“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.”
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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