“Historically, Apple hasn’t made big acquisitions; the company has never spent more than $1 billion on a single deal. Mr. Cook said Apple has bought 21 companies over the past 15 months,” Daisuke Wakabayashi reports for The Wall Street Journal. “‘We may see a huge company tomorrow that we want to acquire or something may happen in the stock market that’s unpredictable,’ he continued.”
“The Apple CEO said its history of opting for smaller deals doesn’t mean that the company won’t pull the trigger on a big acquisition if it makes sense,” Wakabayashi reports. “‘We’ve looked at big companies,’ said Mr. Cook. ‘We have no problem spending 10 figures for the right company, for the right fit that’s in the best interest of Apple in the long-term. None. Zero.'”
“Thursday, Mr. Cook reiterated that Apple plans to enter a new category this year. Apple watchers are speculating about wearable devices or a new television platform,” Wakabayashi reports. “‘There will be new categories. We’re not ready to talk about it, but we’re working on some really great stuff,’ Mr. Cook said. When asked whether a new product category could mean an improvement on an existing product like an iPad Air, a lighter version of its tablet computer, or new services such as mobile payments, Mr. Cook declined to comment. He said that anyone ‘reasonable’ would consider what Apple is working on as new categories. “Mr. Cook said he still considers Apple to be a ‘growth company’ with significant opportunities to expand the position of existing products including the iPhone.”
“Mr. Cook said Apple has the largest or second-largest market share for true smartphones in nearly every country; he excluded smartphones that are used as feature phones because of their limitations,” Wakabayashi reports. “‘In the other places where we are number two, I’d rather be number one. And you can bet that we’re working on that,’ said Mr. Cook.”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: Patience, padawans. Not much longer now.
BTW:
• iPhone was released 5 years, 7 months, and 19 days after iPod.
• iPad was released 2 years, 9 months, and 5 days after iPhone.
• Tim Cook has been Apple CEO for 2 years, 5 months, and 15 days.
Related article:
Investors and customers yearn for an Apple iThingamajig – January 31, 2014
This is going to be very exciting. Stay tuned for the new categories, it’s going to rock.
Do you think the “next big thing” will satisfy Wall Street? I can hear them now, something like Samdung already did this.
Who cares? Why are we so obsessed with Wall Street around here? The only thing that matters is whether or not the next big thing will satisfy us, the customers. You see all that cash Apple is sitting on? It means they’re not going anywhere, it means Wall Street can’t really hurt them. We’re the only ones Apple has to worry about.
“Who cares?”
a thinking apple fan does because…
Wallstreet can remove Tim Cook, Ive , whoever they want.
(Shareholders via the Board have changed numerous CEOs at HP, they even forced Ballmer – a founding partner of Msft – out, they fired the CEOs of Palm, Motorola, Nokia, Research in Motion etc )
Shareholders elect the Board who hire and fire the CEO.
70% of Apple stock belongs to big funds who are answerable to investors who are asking “what’s happening to my invested money?”.
You want Apple to keep making great products or even exist as it does now, you better make sure aapl investors are happy.
Why did you think Cook just spent ANOTHER $14 billion buying back aapl stock in the last couple of weeks?
interesting that people (non apple investors) vote this down but are unable to refute what I’m saying (nobody is writing back with an argument) cause..
… it’s the truth.
Cook is not in imminent danger because most shareholders still want to give him a shot AND nobody can come up with a better candidate
but the truth is Apple ultimately is controlled by the shareholder.
Fanboys can yell and scream all you want but if you do not hold apple shares you have squat to say about it.
Put SKIN in the game, i. e buy stock then you can talk, then you can VOTE.
otherwise you are like foreigners non USA citizens — you can yell and scream “USA USA” – but you can’t vote or do squat about who gets elected to run USA.
thats the truth.
Nothing will ever satisfy Wall Street. Stop waiting for it and get on with your life.
Forget Wall Street. Not even Steve jobs could satisfy those vultures.
Apple don’t give a shit about that.
You’re absolutely right. As a fan, though, I’m starting to get a little tired of Tim Cook’s teasing.
UNDER PROMISE OVER DELIVER.
Don’t tell us anything, just show us something awesome, and let us be surprised and amazed.
Couldn’t have said it better myself..and personally, I think whatever IS coming will be underwhelming because of all this attention
lol, petty. Apple is the “Honey Badger” of Silicon Valley!
I could care less that the next big thing satisfies whore street and I know that their whine is to not stop, even if you give them the moon so I don’t worry about them.
I know that I will enjoy Apple’s next big thing, in fact, I’m enjoying the wait for it immensely. That Mac Pro, oh what a dream machine.
Can’t wait, I hope there will be a gold option!
Cook has a tape recorder strapped to his back. Every time he gets asked a question by the press, his assistant pulls a string which depresses the play button on the recorder and….the same stuff plays out.
I wish he’d say, “We’re going to make some old stuff really great stuff again, and we’re going to stop coming out with crap that will be really great when we get around to it. Oh, and btw, we’re cutting our work force by half, because we’ve become fat and lazy.”
I understand the 1 star votes, but find your post somewhat funny, too. I think a totally sarcastic, even caustic, response like this in an interview would be hilarious.
Gee. Look at all those 1-star votes. Just as I suspected. 🙂
Considering the fantabulous job Balmer did of sinking the Microsoft lavaiathan by breathlessly dancing around the stage during so called “product” introductions, it is refreshing to hear Tim Cook stay the course with a confident message. Maybe AAPL will buy MS and put them out of their misery.
So did Steve Jobs. Cook basically gives the same answers Steve did — great stuff coming, we’re not talking about it.
“…and the same stuff plays out”
Yep, sounds really familiar, we get the same thing over and over on here, from the usual predictable sources.
