Apple’s new CEO Tim Cook (pictured) could be handed a US$28 billion war chest to make acquisitions, say Apple experts, marking a departure from Steve Jobs' tenure where big M&A deals were rare. Jobs, who unexpectedly resigned as Apple's CEO on Wednesday night, built the firm up from near ruin into one of the world’s richest companies, but its spending on acquisitions to date has been a fraction of that of rivals such as Microsoft and Google.

According to data compiled by Bloomberg, Apple has spent less than US$1 billion on deals over the last decade, while its largest US rivals have shelled out more than US$15 billion on average to buy companies over the same period. It notes that Microsoft has lost a fifth of its value over this timespan even after spending ten times as much as Apple on acquisitions. Apple, meanwhile, is currently valued at US$350 billion and is vying with ExxonMobil to be the most valuable company in the world.

But experts believe that former COO Tim Cook may be tempted to make some deals in areas such as entertainment, patents and security to keep rivals at bay.

“[The] time will come for acquisitions for sure,” Arvind Malhotra, an associate professor at the University of North Carolina – and a leading Apple strategist – told Bloomberg. “[Jobs] always grew from within. If lack of his vision and availability of his position causes the future pipeline not to be there, that’s when the acquisition model comes into play. They’re sitting on a cash pile.”

Apple may now need to spend more money acquiring products to replace those built using Jobs’ ideas, added Malcolm Polley, chief investment officer at Stewart Capital.

An Apple spokesman declined to comment on whether Jobs’ resignation this week will encourage the company to make more acquisitions.