An analyst crunching Apple's numbers sees the tech company increasing capital spending dramatically, causing speculation that Apple may be working on its own supply chain.
"My observations for over a year have been that Apple is increasing its capital spending to such a degree that it is neither fish nor fowl," wrote Horace Dediu, an industry analyst. "It operates data centers but presumably does not operate fabrication plants. And yet it spends more than Intel and Google combined."
Dediu suggested that Apple may be working on creating semiconductors, cases or other mechanical components. Either way, no one seems to be discussing Apple's increasing spending -- even at shareholders' meetings. According to Dediu, Apple's spending has jumped this fiscal year to $10 billion, outpacing Amazon, Google, Intel and Microsoft. He also projects that at this rate, Apple's spending will keep increasing and challenging Samsung's $22 billion a year expenditures. (It's unlikely Apple's spending is on its new headquarters, Dediu said, because that kind of spending is more gradual.)
Perhaps that's why Apple recruited all those Texas Instruments employees, according to Business Insider. However, all the speculation is just that, because no one outside of Apple knows what they're spending the billions on. Could it be Apple TVs? Macs? iPads? Or components for all three? We'll see if the announcement that it will be having more American-assembled devices has even more weight behind it.
