Apple has acquired about 100 companies over the last six years, the company’s chief executive Tim Cook has revealed.
That works out at a company every three to four weeks, he told Apple’s annual meeting of shareholders on Tuesday.
Apple recently delivered its largest quarter by revenue of all time, bringing in $111.4bn (£78.7bn) in the first-quarter of its fiscal year 2021.
Mr Cook told the shareholders meeting that the acquisitions are mostly aimed at acquiring technology and talent.
Apple’s largest acquisition in the last decade was its $3bn purchase of Beats Electronics, the headphone maker founded by rapper and producer Dr Dre.
Another high profile purchase was music recognition software company Shazam, for $400m in 2018.
Most often, Apple buys smaller technology firms and then incorporates their innovations into its own products.
One example is PrimeSense, an Israeli 3D sensing company whose technology contributed to Apple’s FaceID.
Apple has also invested in back-end technology that wouldn’t be so obvious to iPhone or Macbook users.
(Source: International Agencies)
