Yes, I'm well aware of the fact that Apple (and most corporations) are beholden to the shareholders. But that's precisely the problem. There was a time, before the '80s, when the order of importance for corporations was 1) customers, 2) employees, 3) the company, and 4) the shareholders. This wasn't just something a bunch of guys came together and decided "hey, let's do it this way!" No, it was a natural result of the high marginal tax rates of the pre-80's era. Companies didn't like paying taxes then anymore than they do now. However, because profits are taxed, companies would constantly spend money on employees, new equipment, equipment repair and maintenance, and the company in general, all of which was deducted from taxes owed, meaning less taxes paid. After the 80's, when the marginal rate dropped into the 20 percent range (before settling in the 30 percent range) that mentality shifted. All of the sudden, the shareholder came first and everything else was last. The net effect being that the primary purpose became maximize value at all costs, regardless of whether or not that was good for the company. Apple didn't succumb to that right of way, but once they became increasingly profitable and Wall Street took notice, all of the sudden the pressure was on to maximize profits at the expense of the company and their customers...er...consumers. Now, we're heading towards the dangerous path of turning customers/consumers into the product which will just further erode the already declining view of people as human beings.
As for the cash overseas, of course they did that. Like I said, companies don't like paying taxes, because the concept of the social good has steadily been replaced with hyper-individualism. Me me me! So companies hide their cash in tax havens until they can bribe enough politicians to lower the tax rate to ridiculously low levels so that they can "repatriate" the cash and spend it on...guess what?...more stock buybacks and dividends! Apple may not spend all of their overseas cash hoard that they recently repatriated on that, but you better believe they will spend a fare amount of it on that. There is only one purpose for buybacks and dividends, maximize profits for the investor class. That's it. There is no other purpose. It does nothing for the company, its employees (except the few who were given stock), or the customers.
I do see that running a business is more than just spend money and make money. It's also about the customers who buy their products. Before the 80's, the customer came first and the mantra was "the customer is always right." Now it's about "make as much money for Wall Street and the investor class as possible, screw everyone else!" I'm by no means ignorant of the fact that Apple is "not as bad" as other companies. There are far worse companies. However, all you need to do is peruse the long list of complaints from pro users here and elsewhere to see that Apple has joined their fellow corporations (both tech and non-tech) in favoring investors. They may do some things for their customers (privacy), and that may appear better than most, but it's really nothing compared to what companies used to do for their customers before the pathology of profit seeking took over.
