discuss probable reason that may cause apple inc goodwill to be impaired

how can the company address the reason that cause impairment?

An evaluation of the financial statement shows that Apple, Inc. reviews intangible assets for impairment. This excludes goodwill. This review is carried out when an event occurs or when there was a change in circumstances that signifies that the carrying amount of an asset cannot be recovered. The recoverability of the intangible assets is estimated by comparing the future discounted cash flow that the asset is expected to generate with the carrying amount. Thus, if it is established that the intangible asset is impaired, then the impairment that will be recognized in the books of accounts is the difference between the carrying amount and the market value. The intangible assets for Apple Inc. comprise of indefinitelived and non-amortizable and definite-lived and amortizable acquired intangible assets (Kimmel et al., 2014). The company does not amortize goodwill and intangible assets that have indefinite useful lives. These assets are tested for impairment on an annual basis or when there are changes that show that the assets may be impaired. The company carries out the impairment tests in the fourth quarter of each financial year. It is worth mentioning that the responsibility of testing for impairment of intangible assets and goodwill is assigned to the reporting unit that is associated with the asset. For instance, in 2014, the task was assigned to Europe and America's operating segments. Intangible assets that have definite useful life are amortized over a period between 3 to 7 years. These assets are also tested for impairment from time to time (Marshall, McManus, \& Viele, 2016). The gross carrying amount of the acquired intangible assets in 2014 was $7,227 million, while the accumulated amortization was $3,085 million. Thus, the net carrying amount of the intangible assets was $4,142 million. This was a slight drop from $4,179 million that was reported in 2013. The amortization expense for the year 2014 was \$1.1 million. Further, there were no significant impairments in 2014 (Apple PLC, 2017)