A 70 percent increase in capital spending could signal Apple is preparing to chart a new course with some products. The Cupertino, Calif. company told federal regulators it will spend $1.9 billion in capital expenditures during fiscal 2010 – a jump from the $1.1 billion spend in 2009.
In its 10K filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, Apple mentioned some of the money would go toward ‘product tooling and manufacturing process equipment,’ a sign the company may be “reversing course to actually build certain products/components in-house,” Caris & Company analyst Robert Cihra told investors Monday.
Along with altering course for manufacturing, there are signals Apple is also preparing to offer new services for iPhone or iTunes users – even entering the ‘cloud computing’ market, according to Cihra. In June, Apple picked Maiden, N.C. as the site for a $1 billion server farm, but left unanswered how the computer maker would use the new facility.
The analyst expects Apple will report record sales for the December quarter, predicting 3.4 million Macs will sell – up from the previous 3 million record posted in September – due largely to Apple’s new 13-inch unibody Macbook and the redesigned iMac.
Additionally, Apple may break its own iPhone sales record, recording 10 million in handset sales for December, up from 7.4 million announced in September. The reason: Apple has 20 percent more phones on hand to meet customer demand, plus the newly-announced sales of iPhones in China.
[Via AppleInsider]
