year, as the subsidiary underwent a reorganization.

However, accounting predominantly for the increase in employment at Apple were the new Retail Stores, with over 800 employees. Meanwhile, Apple has made minor staffing cuts, totalling around 180 in Q4. While significant layoffs for Apple, the cuts introduced by Dell in Europe this year, together with HP-Compaq's significant level of redundancies globally in 2002, represent much wider job shedding.

There is also a surprisingly frank admission about the state of Power Mac sales in Apple's SEC filing: If future unit sales of Power Macintosh systems fail to partially or fully recover, it will be difficult for the company to improve its overall profitability,"

Analysis: Job losses aside, the Power Mac comment is revealing. It also suggests why Apple may have intro'd XServe in the first place. After all, it largely appropriates the Power Mac's architecture, meaning shared R&D costs. Not high volume, but fairly pricey hardware.

Is the Power Mac on the endangered list? Not likely. Is it due to the perceived MHz gap? Not probable either. As we all know, Apple's core graphics/publishing markets are suffering a lot from the economic downturn, and these sectors are what kick Power Mac sales along. When the recovery happens, so will PM sales.