Recently, Apple CEO Cook revealed a lot of inside information about the company including its $225.4 billion in cash reserves, making it one of the world’s most cash-rich companies. Cook said that in the past six months, the company has acquired about 20 to 25 companies but it does not announce these mergers and acquisitions because the size of the merger is often small.
When asked if Apple would focus on competitors, Cook said that as long as it is a commercial company, it is impossible to not pay attention to competitors, but Apple will not pay special attention or initiative, because they focus on users.
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Cook stressed that the electronic manufacturing industry is a cruel market. At the operating system level, it is competing with Google and Microsoft. In the hardware field, they have to compete with Samsung, Huawei, and other Chinese companies. In the PC space, Apple has the likes of Dell, HP, and Lenovo to contend with. He said “There are many competitors in the market where Apple enters. Apple doesn’t focus on individuals or businesses but on customers. “Can you do more for customers?” This is how we look.”
Apple is currently facing an investigation of violating anti-monopoly laws due to a petition filed by Spotify. In the coming weeks, the EU will commence the investigation and if Apple is found guilty, the maximum punishment could be a fine in excess of $20 billion.