A multi-billion-dollar tax bill imposed by the European Union could bruise Apple's image more than its finances, which remain solid even as the trend-setting company looks for the next big thing.

Analysts interviewed by AFP saw Apple as being in position to fend off the blow from the EU demand that the iPhone maker pay a record 13 billion euros ($14.5 billion) in back taxes in Ireland.

But the ease with which the California-based company could write a check to pay the gargantuan bill was seen as potentially coming back to bite Apple by giving the impression it is greedily avoiding doing right by the public coffers.

"People are generally outraged... very wealthy people are using legal but not moral means to avoid paying taxes," Endpoint Technologies Associates analyst Roger Kay told AFP.

"It's a bad strategy to be doing that."

According to its most recent earnings report, Apple had $231.5 billion in cash plus marketable securities at the end of June.

Of that total, $214.8 billion, or 93 percent, was said to be outside the United States, Apple's chief financial officer Luca Maestri said on an earnings call.

Kay contended that Apple chief executive Tim Cook should, and likely is trying to, negotiate behind the scenes to resolve matters with the EU.

Investors seemed unworried, with Apple's share price slipping less than one percent to $105.90 in late afternoon trading on the Nasdaq.

- No new hits -

Apple's real issue is the lack of a blockbuster announcement along the lines of those that set fire to markets and rocketed the company to glory under the leadership of late co-founder Steve Jobs, according to analysts.

"Apple is a company that lived hit to hit: the iPod, iPhone, iPad," said independent Silicon Valley analyst Rob Enderle of Enderle Group.

"Without those successive hits, it is struggling. While it has plenty of cash, it has stopped being a market maker."

Apple will hold a "special event" on September 7 in San Francisco, where it is expected to unveil a new iPhone model that improves on the prior generation but is not revolutionary.

Rumors include talk of an iPhone 7 that will boast improvements to software, cameras and processing speed along with doing away with jacks for plugging in wired headphones.

Analysts and Apple fans have been eagerly waiting for Cook to take a page from Jobs's playbook and enthrall the world with a must-have "one more thing."

Apple iPhones have been at the heart of the company's money-making machine for years, while reported investments in self-driving cars and virtual reality have yet to result in transformative new products.

Apple announced last month that it has sold more than a billion iPhones since the culture-changing mobile devices debuted in 2007.

With iPhone sales and profits sliding, Apple in July highlighted growth in sales of apps, music, and cloud services.

In its quarterly update, Apple said profits slumped 27 percent from a year ago to $7.8 billion on a sharp drop in iPhone sales.

It was the second straight quarter of slumping iPhone sales, which until then had seen uninterrupted growth.

The company said iPad sales meanwhile fell nine percent from a year ago, but revenues rose due to the launch of higher-priced tablets.

Apple is moving into new areas such as Apple TV and streaming music, which could produce more stable revenues -- but so far, these areas have had minimal impact.

- Heavy crown -

Morningstar Equity Research said in a note to investors on Tuesday that it saw Apple as undervalued, and one of its best investment ideas in the technology sector.

"Apple is not the only firm to use existing tax laws to its advantage to minimize its tax bill, nor is it the only firm with a massive cash balance trapped overseas," Morningstar said in the note.

"Nonetheless, heavy is the head that wears the crown, and as the world's largest company, Apple is likely to remain at the forefront of these types of issues and inquiries."

Apple's top rank in the tech world could have made it a target, with EU authorities making an example of a titan with ample cash, global name recognition and powerful legal resources.

"Ireland has been doing this for a while, and Apple is hardly the only company that has taken advantage," Enderle said.

"I think this is designed to set a precedent to go after other firms."

And while the stunning tax bill, or the legal costs of fighting it, might not make Apple flinch, they could deal knock-out blows to smaller firms, he reasoned.

Apple by the numbers
San Francisco (AFP) Aug 30, 2016 - The European Union on Tuesday ordered Apple to pay a record 13 billion euros ($14.5 billion) in back taxes in Ireland, but the Silicon Valley technology colossus is on firm financial footing.

