Apple Inc. (AAPL-Q523.7414.282.80%) is in very active discussions at the board level about what to do with its cash, Chief Executive Tim Cook said on Tuesday, responding to calls for the world’s most valuable electronics company to put its massive reserves to work.
Mr. Cook, in a rare appearance before investors, also talked about a “jaw-dropping” opportunity in smartphones. He said the iPad tablet trajectory was “off the charts,” adding that he foresaw tablets surpassing personal computers in unit sales eventually – eroding Microsoft Corp’s Windows dominance.
He acknowledged that online retailer Amazon.com Inc was an intense competitor with its Kindle Fire tablet.
Apple became the world’s largest smartphone vendor in the fourth quarter of 2011, in which sales of all smartphones hit 149 million units – 47.3 per cent higher than the same quarter a year ago, even though the rate of sales growth dropped to 39 per cent, down from 58 per cent in 2011.
According to research firm Gartner, Apple saw its iPhone sales more than double in the last quarter when it took a 24 per cent share of the smartphone market, helped by a 15-month period before the 4S model was launched, which created a lot of pent-up demand. READ MORE...
