Apple's Cook: iPad launch "record weekend"

(CBS News) Apple announced a new dividend and share repurchase program in a conference call Monday.

MoneyWatch: Apple launches dividend, $10B stock buyback
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Apple chief executive officer Tim Cook said the company will begin paying a quarterly dividend of $2.65 per share. The program will start after July 1. Chief financial officer Peter Oppenheimer said the estimated dividend payments will be over 10 billion in the first year, which is the highest in the U.S.

"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," Cook said in a statement.

"Even with these investments, we can maintain a war chest for strategic opportunities and have plenty of cash to run our business."

Apple's Board of Directors authorized a $10 billion share repurchase program that will start in fiscal year 2013. The program's primary objective will be to neutralize the "impact of dilution from future employee equity grants and employee stock purchase programs."

Cook said Apple experienced a 73 percent growth in the last quarter and emphasized that the "pipeline is full of stuff." Part of the company's success could be attributed to the success of the iPad. The CEO started the conference call stating that 55 million iPads have been sold from the tablet's initial launch in the spring of 2010 up until the most recent quarter.

When asked about the recent iPad launch, Cook simply said it was a "record weekend," but didn't reveal any numbers.