Apple’s gross intangible assets rose $12.817 billion in six months, to $37.767 billion on 28 March 2026 from $24.950 billion on 27 September 2025, according to a note in its 10-Q for the March quarter. Net of amortisation they went from $13.301 billion to $25.797 billion, up 94%, by our arithmetic. Neither that filing nor the two since says what the assets are.
As we read it, the build-up began in the December quarter, when other non-current assets, which then still held intangibles, rose $9.419 billion. Apple’s other non-current liabilities rose $10.506 billion in those three months, the largest quarterly increase in that line in its XBRL data going back to 2009, by our arithmetic. In the same quarter its long-term purchase commitments went from $13.308 billion to $33.182 billion.
Business Pill · Distribution Advantage
An evergreen Business Engineer explainer on distribution advantage. It teaches the general idea only and does not discuss Apple’s balance sheet.
The key insight: By our arithmetic, Apple’s net intangible assets went from $13.301 billion to $25.797 billion in six months, about 12 times the last figure in its XBRL data, while in the December quarter its other non-current liabilities rose a record $10.506 billion and its long-term purchase commitments rose $19.874 billion.
Apple’s March-quarter 10-Q gave intangible assets their own line on the balance sheet. It put the non-current portion at $11.093 billion on 27 September 2025 and other non-current assets at $72.634 billion; together they equal the $83.727 billion of other non-current assets in Apple’s fiscal 2025 10-K, our arithmetic.
In Apple’s XBRL data on SEC EDGAR, the last net intangible figure before that is $2.149 billion, for the quarter ended 30 December 2017. The March 2026 total of $25.797 billion is about 12 times that, by our arithmetic. The fourth-quarter statementsApple released on 2 November put the non-current portion at $20.278 billion on 26 September 2026, up $9.185 billion in the fiscal year, as our results piece noted.
Apple’s net intangible assets at quarter ends: values tagged in its XBRL data from June 2009 to December 2017, then 27 September 2025 (as restated in the March 2026 10-Q), 28 March 2026 and 27 June 2026 from the 10-Q notes. The 12x multiple is our arithmetic.Animated: Apple’s unconditional purchase obligations with more than a year to run, at four quarter ends from September 2025 to June 2026, from its 10-K and 10-Qs. Apple says they primarily consist of supplier arrangements, licensed intellectual property and content, and distribution rights. The 2.5x change is our arithmetic.
When It Happened
Apple’s 10-Q for the December quarter still carried intangibles inside other non-current assets, and that line rose $9.419 billion to $93.146 billion between 27 September and 27 December 2025. It was the largest quarterly increase in that line since the December 2018 quarter, our arithmetic from Apple’s XBRL data. The December 10-Q does not disclose an intangible assets figure.
Other non-current liabilities rose from $41.549 billion to $52.055 billion in the same quarter. The previous largest quarterly rise in Apple’s XBRL series was $9.375 billion, in the December 2018 quarter, by our arithmetic. The December-quarter cash flow statement shows $2.373 billion of payments for property, plant and equipment and $154 million of other investing payments, with no separate line for acquisitions.
What the Note Shows
The March and June 10-Qs carry the same note under “Intangible Assets, Net”: gross intangible assets of $37.767 billion and then $38.220 billion, against $24.950 billion at the fiscal year start, and accumulated amortisation of $11.970 billion and then $12.803 billion. There is no description of what the assets are, how long they last or where they came from.
Apple classifies part of the balance as current. That portion was $2.208 billion on 27 September 2025, $4.463 billion on 28 March and $5.075 billion on 27 June, about 20% of the $25.417 billion total, our arithmetic. Accumulated amortisation rose $833 million in the June quarter alone, against $321 million over the previous six months.
The Commitments That Jumped the Same Quarter
Apple’s commitments note describes the obligations it has not booked: “The Company’s unconditional purchase obligations primarily consist of supplier arrangements, licensed intellectual property and content, and distribution rights”. Those with more than a year to run were $13.308 billion on 27 September 2025 and $33.182 billion on 27 December, 2.5 times as much, by our arithmetic. They were $27.691 billion on 28 March and $27.628 billion on 27 June.
The added amounts are spread evenly. Commitments due in fiscal 2027 went from $3.708 billion to $8.066 billion, 2028 from $1.981 billion to $7.005 billion, 2029 from $1.306 billion to $6.538 billion and 2030 from $788 million to $5.992 billion. That is $4.4 billion to $5.2 billion more in each of those four years, our arithmetic. Apple’s broader other purchase obligations went from $14.8 billion to $35.1 billion over the same quarter.
What Each Possibility Would Imply
Apple has not said what the intangibles are, and its filings do not link them to the commitments or to any partner. Three public facts sit in the same window; none is confirmed as the source.
An AI model licence. Bloomberg reported on 5 November 2025 that Apple planned to pay Google about $1 billion a year for a custom Gemini model, according to eMarketer’s summary. On 12 January 2026 the companies said in a joint statement: “Apple and Google have entered into a multi-year collaboration under which the next generation of Apple Foundation Models will be based on Google’s Gemini models and cloud technology”.
