Apple has released a new report into its support for jobs in Europe that estimates that it has created 629,000 jobs in Europe both directly and indirectly through the "app economy."
The report for Apple by Vision Mobile, a consultancy firm, shows the technology giant employs 4,000 people in Cork and supports a further 2,500 jobs indirectly in the local area.
Apple says a quarter of its 16,000 employees in Europe are based in Cork. It says it has created 5,000 new jobs in Europe since 2011 in 19 different countries.
The report also reveals details of the Apple “app economy” in Europe and it says it has distributed $6.5 billion (€4.9 billion) to software and app developers in Europe since the introduction of the App Store in 2008.
It estimates that approximately 50 per cent of all direct and indirect app economy jobs in the 28 member states of the European Union can be directly attributed to iOS (the mobile operating system for Apple products like the iPhone and iPad).
In total Apple says it has helped create 629,000 jobs in Europe both as direct employees and indirectly in the design and development of apps.
Europe is home to 4,500 Apple suppliers the company said and this has created "thousands" of jobs in Switzerland, Austria, France, Italy, Germany and Malta. The company has 101 Apple retail stores in eight European countries. Apple says it cannot comment on when it would like to open a retail store in Ireland.
Vision Mobile warned however that App production in Europe was growing at a slower rate than emerging markets where it estimates India and China between them will add 400 million new smart phone users this year leading in a surge in demand for apps.
Europe’s share of global app revenues it said had fallen from 24 per cent in 2012 to 19 per cent.
App production in the EU it said will contribute $16.5 billion to GDP in 2014, compared to $13 billion in 2012.
"While EU28 developers are well positioned to capture a large share of Western markets (North America, South America), they should also aim to extend their reach into fast-growing Asian markets such as China and India," the report stated.
