Financier Warren Buffett, Known for Avoiding Tech Stocks, Takes a Bite Out of Apple

— -- Warren Buffett, the billionaire financier known for avoiding tech stocks, may finally be embracing technology.

The "Oracle of Omaha" earned his reputation for arguably being one of the best investors in the world. Buffett, 85, has enjoyed success without buying technology stocks, with the exception of a stake in IBM. It appears the times may be changing.

A regulatory filing on Monday revealed Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway owned more than 9.8 million shares in Apple as of March 31 -- giving them about a $1 billion stake in the iPhone maker.

"One of the bigger aspects that drive someone like Warren Buffett to invest is Apple's cash flow and he is probably looking at that as a way this investment can work for him," Gene Munster, managing director and senior research analyst at Piper Jaffray, told ABC News.

Ivan Feinseth, chief investment officer at Tigress Financial Partners, which has a "strong buy" position on Apple, told ABC News that Apple seemed like a "perfect Warren Buffett stock."

"It’s an incredible value. Warren likes good value, companies leading in their industry. Apple has incredible brand equity, the most loyal and largest customer base, he likes cash and cash flow. Everything about this makes it a Warren Buffett stock," he said.

While it may seem to meet some of Buffett's investment criteria, the move is a curve ball of sorts from Buffett, who in 2012 said he would not buy Apple or Google.

"I would not be at all surprised to see them be worth a lot more money 10 years from now but I would not buy either one of them," Buffett said at an annual shareholder meeting in Omaha, according to a report at the time. He added: "I sure as hell wouldn't short them either."

An email to Buffett's secretary was not immediately returned, however the Wall Street Journal reported the Apple buy was spearheaded by two former hedge fund managers that Buffett brought on in recent years who are believed to be potential heirs to the CEO.

The strong vote of confidence in Apple comes during a challenging time for the company.

The success of the iPhone, which was first released in 2007, has been a consistent driver of growth for Apple. The company sold 51.2 million iPhones this year, "lower than the exceptional year-ago quarter," Apple CEO Tim Cook said in an earnings call last month. He warned that the following three months would also be challenging for the company.

Apple posted second-quarter revenue of $50.6 billion and quarterly net income of $10.5 billion for the last quarter. By comparison, the company reported revenue of $58 billion and net income of $13.6 billion in the same quarter last year.

Cook warned a reduction in channel inventory -- that's supply available to retailers -- would also impact Apple's revenue for the next quarter, but projected an optimistic outlook on the call.

Munster, the analyst, said he thinks the Berkshire Hathaway stake in Apple will be just the beginning as he expects Buffett to possibly add to his position in the technology sector.

"I think naturally where technology is, we are at a stage where traditional investors are going to start investing in more technology companies," he said. "I would also expect someone like Warren Buffett to continue to add to his position."