Buffett appeared on CNBC this morning after releasing his much anticipated annual letter to Berkshire Hathaway shareholders on Saturday.

He announced that Berkshire now owns some 133 million shares in Apple after buying yet more of the company's stock this year. That's more than double the stake that Berkshire revealed earlier this month and has a value of more than 17 billion dollars.

Apple did surprisingly well in recent holiday sales, raising the hopes of investors and bringing share prices to record highs. Apple now has a market value of 717 billion dollars.

The famous investor says he's investing heavily in Apple, believing that once consumers begin using the company's varied products they aren't likely to stop.

His aggressive buying spree at Apple caught many off guard. At 86, Buffett has avoided the tech sector for a long time.

But last year he began buying up shares of the smartphone-producer, and greatly increased his stake in the last quarter. Buffett says when he looks at Apple he sees a maker of consumer products, not a producer of technology.

Though Buffett says Apple's iPhones are great, he still carries a basic flip phone.

tr/uh (AP, dpa)