Apple Inc said Monday it will initiate a regular dividend of $2.65 a quarter from July and will buy back up to $10 billion of its own shares starting in fiscal year 2013.
The share buyback program is expected to be executed over three years with the primary objective of offsetting the impact of employee stock options and equity grants.
"We have used some of our cash to make great investments in our business through increased research and development, acquisitions, new retail store openings, strategic prepayments and capital expenditures in our supply chain, and building out our infrastructure. You'll see more of all of these in the future," said Tim Cook, Apple`s CEO in a statement.
The company said it anticipates using around $45 billion of domestic cash in the first three years of its programs.
