Apple "On The Prowl": 24 Acquisitions In 18 Months

Generally the news is that Apple was discovered to have acquired a single company. Today it's become apparent that Apple has been acquiring companies rather quickly, with Tim Cook himself confirming that they'd acquired 24 companies over the past 18 months. "That shows that we are on the prowl," said Cook.

Cook continued, noting that it wasn't Apple's goal to be the company that acquires the most or spends the most cash, but the company that makes the highest quality products in the world. Regardless of this, Cook said, "you can bet you'll continue to see acquisitions."

Many of these acquisitions have been guessed or half-confirmed over the past several months, several of them attributed to Apple's very possible building of a wearable device. The iWatch, as it's still code-named in tech publications, has sparked more than a few pickups over the past year or more.

Now we'll have to start stacking up which companies we know – or think we know – against the full official number. It could be that Apple got away with a few acquisitions over the past year and a half that not one person took notice of.