The statement gave no financial terms. At the reported $1 billion a year, $12.817 billion would be about 13 years of fees, our arithmetic, so the reported price alone would not account for the increase.
Acquisitions. The European Commission’s Digital Markets Act list shows 13 Apple deals dated between 9 January and 30 June 2026, by our count, all dated after 27 December, by which time other non-current assets had already risen $9.419 billion. That quarter’s cash flow statement shows no acquisitions line. If the assets came from deals, they were not paid for in cash through investing activities that quarter.
Content, distribution rights or supplier arrangements. These are the categories Apple names for its purchase commitments, which rose $19.874 billion in the quarter other non-current assets jumped. If some of those contracts were recorded as assets with a matching liability, the balance sheet would show what it shows: assets and non-current liabilities rising together. Apple does not say this happened.
What the Risk Factors Say
Apple’s only risk-factor reference to intangibles, a line that it can face “write-offs of inventory, property, plant and equipment or intangible assets”, also appears in its fiscal 2025 10-K. The June 10-Q restated the components factor to cover computing resources, which we covered here; it does not mention intangible assets.
The Structural Read
As we read it, the three movements share a quarter, not a stated cause: Apple discloses the asset, the liability and the commitment figures separately and does not connect them.
As we read it, the added commitments look like multi-year contracts rather than one-off purchases, because the increase is spread at $4.4 billion to $5.2 billion a year across fiscal 2027 to 2030, by our arithmetic.
Apple Inc., Form 10-Q for the quarter ended 27 December 2025
“The Companyโs unconditional purchase obligations primarily consist of supplier arrangements, licensed intellectual property and content, and distribution rights.”
Three Implications
FOR READERS OF APPLE’S FILINGS The intangibles note gives gross, amortisation and current-portion figures only; the fiscal 2026 10-K, not yet filed when we wrote, is the next document that can describe the assets.
FOR THE GOOGLE RELATIONSHIP Bloomberg reported a price of about $1 billion a year for a custom Gemini model; the 12 January joint statement gave no terms, and Apple’s filings do not name Google in connection with these balances.
FOR THE CASH FLOW STATEMENT Apple’s December-quarter investing section shows $154 million of other payments and no acquisitions line.
The framework describes the distribution layer, naming “the Apple-Gemini handshake” among its surfaces, as “The decade’s most expensive land grab.”
As we read it, Apple’s filings show large new intangible assets and commitments in the same months as its Gemini arrangement, but they do not connect the two. The framework was published in June 2026 and does not discuss Apple’s balance sheet.
This piece is based on Apple’s fiscal 2026 fourth-quarter condensed consolidated financialstatements, released on 2 November, its 10-Qs for the December, March and June quarters, its fiscal 2025 10-K and its XBRL data on SEC EDGAR. Changes, multiples, shares and record comparisons are our arithmetic. Apple does not say what the intangible assets are, whether they relate to Google, an acquisition or any contract, or why the liabilities rose.
The Bloomberg figure is a report, not a disclosed term. The fiscal 2026 10-K had not been filed when we wrote, and we did not contact Apple.
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Apple’s gross intangible assets rose $12.817 billion in the six months to 28 March, and net intangibles nearly doubled to $25.797 billion, about 12 times the last figure in its XBRL data, from 2017. In the December quarter, other non-current liabilities rose $10.506 billion, a record in that series by our arithmetic, and long-term purchase commitments went from $13.308 billion to $33.182 billion. Apple’s filings record the amounts and do not say what they bought.
A note on sourcing. Every company figure comes from Apple’s 10-Qs for the quarters ended 27 December 2025, 28 March 2026 and 27 June 2026, its fiscal 2025 10-K, its XBRL data and its fiscal 2026 fourth-quarter statements released on 2 November 2026, read on SEC EDGAR and apple.com on 2 November. Changes, multiples, shares and record comparisons are our arithmetic. The Gemini price is Bloomberg’s report, not a disclosed term. We did not contact Apple.
Gennaro Cuofano is a CRO and tech executive who has worked in AI since late 2015, starting with bringing NLP, natural-language generation, voice and chatbot products to the marketing industry. His background is in law and finance: he holds a Master's degree in Law and an International MBA with an emphasis on corporate finance (LUISS Business School and the University of San Diego, 2012), and worked as a financial analyst at a real-estate investment firm in San Diego and as an assistant controller. His work focuses on business model strategy, business engineering and, more broadly, structural analysis: how companies make money, read from their own filings. He created FourWeekMBA and leads research there and at The Business Engineer, his newsletter on AI and business strategy, with over 95,000 subscribers and more than 1,000 published analyses. His writing has also appeared on Entrepreneur (for example, How to Digitize a Family Business in Europe) and HackerNoon. Find him on LinkedIn and Substack. See how we source.
