Apple Inc chief executive officer Tim Cook said he has “never been more optimistic” about where the company is today and where it is heading.
In a pep talk to investors, Cook said that the iPhone maker is “planting seeds” and “rolling the dice” on future products that will just “blow you away.”
Speaking at the company’s annual general meeting in Cupertino, California, Cook reiterated that the firm is still on track to double revenue from services next year from the nearly US$25 billion in 2016.
Referencing speaking notes on an iPad, Cook touched on several of the company’s product categories.
The goal is to lower the price on the US$1,200 MacBook Air laptop with a higher-resolution screen, he said, adding that there is a “long, great roadmap of fantastic” products related to the Apple Watch and AirPods.
He said that more health features would come to the smartwatch.
Apple shares rose more than 1 percent in afternoon trading in New York on Friday. The stock was down before Cook started speaking.
Investors are waiting for Apple to come up with a next big thing as demand for its best-selling product, the iPhone, slows, leading to the company’s first holiday-quarter sales decline since 2001.
Cook has often mentioned augmented reality (AR) as a game-changing technology and Apple is working on a pair of AR glasses. In the meantime, the company is focusing on a growing services businesses and rising sales of other devices like the Watch and AirPods.
Cook said that Apple bought 18 companies last year and is constantly on the lookout for more acquisitions.
The CEO also fielded questions from investors about privacy, diversity and politics. In an apparent jab at Facebook Inc and Google, Cook criticized companies that build data profiles of their users and reiterated that Apple is pushing for regulation against such practices.
One shareholder said that although Apple management’s political opinion appears to differ from that of the administration of US President Donald Trump, the company has still successfully worked with the US government.
At Apple’s recommendation, shareholders rejected a proposal to disclose the ideology of board nominees. Those in favor of the proposal indicated their desire for Apple’s board to have a more diverse set of political opinions, and one shareholder said the board needs more shareholder input.
Shareholders rejected a proposal to give wider access to nominate board members. The entire board, which includes Cook, former US vice president Al Gore and Walt Disney Co chief executive officer Bob Iger, was re-elected.
One shareholder criticized Apple for donating US$1 million to the Southern Poverty Law Center, a US legal advocacy organization specializing in civil rights and public interest litigation.
The shareholder said that if Apple’s board was more diverse politically, the company might not have made the donation.
Much of the room clapped when another shareholder rebuked the suggestion that Apple should not have given money to the center.
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