Apple announced its first dividend since 1995 as the iPad giant shares some of its $100bn (£63.1bn) cash pile with investors.
The
phenomenal success of the iPad, iPhone and iPod has helped make Apple
the world's most valuable company and it is now set to return some of
its riches to shareholders.
Last week the company gave another
demonstration of its cult-like following when fans queued overnight
outside the Apple store in London's Regent Street for the launch of the
iPad 3, which has a higher resolution screen and a five-megapixel
camera.
Despite competition from cheaper rivals, the iPad remains
the most popular tablet computer, with more than 55m of the devices sold
since its launch in 2010, including 40m last year.
The
California-based company will pay a dividend and buy back $10bn (£6.3bn)
of shares as part of the return of some $45bn (£28.4bn) to shareholders
and employees in the first three years of the programme. But it said
that would still leave it a "war chest" to expand and make acquisitions.
The
company, which is believed to have some $98bn (£61.8bn) in cash and
securities, was rescued from near-bankruptcy by co-founder Steve Jobs in
1997 but he was thought to be unwilling to pay a dividend. New chief
executive Tim Cook has opted for a change of policy as he stamps his
authority on the company.
Mr Cook said: "We have used some of our
cash to make great investments in our business through increased
research and development, acquisitions, new retail store openings,
strategic prepayments and capital expenditures in our supply chain, and
building out our infrastructure.
"Even with these investments, we
can maintain a war chest for strategic opportunities and have plenty of
cash to run our business," he added.
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