Apple NZ has bumper year

AUCKLAND: Apple’s New Zealand business clocked a boomer year despite the pandemic — or possibly because of it — as punters turned to tech amid the remoteworking boom.

Apple Sales NZ — fully owned by Apple’s Australian subsidiary, in turn fully owned by its US parent — saw revenue for the year to September 26, 2020 jump 15% to $965 million. ation in Australia.

It was possible that Apple had paid a 28% rate in New Zealand then a 2% topup to the ATO, or that the full 30% had been paid across the Tasman (queries are in with all the parties; none would comment last year).

No tax authority is named in the filing; the IRD has a policy of not commenting on individual filings. Unlike a number of other Big Tech companies, including Microsoft and Oracle, Apple Sales NZ’s filing does not reference any IRD inquiry into alleged profit shifting. Apple, along with other firms, has been under scrutiny in Australia.

Apple’s filing breaks down product ($941 million) compared with services ($24.1 million) but not products by category.

However, earlier, Gartner noted a trend of New Zealanders spending much less on smartphones during 2020, while sales of laptops surged, mirroring a worldwide trend as consumers working from home reprioritised.

Apple is due to deliver its global result tomorrow. Analysts expect it to report quarterly sales that top $US100 billion ($NZ139 billion); only a handful of companies, including Walmart and Exxon Mobil, have reported higher quarterly revenue. — The New Zealand Herald