Apple Will Tell Us Monday How It Plans To Use Its $100B In Cash

Everyone has been wondering what Apple will do with its outsized cash reserves — currently at just under $100 billion. Tomorrow the company will hold a conference call to tell the world what that will be.

“Tim Cook, Apple’s CEO, and Peter Oppenheimer, Apple’s CFO, will host a conference call to announce the outcome of the Company’s discussions concerning its cash balance. Apple will not be providing an update on the current quarter nor will any topics be discussed other than cash,” read a release from the company.

In other words: a very focused, but potentially huge, bit of news from Apple tomorrow.

The call will take place at 6am Pacific/9am Eastern time, and as with its earnings calls, Apple will also make the call accessible via a webcast.

Between now and tomorrow morning, expect a maelstrom of suggestions from the gallery about what Apple should do, might do and will do with the money it has amassed over the last few years as sales of its iPhone and iPad, sold at what are probably some of the best margins in the business, have gone through the roof.

Will it be something philanthropic? A product? An acquisition or ten? A fund for others to build something? The purchase of a small country? The start of a new one? A dividend (the last one Apple paid was in 1995)?

To be honest, there’s enough cash there to do all of the above, and then some.

Full text of the release with details of the call below.

WHAT: Tim Cook, Apple’s CEO, and Peter Oppenheimer, Apple’s CFO, will host a conference call to announce the outcome of the Company’s discussions concerning its cash balance. Apple® will not be providing an update on the current quarter nor will any topics be discussed other than cash.
WHERE: Via conference call. The dial-in number for press is (877) 616-0063 (toll-free) or (719) 219-0041. Please enter confirmation code 592016.
WHEN: Monday, March 19, 2012 at 6:00 a.m. PDT/9:00 a.m. EDT
REBROADCAST: The conference call will be available as a continuous rebroadcast beginning Monday, March 19 at 9:00 a.m. PDT/12:00 p.m. EDT through Monday, April 2 at 9:00 a.m. PDT/12:00 p.m. EDT. The dial-in number for the rebroadcast is (888) 203-1112 (toll-free) or (719) 457-0820. Please enter confirmation code 6274937.
WEBCAST: Apple will provide live audio streaming of its conference call using Apple’s industry-leading QuickTime® multimedia software. The live webcast will begin at 6:00 a.m. PDT on March 19, 2012 at www.apple.com/quicktime/qtv/call31912 and will also be available for replay for approximately two weeks thereafter. The webcast is available on any iPhone®, iPad®, iPod touch® or any Mac® or PC running QuickTime 6 or later. If you do not have QuickTime installed on your Windows PC, it is available at www.apple.com/quicktime.

This recording is the property of Apple and protected by U.S. copyright law and international treaties. Any reproduction or distribution is strictly prohibited without prior written approval from Apple. Please contact Apple Public Relations or Investor Relations with any questions.

Apple designs Macs, the best personal computers in the world, along with OS X, iLife, iWork and professional software. Apple leads the digital music revolution with its iPods and iTunes online store. Apple has reinvented the mobile phone with its revolutionary iPhone and App Store, and is defining the future of mobile media and computing devices with iPad.