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What would you do with £62bn? Apple has figured out an answer to that question, and will today reveal its plans for the $98bn cash fortune it has been saving up for a rainy day.
At 1pm this afternoon, Apple head honcho Tim Cook and chief bean-counter Peter Oppenheimer will host a conference call for the world’s media “to announce the outcome of the Company’s discussions concerning its
cash balance”.
Any other other topics, such as how the new iPad is doing, are off limits. Apple says it “will not be providing an update on the current
quarter nor will any topics be discussed other than cash”.
What are Apple’s options? It could make a bumper dividend payout to its shareholders, who have been waiting since 1995 for such a bonanza. Or it could gobble up a swathe of other companies to absorb their technology.
£62bn could buy a new iPad for every single person in Britain and France.
It could also increase the wages of anyone who works building iPhones, iPad and iMacs in controversial Chinese factories, but we won’t hold our breath. That said, we wouldn’t rule out a sizable charity donation — such conspicuous hoarding of wealth could have been leading up to a philanthropic gesture. We could certainly see Apple founder Steve Jobs, who died last year, having something charitable in mind.
Incidentally, this time last year that cash pile was at £40bn. The year of the iPad 2, new iPad and iPhone 4S has seen Apple squirrel away twenty billion quid.
You can listen live to the three-hour call at Apple’s website — click here for the full details — or come back to CNET this afternoon to find out what’s going on with Apple’s cash bonanza.
What do you think Apple should do with the money? Tell me your thoughts in the comments or on our Facebook page.
Update: Okay, who guessed dividend and stock repurchasing? Anyone? All the titillating details are here.
