Back during the
earnings call a few weeks ago, it was mentioned that Apple
has a jaw-dropping almost $40 billion just sitting around in cash. In the chat, we started talking about other companies that might have that much money in the hopper -- Google came up, but I don't think we were able to guess another one. But it turns out Apple isn't even the most flush company out there, and the name of the first might surprise you: According to this chart on Silicon Alley Insider,
Microsoft is currently sitting on just slightly more money than even Apple, with Google and Intel coming close behind; although Apple briefly pulled ahead of MS at the end of 2008, the Redmond Revenue Racers had more cash through most of '09 than Apple did.
Well how 'bout that. Of course, the current curves are not so favorable to Microsoft (after the Win7 update push slows down a bit) so it may not be long before Apple's pile grows even bigger. We can probably look for
some significant acquisitions from all of these companies very soon -- with the rest of the economy down and lots of interesting ideas looking to sell, odds are we'll see some of this money spent on worthy purchases.
[via
Cult of Mac]
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Raj said 4:11PM on 2-08-2010
This is useless penis-measurement.
Cash on hand for MSFT was reduced because it implies the company isn't investing it's profits well enough (either re-investing in company or purchasing other companies).
Apple's large hoard - what use is it doing them? It's certainly security for when the bad times may come, and it's clear that Apple has no problems innovating (so the shareholder pressure is low)... but what does this mean to it's employees, shareholders, or customers other than it's a big number?
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Murphy Mac said 6:19PM on 2-08-2010
I saw some numbers recently that looked like Apple was approaching MS in revenue. I think. When you consider how little room MS has for growth in key products like Windows and Office it looks good for Apple. Apple has all the room in the world to grow - can't wait to see the share price in 2-3 years.
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wscott said 5:52PM on 2-08-2010
Your chart is misleading. it appears that the 4 companies together have $40 billion. A bar graph would have been a better choice. As it stands now, the chart makes it look like Microsoft had no money in the bank from late '08 till early '09.
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joem said 7:03PM on 2-08-2010
I agree. This is one of the most misleading charts I've seen lately. Way to go, Silicon Alley Insider. Simple lines would have been much clearer than shaded areas. Or, as wscott pointed out, bar graphs!
puhsitch said 7:28PM on 2-08-2010
But if you read it that way, then Microsoft inexplicably went broke between 9/08 and 3/09, and Apple and Google had no cash at all until relatively recently.
karan said 12:21AM on 2-09-2010
That's if you're reading it as a stacked chart, whereas this is more like a coloured-area-under-the-line chart. You just need to look at the top edge of the coloured area. A bar chart wouldn't convey the same data unless you had a group of bars for each data point, and it's harder to compare the trend if you do that.
(that's not to say it's not stupid to have coloured in the area - for instance where Microsoft's cash dips under Apple's, you can't tell how far below it dipped because Apple's area covers it up.)
Tom Gregson said 6:52PM on 2-08-2010
nicholson789@gmail.co
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bravsopus said 8:02PM on 2-08-2010
There is a key difference between Microsoft and the rest. Microsoft kicks out dividends to its shareholders. Apple and the rest don't. That will lower the amount of cash on hand. So nice try at the commentary ...
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bravsopus said 8:04PM on 2-08-2010
There is a difference between Microsoft and the rest. Microsoft is the only business in that group that kicks out dividends to its shareholders. That will lower the amount of cash on hand. Nice try on the business commentary. MSNBC does better.
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Tatonka said 4:06AM on 2-09-2010
I am not sure why it is a good thing to have that much cash in the bank .. in fact I think it is a bad sign for a company.
As a shareholder you want either to be paid from that money or want to see it go somewhere usefull .. explore new business markets .. invest some. Of course having a little security cushion in place is fine .. but Apples is a little big.
As a customer it makes me feel that I got rip off to be honest. Apparently a good chunk of my money was not reflected in any costs but was just making the company rich .. sitting on 40$ billion make the the company appear greedy.
At least Microsoft and Intel seem to have some ups and downs in there, trying to balance there cash .. for Apple and Google it is hard to tell.
Apple really should get some of that money and do something great with it. Why not take some risk and throw out the iPad for a 100-200$ less and make the plattform thrive. Instead they charge us almost twice of what the hardware is worth and 30$ extra for the iWorks apps. Lame. Greedy.
T.
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