本文这张苹果公司（Apple）2011年第四财季的“瀑布”图本周一由市场研究公司Asymco的贺拉斯•德迪欧发布，它的含义需要有所解读。

    从最简单的层面看，第一个柱状图代表苹果公司的收入顶峰（总营收282.7亿美元），最后一个绿色的柱状图表示公司的净利润（为66.2亿美元）。

    至于本图的其他部分，德迪欧提供了一些简便的解读方法（本文略作编辑）：

    • 空白区域是苹果公司支付给供应商的费用

    • 右边的红色区域是苹果公司付给政府的费用

    • 桃色和浅蓝色区域是苹果公司付给“编外”员工的费用，包括研发和销售，一般性支出和办公费用

    • 第一个柱状图中带有产品名字和GM字样（代表毛利，gross margin）的有色区域代表每种产品在付清与该产品生产有关的费用后的销售盈余。

    了解更多细节，查看苹果本财季与前两个财季相比较的情况，请点击此处。

    译者：清远

    This "cascade" chart of Apple's (AAPL) fourth fiscal quarter of 2011, posted Monday by Asymco's Horace Dediu, takes some explanation.

    At the simplest level, the height of the first column represents the company's top line ($28.27 billion total revenue) and the last column, in green, represents its bottom line ($6.62 billion profit).

    As for the rest, Dediu offers some handy tips: (edited slightly)

    • The blank areas are what Apple pays suppliers.

    • The red area on the right is what Apple pays the government.

    • The peach and pale blue areas are what Apple pays its "exempt" employees for R&D and selling, general and administrative expenses.

    • The colored areas in the first column labeled with product name and "GM" (for gross margin) represent what Apple keeps from the sale of each product after paying expenses tied to producing that product.

    For more detail, and to see how this quarter stacked up against the previous two quarters, click here.