The purpose of the sales report is to document the significant changes within the company’s external market sales and reveal the trends of the further trade operations. A sample of sales report can provide the great opportunity to analyze and extract system changes which appear due to the market issues. In general, sales report shows how the company increases or decreases its income through a certain time period. In terms of financial aspect, the primary meaning has the analytical nature of such account. For example, managers in companies use the method of sales reports in order to detect market opportunities and areas where a certain company can tailor marketing approach in a better way. Overall, it allows to analyze the tendency of sales and extract the necessary information for the manager.
The year of 2015 has attained key significance for the market success of Apple inc. The sales in that period overcame the sales activity of the same period in 2014. Overall, Apple inc. has shown very efficient tendency through the years and its administrative line continues to report about increasing profits. However, the available market reports state that further sales appeared not as successful as it was predicted by the company’s analytics.
Recently, Apple has announced financial results for the last quarter of 2015. The report shows that for the last quarter of 2015, which ended on the twenty-sixth of September, its reported sales revenue reached $51,5 billion. The sales results are compared to the same period of 2014 when total revenue was estimated as $42,1 billion. Moreover, gross margin was established at the point of 39.9 percent, compared to 2014, when it composed 38 percent. The main reason for such growth is covered not only in new product lines but in the expanding to the new markets. Thus, the fourth quarter is highlighted with iPhone record sales, availability of Apple Watch, and record Mac sales report. It is stated that the fiscal 2015 year is the most successful year for Apple with income improvement up to 28 percent. It resulted in $234 billion profit. In addition, the shares of Apple inc. grew by 38 percent and this allowed Apple to boost their capital return program, returning $143 billion from total $200 billion to the investors. Furthermore, the first quarter of 2016 resulted in income between $75.5 billion and $77.5 billion. The gross margin rose up to 40 percent. Operating expenses resulted in $6.4 billion. The tax rate was stated at the point of 26.2 percent.
However, in the second quarter of 2016 company sales sharply decreased for first time in the last thirteen years. In fact, the company revealed sales of about $50.6 billion which mean a decline of 13 percent. Sales of the iPhone which create two-thirds of the company’s revenue have firstly fallen from the time it was released in 2007. This fall is estimated to be from 61 million in 2015 to 51 million in 2016. Moreover, the sales of the iPad and Mac were reported to have a drop by 23 percent compared to the last year.
Overall, it is clear that Apple inc. experiences not the best times. The smartphone market has firstly gone flat in its history, the tablet market has been already flat for several years, and the computer market has become too specific and narrow for the audience to create excessive sales. Apparently, the company has to tailor the new marketing approach or introduce new products in order to attract more customers. In case the company will not do something, the sales fall will continue to increase from year to year.
References
- Apple Forecasts Second Sales Drop as iPhone Woes Deepen. (2016, April 26). Retrieved May 14, 2016, from http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-04-26/apple-forecasts-another-sales-decline-as-iphone-demand-cools
- Apple product unit sales by category 2012-2016 | Statistic. (2016). Retrieved May 26, 2016, from http://www.statista.com/statistics/382302/unit-sales-of-apple-by-product-category/
- Gallo, C. (2012). The Apple experience: Secrets to building insanely great customer loyalty. New York: McGraw-Hill.
- Ingram, T. N. (2004). Sales management: Analysis and decision making. Mason, OH: Thomson/South-Western.
J. Titcomb (2016, April 26). IPhone sales decline for first time ever as Apple revenue falls. Retrieved May 26, 2016, from http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/2016/04/26/iphone-sales-decline-for-first-time-ever-as-apple-revenue-falls/ - Press Info – Apple Reports Record Fourth Quarter Results. (n.d.). Retrieved May 14, 2016, from http://www.apple.com/pr/library/2015/10/27Apple-Reports-Record-Fourth-Quarter-Results.html
