APPLE said on Monday it will initiate a regular dividend of $2.65 a quarter from July and will buy back up to $10bn of its own shares starting in fiscal year 2013.
The share buyback programme is expected to be executed over three years, with the primary objective of offsetting the impact of employee stock options and equity grants.
"We have used some of our cash to make great investments in our business through increased research and development, acquisitions, new retail store openings, strategic prepayments and capital expenditures in our supply chain, and building out our infrastructure.
"You'll see more of all of these in the future," said Apple CEO Tim Cook in a statement.
The company said it anticipates using around $45bn of domestic cash in the first three years of its programmes.