Apple is reported to spend over $500 million on taking over small companies to expand its business. The sum is almost doubled as compared to the one spent in 2013.
In particular, according to the report filed to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Apple has already allocated $525 million in the first quarter of the current financial year. Apple Insider has reported about that. Last year, Apple allocated $284 million for the same purposes. This confirms the current mainstream tendency when a tech giant takes over small-scale startups for new ideas, technologies and patents.
In particular, Siri was created thanks to a startup purchased in 2010. Another startup helped the corporation to introduce iAd - Apple's powerful advertising service. The list of other major takeovers includes Topsy Labs, PrimeSense, Cue and Broadmap. Experts say that Apple is especially curious about those companies that could help Apple to improve its map service.
Meanwhile, Apple's stock is still weakening after the rally seen over the past few months. The decline started after Apple announced poor-than-expected sales figures in Q4 2013. The chart below, courtesy of Masterforex-V Academy, reflects the current state of affairs in the market of AAPL:
GT Advanced Technologies - производителю сверхпрочных стекол с сапфировым покрытием «яблочная» компания уже перечислила предоплату объемом 578 млн. долларов на создание специальных печей, мощности которых позволят изготавливать сапфиросодержащие материалы для мобильных устройств.
Как известно, сапфировое стекло обладает высокой степенью прочности и поцарапать его крайне сложно.
