“Apple said it bought two closely held companies last week, mobile-application startup Siri Inc. and semiconductor designer Intrinsity. Those deals came after January’s takeover of mobile- ad network Quattro Wireless and the December buyout of online music service LaLa Inc.,” Guglielmo reports. “Terms weren’t disclosed.”
Guglielmo reports, “The timing of those purchases suggests Apple may be feeling pressure from Google, which has announced eight takeovers this year as it moves into new markets including mobile devices and the software and advertising that run on them… ‘The pace has really picked up, there seems to be a strategic shift,’ said Charlie Wolf, an analyst with Needham & Co. in New York. ‘It looks like there’s an acquisition frenzy going on between Google and Apple in the sense that there’s an increasing urgency on Apple’s part to stay even if not ahead of Google in the phone space and apps space.'”
Guglielmo reports, “With more than $23.1 billion in cash, Apple has plenty of money to keep purchasing small startups… Counting long-term investments that the company can ‘liquidate in a day,’ Apple had $41.7 billion in cash at the end of the last quarter, Brian Marshall, an analyst with Broadpoint AmTech, said. In comparison, Google had about $26.5 billion, he said.”
Full article here.
[Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader “Edward W,” for the heads up.]
