Note 6 – Commitments and Contingencies

Accrued Warranty and Indemnifications

The following table summarizes changes in the Company’s accrued warranties and related costs for the three- and nine-month periods ended June 25, 2011 and June 26, 2010 (in millions):

 

 C:  C:  C:  C: 

			September 30,				September 30,				September 30,				September 30,
		Three Months Ended								Nine Months Ended
		June 25, 2011				June 26, 2010				June 25, 2011				June 26, 2010
Beginning accrued warranty and related costs		$	1,103			$	588			$	761			$	577
Cost of warranty claims			(288	)			(155	)			(790	)			(427	)
Accruals for product warranty			375				157				1,219				440
Ending accrued warranty and related costs		$	1,190			$	590			$	1,190			$	590

The Company generally does not indemnify end-users of its operating system and application software against legal claims that the software infringes third-party intellectual property rights. Other agreements entered into by the Company sometimes include indemnification provisions under which the Company could be subject to costs and/or damages in the event of an infringement claim against the Company or an indemnified third-party. However, the Company has not been required to make any significant payments resulting from such an infringement claim asserted against it or an indemnified third-party. In the opinion of management, there was not at least a reasonable possibility the Company may have incurred a material loss with respect to indemnification of end-users of its operating system or application software for infringement of third-party intellectual property rights. The Company did not record a liability for infringement costs related to indemnification as of either June 25, 2011 or September 25, 2010.

The Company has entered into indemnification agreements with its directors and executive officers. Under these agreements, the Company has agreed to indemnify such individuals to the fullest extent permitted by law against liabilities that arise by reason of their status as directors or officers and to advance expenses incurred by such individuals in connection with related legal proceedings. It is not possible to determine the maximum potential amount of payments the Company could be required to make under these agreements due to the limited history of prior indemnification claims and the unique facts and circumstances involved in each claim. However, the Company maintains directors and officers liability insurance coverage to reduce its exposure to such obligations, and payments made under these agreements historically have not been material.

Concentrations in the Available Sources of Supply of Materials and Product

Although most components essential to the Company’s business are generally available from multiple sources, certain key components including but not limited to microprocessors, enclosures, certain liquid crystal displays (“LCDs”), certain optical drives and application-specific integrated circuits (“ASICs”) are currently obtained by the Company from single or limited sources, which subjects the Company to significant supply and pricing risks. Many of these and other key components that are available from multiple sources including but not limited to NAND flash memory, dynamic random access memory (“DRAM”) and certain LCDs, are subject at times to industry-wide shortages and significant commodity pricing fluctuations. In addition, the Company has entered into certain agreements for the supply of key components including, but not limited to, microprocessors, NAND flash memory, DRAM and LCDs with favorable pricing, but there can be no guarantee that the Company will be able to extend or renew these agreements on similar favorable terms, or at all, upon expiration or otherwise obtain favorable pricing in the future. Therefore, the Company remains subject to significant risks of supply shortages and/or price increases that can materially adversely affect its financial condition and operating results.

The Company and other participants in the mobile communication and media device, and personal computer industries also compete for various components with other industries that have experienced increased demand for their products. In addition, the Company uses some custom components that are not common to the rest of these industries, and new products introduced by the Company often utilize custom components available from only one source. When a component or product uses new technologies, initial capacity constraints may exist until the suppliers’ yields have matured or manufacturing capacity has increased. If the Company’s supply of a key single-sourced component for a new or existing product were delayed or constrained, if such components were available only at significantly higher prices, or if a key outsourcing partner delayed shipments of completed products to the Company, the Company’s financial condition and operating results could be materially adversely affected. The Company’s business and financial performance could also be adversely affected depending on the time required to obtain sufficient quantities from the original source, or to identify and obtain sufficient quantities from an alternative source. Continued availability of these components at acceptable prices, or at all, may be affected if those suppliers decided to concentrate on the production of common components instead of components customized to meet the Company’s requirements.

