Apple struggles to make big deals, hampering strategy shifts

San Francisco

"WE are always looking at acquisitions," Apple Inc chief executive officer Tim Cook told analysts last month. "There's not a size that we would not do."

It's a message he's increasingly stressed over the past year as investors question how the world's most valuable technology company plans to use its US$246 billion cash pile to meet ambitions sales targets and expand into new markets, such as transportation.