I highly doubt it. This really is not the way get get market share. Come on Jobs is an intelligent guy and can come up with something better than this. Like you said last time was the Apple Store chain.

As an Apple Stockholder I hope they do not go this route.

http://thetechnutz.wordpress.com/

I've heard that from others, as well. I wouldn't know myself, as i don't play stocks, but it seems a savage indictment of the numerics culture that feeds on the work of industry.

All the big guys who built great companies always say the same thing: they wanted to make better products and make their mark in industry. they wanted to create.

And so they went to the market to gather capital from share issues because it is better than borrowing. And then their companies were mismanaged by fools who peer into a bag full of numbers and use their parents money to force change in industrial practice.

Sad, and probably the core reason we get bubbles in the market instead of sustainable, enriching growth.

Folks who create nothing but numbers are a cancer, a drain on those who creates products and services that help other people.

18 < 1/.0155 ≈ (approximately equal to) 64.5

Not that I think it's a good formula anyway.

There are two ways increase EPS, increase earnings or decrease the number of shares. Obviously, Apple management thinks that in the present economic setting spending $25B on shrinking the number of shares will get more or safer EPS than risking that $25B in the product market.

Wall Street is all about the current or immediately past 90 days. The manager that thinks about next year or 5 years from now will most certainly never maximize his/her bonus.

Managers are paid to grow businesses, to innovate and to develop new and improved products and services in order to keep customer's money flowing in. Not every new improved product will be a hit, but some will and good companies spend their accumulated earnings on new products and services.

http://sciencedefeated.wordpress.com/

S Market Cap: <$10B

DTLSF Market Cap: $56.21B

ATT is at $157B but would fall should AAPL buy one of the above.

But there are a few suggestions here that Apple should subsidize products to grow market share. With respect, that is lunacy, and idiot numerics. It is throwing away money to get a good set of numbers, according to the opinion of some "economist" who earns 15 grand a year from the state.

The way you grow market share is to make products that appeal to the market. then the market buy them, and you have market share at a profit. The idea that you can win in business by selling at a loss is so crazy I am not going to talk about it further.

So the big challenge for Apple is how to grow market share at a profit. NO SHIT. I mean, Stevo is so thankful for everyone who has looked into their crystal ball and come up with this nugget of gold. All this time, he thought he was painting a chicken yellow in order to win an art contest.

But money can't BUY market share. It has to be conquered, with good products. So the question becomes, What is the product Apple needs to build, in order to grow?

I think it is becoming evident that this product is the Enterprise framework. Apple need to stop perfecting the personal computer and music player, and start building a business machine.

How? Well, my two cents is that they need the best people. Everywhere they have dominated, it has been because they have the best people. Jonathan Ives, how much is that guy worth? You can't put a price on him. You just can't put a price on the minds that generate quality ideas. For a company that deals in tech, the grey matter is the fundamental asset upon which all else is built.

I have no idea who these folks are, the best brains for building the Enterprise framework, but I would bet my last dollar that this is where that cash must be spent.

If Apple succeed in Enterprise, they will own the show. If they fail, they are going nowhere. So I think they must employ every bright spark in the Enterprise tech world, put them to work, and cull the weak without mercy.

And that will not cost billions, but it will take some real leadership. I suspect it is already happening, but i don't have the data to back me up. So it is a guess, based on the way the Divine being has built this company over the course of my lifetime.

A share buy back is effectively forcing shareholders to invest more of the cash they own into the company… I would rather do that myself if I wanted to increase my investment in Apple…

A dividend payment makes much more sense…