[LukeRB]

I've been a shareholder since 2007 and I would seriously consider selling if they offered a dividend. Offering dividends is not what true growth companies with good plans for the future do. FWIW, I'm far from risk-averse; I wouldn't invest in a single company that offers a dividend due to the implied lack of growth and innovation that is implied by giving away retained earnings that could be used for R&D, strategic acquisitions and new business initiatives. In Apple's case, this includes new markets/products, increased retail exposure and strategic exclusive supply chain deals.

I hope, for Apple's sake and our own, that they don't offer a dividend anywhere in the near future, if ever.

[lix2333]

This is correct. It would be a huge event if Apple started paying dividends and I'm fairly certain the market would not react kindly to that. The reason is, the market is pricing the Apple stock high due to what they think is coming in the future. They see lots of growth and expect the stock to increase in price. If Apple starts pay a dividend, that means they have decided that they aren't a high growth company anymore, and more of a stable giant (CocaCola, GE, etc). So all the analysts who thought they were going to have a certain amount of sales and growth have to readjust their predictions. Lower earnings predictions = lower stock price.