Here's an interesting little note from Apple's record-breaking Q1 2011 financial sales call: according to CFO Peter Oppenheimer and acting CEO / COO Tim Cook, the company's made a two-year, $3.9 billion deal with three suppliers to secure a "very strategic" component for its products. Cook wouldn't identify what the component was, citing competitive reasons, but he did say the arrangement was much like Apple's famous deals to source iPod flash memory that date back to 2005. According to Tim, "We think that was an absolutely fantastic use of Apple's cash, an
