“The biggest cash pile in the technology industry historically has belonged to Microsoft Corp., but now it has some company, and it’s a familiar name: Apple Inc.,” Todd Bishop reports for The Seattle Post-Intelligencer.
“Microsoft has reduced its cash balance to $26.3 billion through large stock buybacks, dividends and acquisitions. The balance was more than $64 billion less than four years ago,” Bishop reports. “Apple’s balance has been growing – reaching $19.4 billion at last count – as a result of the cash generated by its Mac and iPod lines. Less than four years ago, its stockpile was $5.5 billion.”
“The trends have implications for both companies. Cash translates into the ability to consider acquisitions and other potentially business-boosting deals. Apple has cited those types of possibilities when Wall Street analysts have asked about plans for its cash. Microsoft had been planning to borrow money for the first time, before it withdrew its $44.6 billion Yahoo bid Saturday,” Bishop reports.
“‘Stock buyback programs and other forms of returning the cash are discussed with the board from time to time,’ said Peter Oppenheimer, Apple’s chief financial officer, in a Jan. 22 earnings conference call. But Apple’s current preference is to ‘maintain a strong balance sheet in order to preserve our flexibility to make strategic investments and/or acquisitions,’ he added,” Bishop reports.
More in the full article here.
Half a *trillion* dollars, sadly.
Not only a waste of money, but of lives as well.
@His Shadow: What half a billion dollars? The all-up cost is likely to reach 3-trillion dollars!
Back to the article; I wonder what Apple could possibly buy that would be a good fit. Adobe? No… not until Adobe’s market position and stock price has been weakened. Historically, Apple has always led in the adoption of new technologies, and Adobe was an early beneficiary and benefactor. Unfortunately it has become somewhat of a monster. I expect Apple will use its cash stockpile to lock new technologies into its proprietary platform early from now on.
In a sense Apple and Microsoft’s cash positions reflect the way both companies have been thinking – forward for one; backward for another.
@ron
What the deficit Bush and his cronies have racked up hasn’t taken anything out of your pocket?
As usual, the dems will rescue America and get us out debt and bring back out self respect.
“Apple’s pile of cash growing rapidly” becomes political bickering. Thank you for proving a point of mine.
Dismantle Partisanship. Stop the Hate.
The president does not spend money, only the congress has that power.
Ron,
You have to bear in mind that we’re dealing with an administration where the Vice-President appears to believe that he can create new branches of government that exclude him from congressional or judicial oversight, so I wouldn’t go long on making statements regarding the powers of the three ‘official’ branches of government if I were in your shoes.
And let’s bear in mind that when the current Congress tried to tie conditions to the approval of yet more funding – requested by The White House and The Department of Defense – for the War That Was Never Required™, the current President simply vetoed that version of the bill.
The President that you appear to support and the previous three sessions of Congress conspired to create the single largest public deficit in US history. Even greater than that of Ronald Reagan (!) which is a heck of an achievement.
As things currently stand, 46% of all general taxation goes either on defence spending or interest on the public debt. Given your allegedly great age, it won’t bother you that the current generation taxpayers are being bilked by the Federal Government.
And when I use the word ‘bilked’, I mean it: that money isn’t being used to build a strategic industrial or intellectual advantage for this and future generations. It’s being used to fight two wars, one of which is already a massive screw-up (because of a lack of focus) and where the other appears to be an open-ended commitment to protect petro-chemical interests. And it’s also being used to make the investment banking community wealthier, which is hardly a charitable cause with which any sane man would want to be associated.
One can only assume that you don’t have grandchildren or nephews or nieces: because your support of the ‘borrow and spend’ conspiracy (which is actually worse than ‘tax and spend, because you accumulate an interest burden) is going to have to be repaid by future generations who will receive a declining industrial legacy from our generation.
In other words: less Federal support for education (if that were possible), less support for the elderly, less support for the vulnerable. Their generation will pay for the self-serving, ‘me first’ stupidity represented by people like you.
How’s that for free speech?
And just to round off, isn’t it amazing that people who have an issue investing in companies that leverage borrowing to invest in the future don’t have a problem with governments that borrow to spend in the present-day.
Maybe Steve Jobs and Peter Oppenheimer should take over the Executive Branch: couldn’t possibly be any worse than the situation you have now.
“Microsoft’s… balance was more than $64 billion less than four years ago,” Bishop reports.
I wonder how much of that $64 billion was spent on replacing chairs?
I think that this particular feedback has actually become something of a reflection of what is happening in the real world both with Microsoft and the Political leadership. Too much inward looking bickering and too little assessment of what is happening in the real and wider world. That inevitably leads to an inability to anticipate future trends, changes in the technological flow amongst others leading to a defensive strategy and lack of real innovation. That’s indicative of being over the hill, be it Microsoft on the big scale or closer to home little old zuny. On the bright side, and thankfully, Apple appears to be avoiding that state rather well at present.
MCCFR, will you marry me?
Your potential. Our passion.™
Zune Tang…
From what I can tell, that would require a major lifestyle choice from me and a major revision in your choice of computer platform.
How about we just stay friends?
The return of apple, a movie should be made about this. A++ for apple.
http://www.cashpotatos.com