Taoiseach Enda Kenny TD pictured addressing some of Apple's workers in Cork
Guess who paid a visit to Apple’s European headquarters in Cork today – Ireland’s Taoiseach Enda Kenny. And why wouldn’t he? Apple’s been in Cork since 1980, employs 2,800 people there and is about to add another 500 new jobs as part of a major expansion.
Apple confirmed last week it will expand its European base in Cork, creating 500 jobs over the next 18 months in the process.
Apple will build a three-storey office block beside its current base in Cork City in order to expand its business in Europe, the Middle East, India and Africa.
By creating these 500 new jobs, the company will boost its current workforce in Cork to 3,300. Apple set up its plant in Holyhill, Cork, in 1980 and it was its first base outside of the US. This HQ has since seen 55pc year-on-year growth in revenues and in the markets it serviced in the last quarter of 2011.
This week Apple has reported incredible revenues of US$39.2bn for its second quarter, including profits of US$11.6bn driven by the sale of 35m iPhones and 12m iPad devices. The company has US$14bn in cash flow emerging from operations, according to CFO Peter Oppenheimer.
During the second quarter, Apple sold 35.1m iPhones in the quarter, representing 88pc unit growth over the year-ago quarter.
Apple sold 11.8m iPads during the quarter, a 151pc unit increase over the year-ago quarter.
Apple sold 4m Macs during the quarter, a 7pc unit increase over the year-ago quarter. Apple sold 7.7m iPods, a 15pc unit decline from the year-ago quarter.
