Apple to Spend $430B On Data Centers, Manufacturing, Offices in the US

Molly Schuetz (Bloomberg) -- Apple Inc. is increasing its U.S. investments by 20% over the next five years, allocating $430 billion to develop next-generation silicon and spur 5G wireless innovation across nine U.S. states, after outstripping its growth expectations during the pandemic.

The iPhone maker will create 20,000 new jobs in the U.S. and fund a new campus in North Carolina, the company said in a statement Monday.

Over the past three years, Apple’s investments have outpaced its original five-year goal of $350 billion set in 2018, the company said. But Apple has also been growing. Its shares have gained about 200% since its last investment plan was announced in January 2018, and the company is now worth more than $2 trillion. Cupertino, California-based Apple said it’s also the U.S.’s biggest taxpayer, having shelled out $45 billion in domestic corporate income taxes in the past five years.

Increasing investment in the U.S. also comes as President Joe Biden has announced new plans to boost taxes on overseas profits to help foot the bill for domestic infrastructure projects. Apple and other big tech companies disclosed more than $100 billion in profit outside the U.S. in their last fiscal years, making them prime targets of the president’s proposal.

“At this moment of recovery and rebuilding, Apple is doubling down on our commitment to U.S. innovation and manufacturing with a generational investment reaching communities across all 50 states,” said Chief Executive Officer Tim Cook.

Apple’s investment plan will include direct spending on U.S.-based suppliers, data center investments, capital expenditures in the U.S., and other projects, including dozens of Apple TV+ productions across 20 states. Apple plans to invest more than $1 billion in North Carolina to build a new campus and engineering hub in the Research Triangle area. The investment will create at least 3,000 new jobs in machine learning, artificial intelligence, software engineering, and other advanced fields.

Apple is on track to meet its 2018 goal of creating 20,000 new jobs in the U.S. by 2023, the company said. The new commitment to job creation will include growing its San Diego team to more than 5,000 employees by 2026, a 500% increase from its 2018 goal. Apple is also boosting its engineering team in Boulder, Colorado, by 700 people and adding hundreds of jobs in Massachusetts, Washington, Iowa and Colorado. Employees are expected to start moving into Apple’s new $1 billion Austin campus next year.

As it grows, Apple said it’s committed to doing so in an environmentally sustainable way. Almost 60 of Apple’s U.S. sites are LEED certified, the company said. Apple said it’s carbon neutral for all of its operations in the U.S. and around the world, and last year committed to be 100% carbon neutral for its entire supply chain and products by 2030.

Apple’s shares were little changed at $134.19 at 10:03 a.m. in New York.