評論
打印
Apple's cash pile
蘋果大賺
How to spend it
錢多了該怎么花
The tech giant should give cash back to shareholders
巨額現金流應該部分返還股東
NOT long after Steve Jobs died last year, wags eulogised the Apple co-founder with a joke:
蘋果公司創始人史蒂夫·喬布斯去年病逝后不久，就有這樣一個贊頌他的笑話流行起來：
"Ten years ago we had Steve Jobs, Bob Hope and Johnny Cash. Now we have no jobs, no hope and no cash." Apple may no longer have Jobs, but it fills investors with hope and is brimming with cash.
"10年前，我們有史蒂夫·喬布斯, 鮑勃·霍普和約翰尼·卡什，現在呢，手頭沒有工作（喬布斯姓Jobs，意為工作），內里缺乏信心（霍普姓Hope，意為希望），腰包里也早就沒錢（卡什姓Cash，意味現金）了"。
Its market capitalisation recently passed $500 billion, and it has a whopping $100 billion or so of cash on its balance-sheet.
是的，喬布斯永遠地離開了蘋果，但他給投資者留下了巨大的財富和希望：蘋果市場總值超過5000億美元，資產負債表顯示庫存現金約1000億美元。
That mountain of money is about to get higher.
而且，這個"錢山"還會越堆越高。
Apple aficionados are poised to snap up the new gadgets that the company unveiled on March 7th. These include a new iPad, the latest in the firm's wildly popular range of tablet computers, and a revamped Apple TV device.
蘋果迷已經蓄勢待發搶購3月7日發布的新產品，如頗受追捧的掌上電腦即新一代IPAD，以及升級版的電視設備。
If the new iPad, which boasts a super-sharp screen and lightning-fast connectivity, wins friendly reviews, it will give a big boost to Tim Cook, Jobs's handpicked successor.
新一代IPAD裝備了超高清屏幕，連通性如閃電一般迅速。如果新產品市場反應良好，這不僅是對于現任執行官蒂姆·庫克的肯定，也會再次給蘋果帶來巨額利潤。
But the extra cash it delivers will also increase pressure on Apple's boss and board to explain what they plan to do with the company's embarrassment of riches.
同時，"蘋果公司老板和董事將如何處理這筆巨額財富"將成為輿論焦點，而也恰恰是尷尬之處。
Last month Mr Cook admitted that the firm has more cash than it needs for its operations. It's a nice problem to have.
上個月，庫克先生曾承認蘋果現有的現金流超出了運營日常業務所需，這是個讓人高興的"富貴病"。
The obvious solution would be to give cash back to shareholders, either via dividends or share buybacks.
最現成的方法，似乎是通過股息分紅或股票回購把現金返還給股東，但這是個很敏感的話題。
This is a surprisingly sensitive subject. Mr Jobs was obsessed with hoarding cash, not least because of Apple's near-bankruptcy in the mid-1990s. Returning money to shareholders would mark a big departure from the revered founder's philosophy.
鑒于上世紀90年代中期時蘋果差點破產，所以前任執行官喬布斯推崇囤積現金，以備意外。因此，返現金給股東這個方法，很明顯與這位備受尊敬的創始人的理念大相徑庭。
Another reason Mr Cook will want to tread carefully is that some pundits see a tech firm's decision to start paying dividends as a signal that its glory days are behind it.
除了這一點，現任執行官庫克在處理這件事之所以小心翼翼，還有另外一個原因：某些權威認為，技術型企業一旦分紅，即暗示該企業走向沒落。
One oft-cited example is Microsoft, whose growth slowed after it began returning cash to shareholders in 2003.
一個經常提到的例子是微軟：2003年，微軟將部分現金流返還股東之后，發展逐漸變緩。
Apple is unlikely to suffer a similar fate.
蘋果可不想走上這條路。
Demand for its iGizmos seems insatiable. That is why it needs to come up with ways to invest more of its cash sensibly.
人們對蘋果的新發明似乎永遠期待，這也是督促蘋果一定要明智地投資這筆巨額現金流的壓力來源。
Tim Bajarin of Creative Strategies, a consulting firm, reckons Apple could ramp up its forward purchases of components and set up its own semiconductor factories, to give it a tighter grip on a critical link in its supply chain.
創意策略咨詢公司的蒂姆·巴家瑞認為，蘋果可以投資建設自家半導體工廠并提前購買電子元件。眾所周知，半導體是電子產業供應鏈中重要一環，蘋果正好可以借此牢牢把握這一點。
It could open more physical stores—though their sales would only add to its cash pile.
當然，也可以投資實體店——盡管實體店依然會再賺錢進來。
And it may have to fork out more on lawyers' fees to fight patent lawsuits and deal with other problems, including allegations that it colluded with publishers to fix the price of digital books.
最近蘋果一直在打專利等官司，如被指控與出版社合謀操縱電子書價格，因此律師費也將是一筆值得考慮進來的支出。
On the acquisition front, the firm has long shunned megadeals, preferring to swallow smaller firms with technology and people it covets.
那不如這樣：趁有錢，多收購些公司擴大營收？如果關注過蘋果你就會發現，它從未收購過大型公司。
That policy is unlikely to change, though Apple may well accelerate its deal-making tempo.
相反，蘋果會不時收購小型公司，以獲取技術和人才。
Among its likely targets are firms that offer video and other entertainment content, and others with data that could enhance services such as Siri, its virtual personal assistant.
即使現在發展步伐加快，這一基本思想也很難改變，即搜尋研究影音技術、游戲服務以及一切其他能豐富蘋果產品功能的小公司。這里的功能所指廣泛，如虛擬個人助手Siri系統等等。
None of this would put much of a dent in $100 billion.
這些支出跟1000億美元相比，簡直是"九牛一毛"。
So Apple will probably start handing cash back to shareholders later this year.
因此，蘋果應該會在今年年底，將部分現金流返還給股東。
Working out how to do so will take time, not least because the firm holds much of its money outside America in order to avoid hefty US corporate-tax rates.
因為避稅（指美國高額企業稅）其所持有的現金很多不在美國本土，返現計劃從計劃到施行還需要一段時間。
Some Apple fans fret that if the company decides to pay regular dividends, it could end up regretting it.
不少蘋果迷擔心：定期發放紅利將不是個明智的選擇。
"Apple needs to watch out for dividend addicts," says Aswath Damodaran, a finance professor at New York University who owns Apple stock. Such shareholders, he adds, will be obsessed with extracting as much cash as possible from Apple rather than with its mission of making mind-blowing products.
來自紐約大學的金融學教授Aswath Damoaran是蘋果的股東，他說："公司需要注意，發放股息返現將會吸引來不少過分追求紅利的投資者，這群人所重視的，不是公司能否推出令人耳目一新的產品，而是盡可能地利用股息賺錢（如此追"紅"逐"利"的股東大會可能會影響公司良性運轉）。"
Perhaps. But the point of shares is that they confer ownership. They are valuable only because shareholders expect—and are entitled to—a share of profits.
也許吧，但各位別忘了，股票的性質之一就是憑證所有權，也正是因為股東相信股票并有權享有公司部分權益，它這才有了價值。
Apple may have trouble finding a good use for its cash, but its shareholders will not.
蘋果公司會因如何妥善安排現金流而備受苦惱，但股東們卻不會。
