Apple's New Move Praised
Apple bans toxic chemicals in its factories for the workers's health and safety. REUTERS/Toru Hanai/Files

April is a significant month to pay tribute for those who paved a way for their genius ideas in the world of technology.

An example of which are those who contributed their ideas for the future of Apple Inc., foreseeing where the company was heading years earlier. The following are two of the wisdom bits from the most popular thinkers in the electronic industry, Michael Dell and David Goldstein, as Apple Insider reported.

Michael Dell on Shutting Down And Paying Shareholders

Dell CEO and Founder Michael Dell offered his opinion about Apple in 1997 during the Gartner symposium. He said he would shut it down and give money back to the shareholders. Such statement was somewhat prophetic when after 14 years later, CEO Steve Jobs of Apple "shut it down" by wiping a consumer electronics industry segment one after another and generated piles of cash that Tim Cook, his successor, was forced to give money back to the shareholders.

In 1997, the market for the Cupertino titan was $2.3 billion. On February 2014, it has $2.6 billion for distribution to the shareholders, which it does four times annually without making any dent to its vast cash holding that is now over $160 billion.

The iPhone maker has now more cash to give for some time. Fiscal year 2013 earned it $37 billion on $171 revenues while Dell earned $3 billion in $57 billion revenues. Apple is paying out $12.2 per share annually, while Dell pays 32 cents per share.

David Goldstein on Turning Out the Lights in Retail

Former Pres. David Goldstein of Channel Marketing Corp, retail sector analysis firm, described Apple's retail prospects in 2001. He said he would give them 2 years prior to its turning out the lights on an expensive and painful mistake.

Such was breathtakingly correct when Apple entered into retail operations in 2011. Within the first 2 years, it started to turn the lights out on all of its competitors in consumer electronics in direct retail. Opening stores in rural settings and mall parking lots were "very painful and expensive mistake" for Gateway that it decided to shut-off all of its retail stores. Palm followed suit after 4 years.

Today, Apple's retail outlets reach almost 420, generating about $11 million quarterly on average per store.

The company plans to open more than 30 new stores worldwide and remodel 20 current outlets within 2014. In Q1 2014, Apple Retail made $7 billion income, which was far higher than the entire company's revenue of $5.36 billion in 2001.