The first iPad mini was introduced on 2012-10-23. Steve Jobs died on 2011-10-05. It's certain that Steve both knew about the iPad mini and supported its development. Apple's hardware development takes time and does not shift on a dime.
"Apple is no longer hungry, nor foolish" is such a facile statement that means absolutely nothing.
I was actually rephrasing my point, using the quote. Sheding money as dividends means Apple is not hungry. Having no visionary guide to quell the aversion of risk, Apple is no longer foolish. I'm a bit embarrassed having to explain it.
Their war chest will remain strategically as big as it needs to be. The amount of cash they have is ridiculous.
And while an Icahn sized stock buy back is probably too much, their current buy back makes all the sense in the world. The stock is tremendously undervalued.
You can't say it more eloquently than Warren Buffet: "If you could buy dollar bills for 80 cents, it's a very good thing to do." [1]
Not to mention most of that cash is overseas, and it would be extremely costly to pull in onshore. They actually took a loan to pay out the dividends as it would be cheaper than paying the tax required to onshore their overseas monies.
I expect if all that money was in the US they would be spending it on something else. There are only so many fancy stores with expensive glass you can build overseas.
"Apple is no longer hungry, nor foolish" is such a facile statement that means absolutely nothing.