R emember that charge that Apple took during the December quarter? C|Netis Ian Fried dug into Appleis SEC filings to find that Apple laid off 260 people during the quarter. Apple has been laying off people from its corporate and manufacturing operations during the last several years, while adding head count through the companyis expanding retail operations.
According to the C|Net article, the job cuts came from closing a manufacturing plant in Singapore, as well as shifts in its PowerSchool business, which has been previously reported on the Internet. From the C|Net article:
In the Securities and Exchange Commission filing, Apple said that 197 of the 260 job cuts had been made by Dec. 28, the end of its first quarter. The Cupertino, Calif.-based computer maker said when it reported first-quarter earnings last month that it was taking a charge to cover restructuring actions, but did not say then how many jobs were being cut.
The cuts included those related to the closing of the Singapore plant in the companyis fourth quarter, reductions in the PowerSchool unit and "the termination of various sales and marketing activities in the United States and Europe," according to the filing.
The article notes that Appleis overall head count continues to grow. Also of note in the article is news that Apple will be opening more of its larger-design Apple Store retail locations in 2003. These stores are similar to the store in SoHo (Manhattan), and offer a much higher profile, while substantially higher costs. Read the full article for more information.