Executives at Apple may be celebrating the success of the company’s one billionth application being downloaded from its App Store and smiling about its successful non-holiday quarter, but 1,600 retail employees being laid off have nothing to cheer about. The Cupertino, Calif.-based company downsized from 15,600 retail positions in the last quarter to 14,000 this quarter.
Apple’s retail net sales rose $20 million, or one percent, in its fiscal second quarter compared to a year ago and revenue grew more than eight percent. However, the growth in retail net sales was less than the increase in the average number of stores open.
“I don’t think it is a particularly big deal,” said Michael Gartenberg, vice president of strategy for Interpret. “This is a case of wanting to make sure you are on target with what it is you are doing and lining up resources with sales. It is possible we saw overstaffing in some areas.”
“In retail you are always balancing resources and on one hand you are covered and not short-staffed, and on the other side of the equation you don’t want to be overstaffed,” he added.
The job cuts are a result of a challenging consumer spending environment, according to the company. The average revenue per store decreased 17 percent from $7.1 million in the second quarter of 2008 to $5.9 million, according to financial documents filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Apple’s increase in net sales came from the iPhone and strong demand for the MacBook, according to the company. Apple, however, also saw a decrease in sales for most other products, including the MacBook Air, MacBook Pro, and iPods, according to the company.
“This is not the typical selling season to begin with, and you are in the middle of a recession,” Gartenberg said. “Still, (with…