Therese Poletti writes for MarketWatch, “Apple Inc.’s shareholders are a pretty smug and happy bunch.”
“Upon entering the company’s campus to get to the annual shareholder meeting on Thursday, they had to drive past a small protest, where some people carried signs asking Apple AAPL +0.09% to make ‘ethical iPhones,'” Poletti writes. “But not a question was asked by a single shareholder about what Apple has been doing with its contract manufacturers.”
MacDailyNews Take: Likely because shareholders know that Apple is already making iPhones ethically.
Poletti writes, “Just last week, Apple Chief Executive Tim Cook told investors at a technology conference that the company was doing more to improve working conditions than any other manufacturer and the company will not tolerate use of underage labor. The company has also published a more detailed audit of its recent findings on its website. Read more about supplier responsibility at Apple.”
“Shareholders didn’t seem too disappointed that the company had no news about what it will be doing with its growing cash pile,” Poletti writes. “The first shareholder reminded the group that co-founder Steve Jobs was not a proponent of paying dividends, and he recommended the company pay a special, preferred stock dividend.”
Read more in the full article here.