Apple's Acquisitions

The growth in Apple's (AAPL) sales is undoubtedly starting to slow and unless it moves into new markets and more importantly, creates the next "wow" product, we won't see too much sales acceleration for the tech titan. When it comes to inorganic growth, Apple isn't known for acquiring companies to supplement its sales, but more for acquiring technologies to help develop future products. Products such as Siri, the digital personal assistant application, and Apple Maps, the disastrous mapping software, came as a result of acquisitions. With a pile of $130 billion in cash and liquid securities, it is time for senior management to start thinking about either increasing the dividend or making some substantial investments in growing start-ups. The largest acquisition Apple has ever made came in 1997 when it bought NeXT in order to bring Steve Jobs back to the company. I believe it got what it