Apple buys a company every three to four weeks |
Tim Cook, CEO of Apple, announced that the company has acquired about 100 companies over the past six years.
According to Cook's speech at the annual general meeting, that means Apple will buy into a company every three to four weeks.
Apple recently recorded its highest quarterly revenue ever, reaching $ 111.4 billion in the first quarter of fiscal 2021.
Cook told the assembly meeting that the acquisition would be primarily about technology and talent acquisition.
Apple's largest acquisition in the past decade has been the acquisition of Beats Electronics, a headphone-maker led by rapper and producer Dr. Dre was incorporated with a value of $ 3 billion.
Another notable acquisition is music recognition software company Shazam, which was acquired for $ 400 million in 2018.
Apple typically acquires smaller tech companies and integrates their innovations into their own products, such as the 3D sensor company PrimeSense, whose technology contributes to Apple's FaceID.
Apple has also invested in significant technology that is not clear to iPhone or MacBook users.
The list of Apple acquisitions and investments is very diverse.
Over the past year, Apple has acquired several AI companies, VR event companies, payment startups, podcast companies, and more.
In 2019, the company acquired Drive.ai, a self-driving shuttle company, to boost entry into self-driving technology.
In 2016, the company also acquired a $ 1 billion stake in Chinese passenger services company Didi Chuxing, although it is not a controlling stake.
Apple has a lot of money to make acquisitions as it is a huge and very profitable company with a market value of over $ 2 trillion.
Even though he had acquired 100 companies in six years, he was very particular about the products he bought.
Tesla founder Elon Musk recently announced that when he was struggling in 2013, he called Cook to buy the electric car company, but Cook didn't attend the meeting.
In terms of value, Apple's acquisitions are more limited than those of many of its technology competitors.
Microsoft acquired LinkedIn for $ 26 billion, Amazon Whole Foods for $ 13.7 billion, and Facebook WhatsApp for $ 19 billion.
The total value of Apple's ten best deals is still well below any of those deals.