mr. h

Presumably, had Apple not been doing all these buybacks, the stock price would be even lower now? This notwithstanding, surely long-term investors would be better off if Apple spent all the capital return money on dividends?

Hoarding wealth is not necessary for Apple at this point - they have massive reserves and are making money faster than they can spend it. Returning money to investors is the right thing to do in this situation but I’m not sure the buyback is good value for money.

cnocbui said:

I like the way you avoided mentioning that Samsung have had the only real VR system actually on the market and that it's been there for almost a year.  Oh I know, you forgot.

When has Apple ever been first to market with anything? First != best, and first != most innovative.

Oh, and am I the only one who really isn't excited about any of this?

jdgaz said:

All corporate income taxes are evil. They simply end up being paid by the consumer in the cost of goods.

Not necessarily. In the case of goods with high margins such as Apple, the price is set predominantly by supply and demand. Apple couldn’t raise their prices significantly without their sales crashing (we are starting to see that perhaps, their prices are already a little too high - see Apple’s guidance for next quarter). Apple can easily afford to pay their fair share (which in Ireland is 12.5%) without price increases.SpamSandwich said:

mr. h said:

Brilliant. Morally reprehensible. To each his own.

I suppose if one were a statist they might be opposed to innovation and creativity and in favor of blind compliance.

Yeah, or maybe the world isn’t black and white.

I know he's retired. He should weigh in because he was the architect of this brilliant technique. And he should weigh in because it is his work that is under attack.

Brilliant. Morally reprehensible. To each his own.

SpamSandwich said:

Why hasn't Peter Oppenheimer weighed in on this?

Because he retired in 2014?

https://www.apple.com/uk/pr/library/2014/03/04Apples-Peter-Oppenheimer-to-Retire-at-the-End-of-September.html