Apple touts Japanese job creation, boost to nation's economy

Apple Japan published a special informational page to its regional website on Monday detailing how the company's various hardware, software and services businesses have positively impacted the Asian nation in 2015.

According to Apple's own tally, it has created some 715,000 jobs in Japan either through direct employment or as it relates to hardware suppliers, app development firms and other related companies. The Yomiuri Shimbun mentioned the data in a report earlier today, which was later picked up by Japanese language Apple blog Mac Otakara.

Citing data published by Dr. Michael Mandel of the Progressive Policy Institute in April, Apple reports 445,000 Japanese citizens worked in areas related to the iOS and App Store ecosystem. As a testament to the operating system's impact on the country's economy, Apple said it paid out $9.6 billion to 532,000 Japanese developers in 2015.

As for job creation, Apple currently employs 2,900 people in its stores, supply chain, operations and other corporate offices. The company staffs each of its eight Japanese Apple Stores with an average of 100 employees, most of whom work on a full-time basis.

Finally, Apple outlined its Japanese supply chain, noting 865 businesses currently provide goods and services to be used in a variety of Apple products.

For example, Kantatsu has been designing and manufacturing precision optical components for iPhone cameras since 2013, while Teikoku Printing Inks Manufacturing Co. has provided the ink used to coat iPhone bezels since the original model launched in 2007. Cashew, a small company from Omiya, was also profiled for delivering environmentally friendly anti-scratch coatings that have been used in Apple products, including iPhone, for ten years.

Apple continues to invest heavily in Japan, a key foothold in the East Asian market. Looking ahead, Apple will open a research and development center in Yokohama next year that is expected to tap into local talent specializing in materials science, vehicles and health industries.