Tech giant Apple enters Romania as a management consultant

12 October 2018 Consultancy.eu

A subsidiary of global tech giant Apple has entered the management consulting space of Romania according to local reports, with Apple Sales Romania registering in the country as a ‘business and management consultancy’.

Perhaps motivated by its decline at the expense of McKinsey and the Big Four as one of the world’s most attractive employers, the global tech behemoth Apple looks keen to spread its wings and capitalise on Romania’s growing management consulting market, with Apple Sales Romania registering for business in the country as a ‘business and management consultancy’, rather than as a sales agent as its name might otherwise suggest.

According to the Romanian daily financial newspaper Ziarul Financiar, Apple Sales Romania is owned by the Ireland-registered Apple subsidiaries Apple Distribution International and Apple Sales International, with parent Apple having previously come under fire in the wake of the Paradise Papers revelations for having registered these subsidiaries in European off-shore tax havens for the alleged sake of billions of euros in tax ‘minimisation’.

Tech giant Apple enters Romania as a management consultant

There is, however, no current suggestion of tax impropriety being leveled at Apple Sales Romania for registering in the country (according to Romanian media outlet Business Review), under the activity description code 7022 – ‘business and management consultancy’ – as, when considering the ongoing growth of the local management consulting scene, with Romania now holding an almost one fifth share of Eastern Europe’s €1.4 billion market, it would appear in fact a rather shrewd market entry.

On the other hand, the move would pit Apple Sales Romania – which under the terms of its registration would be unable to open a retail Apple Shop or Apple Store in the country (instead selling its products locally just as it has done to date) – against stiff competition from global strategy and management leaders such as Roland Berger and McKinsey, which would both have a decent jump on Apple with respective permanent presences in Romania since 1992 and 2006.

Still, with the organisation yet to give an indication of its business intentions since its late August registration, and Apple HQ in California not responding to Business Review’s requests for information, the true nature of Apple Sales Romania business strategy can be only left to speculation – but, in having some crafty strategy of sorts to circumvent pesky regulations, the firm may have already perhaps demonstrated its genuine management consulting wares.

And, as the mega-giants of the tech realm fight among themselves for ultimate global supremacy and dominion over all of humanity, it’s naturally wise to keep at least one eye on the competition, with Facebook having indeed already launched an apparent management consulting operation in Indonesia – which, although skirting certain local licensing stipulations concerning foreign internet operators, would in fact come with greater tax obligations.