“Please buy Greece,” the young man said.
What? You were expecting maybe this to be about China, where workers toil to make iPhones and iPads under conditions that could fairly be described as grim? Not a chance. Apple’s meeting, held Thursday morning at its Cupertino, Calif., headquarters, yielded no official mentions of China or even indirect references to the workers there.
That was left to the protesters outside the auditorium.
“Stop i-sweat shop,” they demanded, a slogan that needs an overhaul before people will start listening to it. The number of demonstrators did not top two dozen.
One concrete change came out of the meeting: Advocates of improved corporate governance won a victory when Apple said it would start electing board members by a majority rather than a simple plurality. The company previously opposed such a move.
Tim Cook’s remarks, his second shareholder address as chief executive but the first since Steve Jobs died, began with a tribute to Mr. Jobs. Mr. Cook spoke of his “intense determination to continue the journey,” because he knew that was what Mr. Jobs would want.
And what a profitable trip it has been. Mr. Cook took a quick survey of the many accomplishments of the company: the voice-recognition software in the new iPhone, Siri (“many people’s best friend”). Twenty-five billion apps downloaded (“It’s hard to even intellectually think about a number that big”). The iPod (“continues to be the top music player in the world”). Macs (“Arguably, we’re the only company innovating in the personal computer space”). Apple stores (a million people a day come through). And of course the amazing growth in revenue last year (“More growth than H.P., Nokia, HTC, Google” — and here Mr. Cook seemed to genuinely forget the name of a once-formidable competitor whose very survival is now being questioned — “and RIM put together”).
As for the shareholders, here is what was on their minds, aside from Greece (No, that question did not make any more sense even if you were there). What is going to happen with that $100 billion? Facebook — friend or foe? (Answer: Friend!) The closest anyone got to activism was complaining that Apple advertised on shows like Family Guy that were not kid-friendly. By the way, what is going to happen to that $100 billion?
In a never-revealed-before Apple Fact, Mr. Cook said Apple gave away or discounted equipment worth $750 million to educational institutions last year. As for that $100 billion in cash, well, they are thinking about it.
The proceedings ended after about an hour. Outside, the protesters had long since dispersed. Shareholders, accosted at random, said Mr. Cook was doing a great job. Nadine Samuels, a Frenchwoman who now lives in Berkeley, Calif., did allow that it was a little odd that the oppressed masses in China did not at least get a mention.
“I was expecting Cook to comfort shareholders, to say that they’re on the problem,” she said. “It would have been nice to hear a sentence.”