Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) is more than just a large company, it is a significant driving force of world economies. The Cupertino-based tech giant recently shared stats regarding the company’s contribution to Europe.
Apple is a key economic force in Europe
The iPhone maker reports it created 629,000 jobs throughout Europe, and 500,000 of those jobs were actually from the app economy. There is little doubt Apple is the driving force in the app world thanks to the perennially popular App Store. From about $20 billion in worldwide developer earnings, roughly $6.5 billion has gone to European developers. This year, Apple estimates the app economy will add $86 billion to worldwide GDP in 2014.
Outside the App Store, Apple has about 16,000 Europeans working directly for the company and another 132,00 Europeans working indirectly elsewhere. Roughly 116,000 jobs were created in the continent all thanks to Apple’s growth.
The iPhone maker also has a paid developer program which includes 280,500 members from Europe. This inclcudes 52, 200 in Germany and 30,000 in France.
Apple’s role in Ireland
Apple also has headquarters in Cork, Ireland which employees about 10% of the company’s worldwide corporate employees. The tech giant also plans to expand operations with a new facility that includes solar panels and roof-based rainwater harvesting. Unfortunately, the tech giant has received a lot of criticism for allegedly evading taxes by focusing some business practices in Ireland.
A few months ago, the country denied U.S. senate claim for special 2% corporation tax deal for Apple. The iOS maker also published a testimony for the committee claiming Apple does not use tax gimmicks. It does not move intellectual tax property to offshore locations to save taxes then use it to sell products in the United States as an effort to avoid paying tax. The company also denied using revolving loans for foreign subsidiaries to fund domestic operations or hold money in the Caribbean islands.