Below is a look at Apple by the numbers:

FY 2015

- $53 billion profit for fiscal year 2015.

Apple touted fiscal 2015 as its most successful year ever, with revenue growing 28 percent to nearly $234 billion and net income topping $53 billion.

LAST QUARTER

- $7.8 billion profit in the quarter ending June 25

Apple's most recent quarterly earnings report topped Wall Street expectations despite a 27 percent drop in profit to $7.8 billion on a sharp fall in iPhone sales.

CASH ON HAND

- $231.5 billion in cash plus marketable securities at the end of June.

Of that, $214.8 billion, or 93% of the total, was said to be outside the United States, Apple's chief financial officer Luca Maestri said on the latest earnings call.

iPHONES SOLD

- Apple said in July that it had sold its billionth iPhone. The smartphone launched in 2007 is at the heart of the company's money-making machine.

APPS

- Apple chief executive Time Cook said at a developers conference in June that the online App Store boasted more than two million applications and 130 billion downloads.

SHARE PRICE

- Apple shares were down less than one percent to $105.81 in afternoon trading on the Nasdaq exchange, giving the company a market capitalization of $569.53 billion.

EMPLOYEES

- Apple said in its most recent earnings report that it has 100,000 employees worldwide.

Transatlantic tussles: EU cases against US firms
Brussels (AFP) Aug 30, 2016 - The EU's decision to make Silicon Valley giant Apple repay 13 billion euros in back taxes in Ireland is the latest in a string of competition cases against US firms.

Here are the main EU anti-trust inquiries as Washington and Brussels struggle for control of who sets the standards for global trade.

- APPLE -

The European Commission, the EU's executive arm and watchdog, has taken on the world's most valuable company in the form of Apple.

It launched its inquiry three years ago into whether "sweetheart" tax deals with Ireland amounted to illegal state aid for the company, which would have the effect of distorting competition across the 28-nation bloc.

In the wake of the LuxLeaks tax scandal it has launched further inquiries into the practice of countries offering extremely low corporation tax rates in an effort to attract multinationals.

- STARBUCKS -

In October 2015 the EU ordered US coffee maker Starbucks to repay the Netherlands 30 million euros in back taxes.

- MCDONALD's -

The EU launched a formal investigation in December 2015 into tax deals between US fast food giant McDonald's and Luxembourg, saying its preliminary assessment was that the arrangements breached state aid rules.

The case against McDonald's stemmed from a complaint by trade unions and the charity War on Want that accused McDonald's of avoiding around one billion euros ($1.1 billion) in taxes between 2009 and 2013, by shifting profits from one corporate division to another, and paying no local tax in Luxembourg.

- AMAZON -

Brussels has launched an investigation into Amazon's tax arrangements over its tax deals in Luxembourg.

In June 2015 it also opened a formal investigation into the Seattle-based online retail giant's e-book distribution.

- GOOGLE -

The EU has opened several concurrent investigations into the ubiquitous US internet giant Google.

In 2015 it formally charged Google with abusing the dominance of its search engine in Europe and a decision could come later in 2016.

In April 2016 it opened a probe into whether Google gives unfair prominence to its own Android apps such as maps or music streaming in deals with mobile manufacturers such as Samsung or Huawei.

Then in July, Brussels targeted Google's advertising business, saying it had restricted some websites from displaying ads from competitors. It also beefed up an earlier charge that it abused the dominance of its search engine for online shopping.

In all three cases, Google risks a fine of 10 percent of worldwide global sales for one year.

- MICROSOFT -

In a historic case in March 2013, the European Commission fined US giant Microsoft 561 million euros ($638 million) for failing to provide clients with a choice of internet browser for Windows 7, as it had promised to do.

It also fined the company 899 million euros in 2008, subsequently reduced to 860 million euros, for failing to comply with an order to share product information with rivals so that their software could work with Windows.

That came on top of a then-record fine of 497 million euros in 2004 for violating EU competition rules.

- INTEL -

INTEL, the world's biggest chipmaker, was in May 2009 fined a record 1.06 billion euros. The EU says it abused its stranglehold on the semiconductor market to crush its main rival, AMD.