Perhaps Jobs wasn’t talking about acquiring compnaies, but rather “to supply chain investments–money spent to overcome impediments to growth?” Paczkowski asks. “Apple has done this before, most notably in 2005, when it arranged to purchase up to 40 percent of Samsung Electronics’ holiday NAND flash output for use in it iPods.”
Paczkowski reports, “And according to COO Tim Cook, Apple just did it again–but on a much grander scale. During the first-quarter earnings call last week, Cook said the company had invested $3.9 billion to secure component supplies and capacity… For what particular components, he wouldn’t say. There are some likely candidates, though: The high-res LCD displays used in the iPhone 4 and iPad; solid-state drives like the ones in the new MacBook Air… or perhaps some new system on a chip…”
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