London, Feb 13 : Tech giant Apple's chief executive Tim Cook has said that he has `never been so bullish' about innovation at the company.

Cook also said the Apple board was in "very active discussions" over whether it should return some of its 137.1 billion dollars cash pile to shareholders,

He, however, stopped short of making any firm commitment.

Cook, during an appearance at the Goldman Sachs technology conference in New York, reassured shareholders that Apple still has considerable room to grow and should not be judged on the apparent slowdown in its trajectory over the last quarter.

According to the Telegraph, he added that the culture of innovation at Apple "has never been stronger".

He brushed aside suggestions that rivals might be able to steal its crown as market leader, saying that the skills Apple has aren''t `something you can just go and write a cheque for. This is decade of experience'.

His remarks came as investors have raised concerns that Apple is not coming up with game-changing new products as fast as it has done in the past, when the iPod music player was quickly outflanked by the iPhone and then its tablet device, the iPad. (ANI)