AppleInsider Staff
U.K.-based YouGov's BrandIndex, a daily brand perception tracker, found that when compared to a similar tax "scandal" involving GE, Apple faired very well and saw almost no decline in public reputation.
The online survey, which asks a panel of 2.5 million worldwide respondents about various brand issues, compared the fallout from the New York Times story regarding Apple's "diverted taxes" with another piece from the same paper involving GE's "zero tax bill." The exact number of respondents that participated in this particular study was not reported.
When survey respondents were asked the question, "Would you be proud or embarrassed to work for this brand?" Apple's "Reputation Score" went up from 52 to 58 a few days following the NYT article before eventually leveling out at its current 51. In comparison, when it was reported that GE made $14.2 billion in profits in 2010 but wasn't required to pay taxes and instead claimed a tax benefit of $3.2 billion, the company's score dropped severely. It took GE two months to bounce back to a score of 33 after falling to 23 a day after the story ran, followed by a bottom of 14 a week later. The survey measurements range from a score of 100 to -100.
Source: YouGov
Apple's tax practices made headlines when it was revealed that the world's most valuable tech company diverts parts of its international revenue stream to allegedly avoid paying high U.S. state taxes. According to the Times, Apple pays a 9.8 percent tax rate, though that number has been disputed.
David Schloss
Christine McKee
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45 Comments
I think the reason is that it's a huge stretch to compare Apple to GE. GE paid zero taxes. None at all. Apple paid billions, although some think it should have been even higher. That's a pretty big difference.
Also, I read a Forbes article that claimed the NY Times report was sloppy reporting taxes based on 2010 profits against 2011 profits. The article claimed that Apple's tax rate was more like corporate normal 24% in 2010.
The NYT article was purely a hit piece. Why they did it, I have no idea. I'm just glad it didn't work.
I wonder if the larger public has now learned to ignore anything negative the media says about Apple since there have been so many manufactured controversies? It must be strange for all those millions of people who own Apple products to be constantly fed stories about how they don't work as advertised, explode, etc, when their own products work just fine. Or to be told they're a security nightmare when they've never encountered a virus or malware. Add in the recent revelations about Mike Daisey and at this point the public probably thinks anyone saying anything negative about Apple is either a rabid anti-fan or has an agenda.
I think the reason is that it's a huge stretch to compare Apple to GE. GE paid zero taxes. None at all. Apple paid billions, although some think it should have been even higher. That's a pretty big difference.
Bingo! That is a huge difference.
It's really sad that people would even be upset with these companies for fully-complying with the existing tax code. They should be livid with their legislators who both spend their money and who make up the tax code, complete with all of its loopholes that that these companies legally take adavantage of.