10 juicy tidbits Apple just revealed in its annual report

While all eyes were on Apple chief executive Tim Cook speaking at the WSJD Live event, the company quietly filed its annual report yesterday.

There are no earth-shattering revelations. But the filing did contain a number of notable disclosures. Here are 10 for Apple obsessives everywhere to chew on:

1. Sales of iTunes music downloads declined. Everyone suspected this would be the case, but we have confirmation at last.

2. Sales at Apple stores are flat. Apple’s retail segment had sales of $4.6 billion in fiscal year 2014, up from $4 billion a year ago but the same as the $4.6 billion posted two years ago. That’s despite the fact that the number of Apple stores increased from 365 to 424 over the last two years. As a result, average revenue at each store fell from $51.5 million in 2012 to $50.6 million in 2014.

3. Hiring binge continues. Apple now has 93,600 full-time-equivalent employees, up from 80,300 last year. It has another 4,400 temps and contractors, up from 4,100 in 2013. Of the current full-time employees, 46,200 work in the company’s retail segment.

4. Office space growth. The company now has 19.7 million square feet of office space that it owns or leases, up from 19.1 million the year before.

5. Irish tax investigation poses a threat. With the European Commission declaring that Ireland’s tax structure may be an illegal form of state aid, Apple added a warning to its filing that it could be on the hook for higher taxes in the future as well as paying additional back taxes. However, the company didn’t estimate how much it might have to pay.

6. R&D spending has more than doubled. Apple spent $6 billion on research and development in 2014, up from $2.4 billion in 2011.

7. Threat from cyber attacks grows. Like many companies, Apple is increasingly worried about the escalating problem of cybersecurity. In its disclosures, Apple noted that while it is insured against many breaches: “such insurance coverage may be insufficient to cover all losses or all types of claims that may arise in the continually evolving area of cyber risk.”

8. Acquisition pace quickens. Not counting the $3 billion for Beats, the company spent $957 million in fiscal year 2014 acquiring other companies (net of cash held by those targets). That’s up from $496 million in 2013. It didn’t specify the number of acquisitions.

9. Beats details. Apple had previously said the $3 billion price it paid for Beats included $400 million in stock, much of which went to cofounders Dr. Dre and Jimmy Iovine. In the filing, Apple said it actually doled out 5.1 million shares of stock to former Beats equity holders, the majority of which vests over an unspecified time “based on continued employment with Apple.” By the time the Beats deal officially closed on July 31, those shares were already worth $485 million, according to the filing.

10. Bright spots amid iPad gloom. While overall iPad net sales and unit sales declined in 2014 from 2013, Apple said unit and net sales of its tablet did increase in Greater China and Japan.