Apple to make announcement on huge cash holdings

How about donating some to charity?

Why would you vote down a donation to charity? some people...

They should use the money to come up with a new company called Banana and with a different line of items.

Or, make cheap sports equipment for children to get them out of the house.

I heard they are going to buy the United States of America...

Good/Bad News for Wall St/Protesters respectively.

Apple hasn't regularly paid out dividends since 1995. Steve Jobs was known to loath giving out dividends to stockholders.

“We are not going to run out and have a toga party,” he said.

And I was so looking forward to that.

"So we’re actively discussing it. I only ask for a bit of patience, so we can do it in a way that’s best for the shareholders.”

Hello Apple? Here is a novel idea: You pay some of your profits to the people who bought your stock. It is called a "dividend".

Can I get a reward now?

Oh how about spending it on factories in the USA and moving production from Chinese prison factories?

zichi, they have a surplus of cash. They charge too much for their products. They can afford to have less profit per unit.

Have no need for the smart phones, the screen is too small and it keeps defaulting to microscopic. My I Phone breaks wind. Having so much in cash is not good. The reason it is cheaper is the horrible conditions in their Chinese factories.

If we assume Apple will consistently pay this dividend every quarter, then the return is around 1.8% (as noted above).

Apple hasn't paid a dividend since 1995, so I am not comforted with a supposed 1.8% return on a single quarter's dividend. If not followed by another three quarters of similar dividends, the return is more like 0.4%.

It makes me wonder about the $603 value of the stock. People invest in Apple to get gains and not to receive dividends, as evidenced by no dividend for 17 years!!!

So, how does paying a dividend effect its share price? Apple has fewer new gadgets up its sleeve, so must it now try to entice the dividend investor crowd.

YuriOtaniMAR. 21, 2012 - 05:51AM JST Have no need for the smart phones, the screen is too small and it keeps defaulting to microscopic. My I Phone breaks >wind. Having so much in cash is not good. The reason it is cheaper is the horrible conditions in their Chinese factories.

My smart phone is the best phone I have ever had. (I have an Android, though). Exceedingly useful to have a small connected pc (aka information) available to you at all times.

As far as China's factories are concerned, well, the factories would be there for someone else and doing the same thing and maybe worse. Those factories choose to operate as they do. You can try to blame Apple for forcing factories to operate under those conditions, but they acted that way before Apple came along. I imagine working at an Apple factory is preferable to other professions available to the workers, otherwise they would work elsewhere.

Besides, it sounds like Apple is improving its record in regard to the welfare of the workers.

Like what - - President Obama won't nationalise Apple until after his 1 gazillion dollar campaign earns him another four years as emperor?