“The cash coffers are overflowing at Apple these days. While Silicon Valley is abuzz over the fact that social-networking startup Facebook is now worth $15 billion on paper, Cupertino-based Apple has at least that much money — $15.4 billion to be exact — in real, spendable cash,” Bryan Gardiner reports for Wired.
Gardiner asks, “With more money on hand than it’s ever had, the question is: What exactly will Apple do with that pile?”
“Apple could use its wad of cash to ensure that iPhone-component makers are keeping up with demand. This is seen as critical for Apple at the moment, especially considering that it’s set to launch the phone in Europe next month. Another potential investment could come in the form of building out the new property Apple purchased last year in Cupertino. Indeed, Jobs has said that the 50-acre parcel of land is to be the home of a new campus housing up to 3,500 of Apple’s employees,” Gardiner reports.
“Less likely is the possibility that Apple might join a Google-led consortium of companies bidding in the upcoming 700-MHz spectrum auction. With the bar set at $4.6 billion just to qualify for the open access ‘C’ block, analysts predict Google will likely want some monetary support from companies that could benefit from a new swath of open spectrum. That includes hardware manufacturers like Apple, whose iPhone and iPod touch might, in future versions, work with an open wireless network,” Gardiner reports.
More in the full article here.
[Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader “Paul” for the heads up.]
the govt could just give the 15 billion back to the shareholders, err… citizens and fold the company, err… country
(poor reference to michael dell)
How bout a little 700 Mhz network that the feds are auctioning off? That could put the iPhone and a network of Macs into the stratosphere.
i like bubba’s idea best
Buy Adobe ready.
Create a new music label for iTunes.
I do think they should do a joint 700 mhz adverture with Google.
TowerTone: the war in Iraq has got nothing to do with national defense.
My vote:
– Expand iPhone development to add full PDA features, a newton+cell phone type product. Add memory.
– Develop a new computer with upgradable video to be positioned between the mac pro and the imac, something of similar power to the imac but with upgradable video and no built-in display.
– Develop a tablet mac, the tMac, essentially a thin macbook pro with iPhone-like touch display that can flip over and act as a tablet mac.
– Invest in expanding xCode with professional level addons to encourage more mac native software development, especially games. Consider releasing yellow book for cross-platform Cocoa development. Or abandon the aging Objective C for a new crossplatform tool set.
– Fund the formation of my new mac software development shop
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I definitely think Apple should get into gaming–I just don’t think they need to buy Nintendo or whoever to do it, any more than they needed to buy Motorola to make a cell phone.
Here’s how games would work, Apple-style, IMO:
1) They would get the game developers who at least to be Mac-friendly now (remember WWDC?), and hopefully others–makers of all sorts of games, free to $39, SuDoku to Halo–and offer them a way of selling their games without the shipping, packaging, etc. costs: on iTunes.
2) It would work like Movies work now, and while one might say that movies haven’t been much of a success with only 609 movies on iTunes, 609 would make a pretty nice games selection.
3) They would be syncable/playable on iPhone and iPod touch via amazing multi-touch interface (think the best of both PSP and DS in one, but better), and on the computer using the keyboard and mouse (like all games). One could also buy a no-setup wireless controller from Apple that would work with computers with iTunes (even better than mouse) and Apple TV.
4) Over WiFi, people could play multiplayer, whether one is on an Apple TV and one on a computer, both are on iPhones, one is on an iPod Touch and one is on an Apple TV, or whatever. (Perhaps eventually they could have something similar over the internet, like Xbox Live.)
What do you think?
Buying back some of its own floating stock would be a head start.
Although I agree that making big takeovers is not in Apple’s DNA, I think they should make an exception and …..
buy SONY.
It’s a perfect fit and it’s going cheap.
Donate it to Green peace.
– Dividend for stock holders.
– Buy back of stock.
R&D;
PastryChef is right: Buy Adobe!
Apple doesn’t have to come up with the entire amount in cash at all, for those saying Adobe is worth more than Apple has. Apple has enough.
Thanks, Chimpy. You are a Godsend. (oops, sorry)
Linux Guy
The 700 Club is tempting, but keep in mind the infrastructure build out and maintenance. Also, these are license (I’m sure you know) and as with our 6 GHz range, comes rules specific to that frequency, not all have been laid out yet. A piggy back or consortium seems preferable.
I think a move to buy ANY movie studio, or Sony, to use as leverage to get the others to the table on rentals would be great. This studio could be pawned off to Disney…for more control. The rest of Sony could be sold off. Yes, a dream, I know.
Another idea would be to invest in a memory factory to help keep prices stable for Apple, push their development needs, and, being stateside, would have the added benefit of a supply regardless of Asian markets/conflicts, and could help the American economy by supplying jobs where we need them the most….in northern Mexico!
There is only one thing apple should do with the money. They should buy Autodesk. Adobe’s products (image editing and page layout) are much better space for apple to challenge. Apple is already doing it. No one can challenge Autodesk.
Apple already has a strong presence in audio and video production. That’s a perfect match for Autodesk because they control 3D animation for film. They can build integrated server software to manage content for all three.
Autodesk control’s 3D for games also. Apple could use this as a lever to move games away from DirectX.
Autodesk dominates CAD with Autocad. Enough offices are locked into autocad that apple could force a switch to os X and then push their open directory and caldav server products into the office.
Autodesk has a sales/support org that actually listens to their business customers. Apple needs that. They don’t have enough enterprise business to justify it right now.
Sony would be a terrible buy… apple is already a competitor. Nintendo is interesting, but why risk it?
In order for Apple to move beyond the space defined simply as “tech” companies, the next 5 years will give the company the resources necessary to move into the rarified air of a company of the class of GE. The key is to look thru their eyes – they sell consumer hardware in markets in a state of chaos where the dormerly dominant players are in a weakened financial state and the market would be amenable to their stylishly engineered offering.
I see them buying Tesla and having the manufacturing done in a contract fashion in parallel to their current business model.
@TT
Right on, dude! I also want my Christian values, pro-life, compassionate President spending my money to kill some non-Americans I’ve never met rather than waste it on something stupid like healing sick children. I’d rather die than get socialized medicine.
Hookers and Blow! Hookers and Blow!
Actually, Ryan has the right idea. Autodesk’s market capitalization is $11 billion, so Apple could pay in cash.
Can you imagine the whine from Windows users if Apple did this?
Yeah, Gasser, it’s exactly that simple. Thanks for summing our world up so succinctly.
@TT: Love the northern Mexico line. Wish the rest of the country, and especially the politicians, would wake up and smell the tortillas.
You don’t know anything about spending 15 billion. I do.
I’ll be happy to take a measly 1/10,000th of it off their hands. Come on, Apple, that’s such a small fraction, you know you can give it to me.
Thanks in advance!
Sinking dollar value makes that about 6-8 billion in 2004 terms. Lets face it, returns on US stock, housing and other investments have to grow at about 40% just to keep even…
Best investment: Buy a controlling interest in a US music/movie publisher and fire all the crud, asset strip the company of all except the music/content rights then renegotiate the contracts with the creators…
” . . . jobs where we need them the most….in northern Mexico!”
I thought we were northern Mexico.
The 15 billion will be used to make OS 11 – a 3-D, virtual, multitouch OS that will finally allow for the development of that sex machine that Woody Allen used in “Sleepers”.
Peter and Bubba,
You got me beat! Maybe we can combine our 3 ideas into one hell of a party!