Apple plans no dividend or buyback

By Scott Hillis

CUPERTINO, California (Reuters) - Apple Inc (AAPL.O: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) has no plans to declare a dividend or buy back its stock, Chief Executive Steve Jobs told the annual meeting of shareholders on Tuesday, adding that iPhone sales were on track.

Jobs said he was confident that Apple would hit its 2008 sales target of 10 million iPhones, a figure which some analysts have questioned in the face of a weaker U.S. economy, and executives said the communications device would reach Asian markets this year.

But Chief Operating Officer Tim Cook was elusive on timing for selling into the key market of China, which has more cellphone users than any other country.

"We will enter Asia with the iPhone in 2008 ... We will one day enter China, we're not saying when, and we will one day enter India," Cook said.

Jobs was asked if the company planned to start paying a dividend or initiate a stock buyback program. "At this time, we have no plans to do either," he told shareholders.

The company's stockpile of cash and short-term investments topped $18 billion at the end of last year, leading to speculation about how the maker of iPods, iPhones and Macintosh computers might spend some of its cash reserves.

Shares of Apple closed up $2.89, or 2.4 percent, at $124.62 on Nasdaq.

The stock is nearly 46 percent higher than it was a year ago, but shed 37 percent so far this year amid concerns that a faltering economy will dampen demand for its products.