If you’ve been watching Apple’s share price slump with dismay, Tim Cook has some words to comfort you: they’re working on some nice new products to help the company on its return to the top again.
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According to the CEO, the company has “some great stuff” in the works ready for eager consumers in the not-too-distant future. Speaking at Apple’s yearly shareholder meeting, Cook said he and the rest of the Apple management team were concerned about the drop in company’s share price. “I want you to know I don’t like it either,” he told attendees. “The board doesn’t like it. The management team doesn’t like it.”
The company’s share price has taken a hit in recent months, dropping from US$702 per share in September to US444 today.
Cook says Apple is keeping its eye on the horizon. “What we are focused on is the long term; this has always been the secret of Apple,” he said, adding that the company is still “focused on making the best products in the world. If we get that right, revenues and profit will follow.”
The CEO didn’t give any clues about what the company is working on, but did say that the company is “looking at new categories.” “We don’t talk about them, but we’re looking at them,” he said. “We invest in things we think are great to do.” Apple is heavily rumoured to be working on everything from a revamped Apple TV to a budget iPhone and an iWatch, a smart watch made of bendable glass.
Investors have suggested that Apple should return more of its US$137-billion in cash reserves to the shareholders, above the US$25-billion dividend and buyback programs it is currently rolling out. Cook says that they’re “seriously considering” the move.
As All Things D points out, it was quite a quiet shareholder meeting for the company. But Cook also touched on the shareholder lawsuit that was brought against it (and won) by investor Greenlight Capital recently, reiterating that he still views it as a “silly sideshow”.
