iCloud Solar Farm and Spaceship HQ Could Push Apple Costs to $8B

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Photo: Chandra Marsono

Apple's massive new solar farm and their next-gen spaceship campus will boost the tech giant's 2012 expense to $8 billion — a 73% hike over this year, one analyst told investors Monday.

Apple's capital expenditures are expected to jump by $3.4 billion in 2012, according to the company's annual 10-K report with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Part of the reason why is because of Apple's massive new infrastructure projects. For example, Apple is preparing several projects, such as a 171-acre North Carolina solar farm to power its nearby iCloud and iTunes data center and a 13,000-employee Cupertino, Calif. headquarters late co-founder Steve Jobs once called the "spaceship." The office should break ground in 2012 with a ribbon cut in 2015.

The $8 billion figure is markedly higher than the $1.2 billion Apple forecast spending in 2009 and about twice what Apple spent this year.

In addition, some analysts view the jump in project spending as yet another signal that Apple will continue to ship increasingly more iOS devices. As Asymco blogger Horace Deidu notes, there is a strong correlation between Apple's spending forecasts for 2012 and how many iOS devices they sold, implying that Apple foresees another 100% year-over-year growth in their iOS division in 2012.

Along with the costs associated major construction, Apple also plans to build 40 new retail locations – 75 percent of which will be international. The hike in stores should push retail capital expenses to $900 million, up from $614 million.

So it's shaping up to be a pricy year for Cupertino. But you know what they say. You have to spend money to make money.

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