Apple's stock, which earlier this month rose to a new 52-week high of $81.99, has been on a tear in the past year, rising fourfold. To attract new investors, companies often split their stock if it reaches a certain level, even though the move does not change the actual ratio of what they are paying for the stock.The main reason for Apple's brilliant results last year was the Apple iPod.
As part of its stock split plans, the company will increase its authorized shares of common stock to 1.8 billion from 900 million
More details at at Cnet