CEO Tim Cook Says Warren Buffett’s Investment Proves Apple is a ‘Consumer Company,’

Apple CEO Tim Cook said that Berkshire Hathaway’s Warren Buffett understands that Apple has evolved from a tech company to a consumer products company.

A new report from CNBC explains that Cook attended the Berkshire Hathaway annual shareholder meeting in Omaha, Nebraska this weekend. While in Omaha, Cook said that he’s “thrilled” to see Warren Buffett invest in the Cupertino company, despite the fact that the latter doesn’t usually invest in tech companies. As Apple’s iPhone sales have been dwindling, it has been steadily increasing its focus on consumer services.

According to Cook, Warren Buffett “has been very clear, he didn’t invest in technology companies and companies he didn’t understand. He’s been totally clear with that. And so he obviously views Apple as a consumer company.”

“We believe that technology should be in the background, not the foreground, and that technology should empower people to do things and help them do things they couldn’t do otherwise,” Cook continued. “We’re in the tech industry, but we work at that intersection of technology and the liberal arts and the humanities, and so we make products for people, and so the consumer’s and the center of what we do.”

While Cook admits that Apple is certainly situated right in the middle of the tech industry, he explains that his company is also straddling the line between technology and consumer products.



“We’re in the tech industry,” Cook explained. “But we work at that intersection of technology and the liberal arts and the humanities. And so we make products for people, and so the consumer [is] at the center of what we do.”

According to Cook, Buffett’s investment in the company “seemed like recognition” of Apple’s continued evolution as a company. “We run the company for the long term,” said Cook. “And so the fact that we’ve got the ultimate long-term investor in the stock is incredible.”

Berkshire Hathaway’s previous investment in a tech company ended after it effectively sold its stake in IBM in 2018, after which it increased its investment in Apple. Buffett’s company has, however, slowly begun to invest in more tech-related companies, as it has recently begun buying shares in Amazon.