 

Substantially all of the Company’s iPhones, iPads, Macs, iPods, logic boards and other assembled products are manufactured by outsourcing partners, primarily in various parts of Asia. A significant concentration of this outsourced manufacturing is currently performed by only a few outsourcing partners of the Company, often in single locations. Certain of these outsourcing partners are the sole-sourced supplier of components and manufacturing outsourcing for many of the Company’s key products including but not limited to final assembly of substantially all of the Company’s hardware products. Although the Company works closely with its outsourcing partners on manufacturing schedules, the Company’s operating results could be adversely affected if its outsourcing partners were unable to meet their production commitments. The Company’s purchase commitments typically cover its requirements for periods ranging from 30 to 150 days.

Long-Term Supply Agreements

The Company has entered into long-term agreements to secure the supply of certain inventory components. These agreements generally expire between 2011 and 2022. As of June 25, 2011, the Company had a total of $2.4 billion of inventory component prepayments outstanding, of which $701 million are classified as other current assets and $1.7 billion are classified as other assets in the Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets. The Company had a total of $956 million of inventory component prepayments outstanding as of September 25, 2010. The Company’s outstanding prepayments will be applied to certain inventory component purchases made during the term of each respective agreement. As of June 25, 2011, the Company had off-balance sheet commitments under long-term supply agreements totaling approximately $1.7 billion to make additional inventory component prepayments and to acquire capital equipment in 2011 and beyond.

Other Off-Balance Sheet Commitments

The Company leases various equipment and facilities, including retail space, under noncancelable operating lease arrangements. The Company does not currently utilize any other off-balance sheet financing arrangements. The major facility leases are typically for terms not exceeding 10 years and generally provide renewal options for terms not exceeding five additional years. Leases for retail space are for terms ranging from five to 20 years, the majority of which are for 10 years, and often contain multi-year renewal options. As of June 25, 2011, the Company’s total future minimum lease payments under noncancelable operating leases were $2.7 billion, of which $2.2 billion related to leases for retail space.

Additionally, as of June 25, 2011, the Company had outstanding off-balance sheet commitments for outsourced manufacturing and component purchases of $11.0 billion. Other outstanding obligations were $1.6 billion as of June 25, 2011, and were comprised mainly of commitments to acquire product tooling and manufacturing process equipment and commitments related to advertising, research and development, Internet and telecommunications services and other obligations. These commitments exclude the off-balance sheet commitments under the long-term supply agreements described above.

Contingencies

The Company is subject to various legal proceedings and claims that have arisen in the ordinary course of business and have not been fully adjudicated, which are discussed in Part II, Item 1 of this Form 10-Q under the heading “Legal Proceedings” and in Part II Item 1A under the heading “Risk Factors.” In the opinion of management, there was not at least a reasonable possibility the Company may have incurred a material loss, or a material loss in excess of a recorded accrual, with respect to loss contingencies. However, the outcome of litigation is inherently uncertain. Therefore, although management considers the likelihood of such an outcome to be remote, if one or more of these legal matters were resolved against the Company in the same reporting period for amounts in excess of management’s expectations, the Company’s condensed consolidated financial statements of a particular reporting period could be materially adversely affected.

 

On March 14, 2008, Mirror Worlds, LLC filed an action against the Company alleging that certain of its products infringed on three patents covering technology used to display files. On October 1, 2010, a jury returned a verdict against the Company, and awarded damages of $208 million per patent for each of the three patents asserted. On April 4, 2011, the Judge overturned the verdict in the Company’s favor. Mirror Worlds has appealed the ruling. The Company had not recorded a loss contingency for this action.

Production and marketing of products in certain states and countries may subject the Company to environmental, product safety and other regulations including, in some instances, the requirement to provide customers the ability to return product at the end of its useful life, and place responsibility for environmentally safe disposal or recycling with the Company. Such laws and regulations have been passed in several jurisdictions in which the Company operates, including various countries within Europe and Asia and certain states and provinces within North America. Although the Company does not anticipate any material adverse effects in the future based on the nature of its operations and the thrust of such laws, there can be no assurance that such existing laws or future laws will not materially adversely affect the Company’s financial condition or operating results.