My mom said, “Cook more talk less”
yes, yes…. any day now..
(fingers clench tightly on edge of desk)
any day now
I wish it was “any day now”, but for him to make any comment about it at all, it’ll be more like “any month” or “any quarter” now. If it were coming out in weeks or just a month or two, he’d be a lot more tight-lipped. Just trying to keep the stock price afloat (something Steve never would have done…for better or worse).
Sacrilege! J’accuse! (points nervous shaky finger at BernDog)
Is ‘Summer’ any day now? Hardly.. it’s gonna be a long time.. #WWDC
I know others have dismissed it, but I still find Nintendo a perfect target for Apple, even more so now that Nintendo is struggling financially.
Nintendo makes no sense whatsoever. Apple would get a bunch of IP (mario etc…) it doesn’t want, and a crapload of hardware and debt it doesn’t need. Where’s the sense in that? I’m totally with you, I want Nintendo to succeed, but it’s a pipe dream to think Apple will come in and save them. They’re in a very tough spot right now… they don’t want to give up their crown jewels to IOS – which would be good short term, but questionable long term, and their hardware is not rocking anyone’s world these days. Wish I had an answer…
Apple doesn’t make games and doesn’t want to get into the gaming console business unless Apple is redefining it.
Nintendo needs to save itself by re-releasing its games for iOS. It could even make a cool hardware controller that your iPhone could connect to (better than the stuff out there now), and make tons of money by using its assets wisely.
However, Nintendo has a very Apple mentality, in that it wants its products on its platforms only. Which is fine, until such time as no one is buying your platforms because there are other, better platforms available.
I guess the hardest thing for people is patience. I know I don’t want to have to wait until June for the WWDC to see if Apple announces any new products. And has been custom, September for the new iPhone. Besides, we’ve already been waiting for Apple to come out with something new for over a year now, i.e.: iWatch.
Perception is everything. What we have is companies rushing to market with me to and enhanced products. People are begging for a larger screen iPhone, but the soonest we can expect to see one is next Fall. In the meantime, companies are eating Apple’s lunch, selling their larger phones to those who demand it. I wonder how many more phones Apple would have sold, if they had a larger model.
Apple needs to speed up things up.
iPhone was released 5 years, 7 months, and 19 days after iPod.
• iPad was released 2 years, 9 months, and 5 days after iPhone.
• Tim Cook has been Apple CEO for 2 years, 5 months, and 15 days.
But . . . but . . . but . . . Gene Munster says the large screen Apple TV is coming! It’s really almost here! That HAS to be what Cook meant! He even used the letters “T” and “V” in the same interview as “Apple”, so it HAS to be a 90″ Apple TV!!!!!!!!
AppleTV with integrated Pono player please.
That’s called the internet and AirPlay (pun intended).
But will Cook’s new product category = a derivative product with a different screen size? Apple desperately needs product updates in many areas… AppleTV, Mac Mini, displays, software, iPods, new mid-range desktop, 17″ laptops, servers, software … much to do, so stop dragging your feet, Cook!!!
I am reminded of Chauncy the gardeners line, “there will be growth in the spring”
Tim Cook needs to deliver this year. I’m an apple fan like everyone else having never ever used windows or android but Tim for gods sake please bring out something new!
I’m sick to death of iPad and iPhone updates. They are a god given, it’s Tim to announce radical new products that wow everyone.
Do a Steve jobs on us and make us but something amazingly new and innovative!
My issue with Tim is that he keep saying the same thing “We have great new products in the pipeline…” I feel he says it in a way to motivate his staff and has nothing to do with shareholders. The CEO and the board should speak for the Shareholders.
Tim needs to learn to either shut up and say nothing and for god sake don’t give a timeline but if you do then stick to the damn thing or step aside.
There ain’t many ‘reasonable’ people out there looking at (and then writing about) Apple these days, is there? Well, ‘cept for around here.
“We have no problem spending 10 figures for the right company, for the right fit that’s in the best interest of Apple in the long-term.”
Sheesh! This is like he’s talking to babies – and stupid babies at that. Explaining the obvious to morons.
“Now listen carefully. Watch my lips. I’ll try to make this simple. We buy companies that make sense with our strategic plan. If that happens to be a big one, sometime, we’ll buy it. Will da wittle analyst be impressed den? Goochy-goochy-goo.”
‘We are going to buy many companies, because we can’t seem to come up with these good ideas ourselves anymore, and we don’t like things to be out of our control.’ That’s kinda what I hear.
No. Not what you “hear”. What you make up in your head.
Now everybody sounds like me. Does that mean ALL the MDN lemmings are now “Samdung trolls”?
I think it simply means there was a reason why Tim was an Operations Superstar and not a CEO before. As an Operations manager you care about the details he is discussing, as a CEO he should be getting pissed at his team not pushing the envelope.
Steve would have never wasted his time to discuss future products and would focus on making sure people deliver the best product in the shortest time possible. There was a reason why Steve cared nothing about individuals feelings.
I feel Tim has pushed the pendulum way too far the other way round so he is now pampering his team to make up for the past. People do their best when the expectations are set high but achievable and not treated like children “Ahhh you missed the deadline. Never mind, you are great, do better next time…” What is the motivation for people to exceed all expectations.
Not trying to be a troll here.
But what is it exactly that Mr. Cook fills his day with? I could See Steve filling his day as he had his hands in everything. Mr. Cook on the other hand is not a visionary or a technologist or an engineer or even a bean counter. So other than hiring mostly useless so far executives what does he do? he is supposed to be a supply chain wiz but nothing has changed in Apple supply chain tactics in 10 years or more.
It’s really annoying to hear Tim always using words like exciting, great, etc. I just don’t feel the same when Jobs using those words.
Déjà vu…. 2012-2013
ZZZzzzzzz………
Said = not said