Apple Earnings Are a Big Step Back for Transparency
Providing information to stakeholders is an important mission for any company, and the iPhone maker is leaving out key metrics.
Not so clear.
Photographer: Gabby Jones/BloombergIt’s been more than two years since Apple Inc. issued revenue guidance. The iPhone maker initially blamed the Covid-19 pandemic, and later added chip shortages, for its inability to forecast the future. Yet the move is part of a worrying trend toward decreasing transparency at the world’s largest company.
On January 28, 2020, just as lockdown measures were shutting parts of China and a new virus was arriving on U.S. shores, Apple gave a wider than usual March-quarter guidance range because of uncertainty about both consumer demand and supply chain impact. The forecast was for revenue of $63 billion to $67 billion, well ahead of estimates of $62.3 billion, and factored in supply chain struggles from the virus, Chief Executive Officer Tim Cook said at the time.