Slash LaneApple's massive cash flow is a number up 27 percent from a year prior and the largest net-cash sum of any technology company. Highlighted in a new report from The Wall Street Journal, the total, as of June 27, is lower than tech rivals Microsoft and Cisco Systems, but both of those companies have debt that brings them below Apple's total.
Bolstering Apple's financial fortune more than anything has been the iPhone. As has been reported numerous times, the profit margins on the device have greatly increased the handset-maker's revenue, even allowing it to lower its prices on MacBook Pros without affecting the company's bottom line.
In addition, the Journal notes that Apple is not as dependent upon business customers as its rival to the north, Microsoft. Since the recession has had a major impact on corporate spending, the Windows maker has felt a greater impact than Apple.
"Apple has stated a preference for holding on to its money, which allows it to invest in the business in ways such as making acquisitions (though the company seems less inclined than Microsoft to pursue big buyouts," the report states. "It has also stated, however, that its board of directors regularly considers dividends, share buybacks and other options that would return cash to shareholders."
While Apple would rather invest in its cash as the company continues to grow, Microsoft, experiencing a growth slowdown since 2004, has taken a different approach to attract investors. Last year, Microsoft made a one-time $32 billion payment to its shareholders and doubled the payout of its annual dividends.
Similarly, Microsoft has reportedly also offered cash to developers in hopes of courting them to the Zune HD, to be released Sept. 15. According to John Gruber of Daring Fireball, a developer was offered a "bucket of money" to port a Twitter client from the iPhone to the Zune.
The news is noteworthy because Microsoft has not yet announced any plans for an App Store-like offering on the upcoming Zune HD, or any ability for third-party software to run.
"My source is certain the offer was for the Zune, but because he turned it down early on, he doesn’t know the details regarding the OS or SDK," Gruber wrote. If true, the news could mean the Zune is more than just a media player and Web browser, as has already been revealed.
Stephen Silver
Charles Martin
Sponsored Content
Amber Neely
Malcolm Owen
Andrew Orr
Christine McKee
54 Comments
I wonder how much a bucket is. Is it 2k? 10k? A free Zune Pass?
MS is so desperate for mindshare. It almost hurts to watch them try to buy their way into things they really don't know anything about and then just fumble it.
What MS did essentially is to come up with an iPod Touch duplicate (that fails to duplicate the Touch's current key strengths), 2+ years after the iPod Touch, and put a Zune logo on it, hoping we'll all think it's September 13, 2007.
They did this exact thing with the original Zune (vs. the iPod Classic.)
Except now the iPod market is slowly dying, eclipsed by the iPhone. The way to play thr game now is to converge devices into a single, well-executed unit: the iPhone.
But THIS TIME around, MS thinks they'll get a different result! Meanwhile Apple is about to render MS' entire effort into an non-event come the new iPod release in September.
The real question is . . . why miss the boat AGAIN? Why not release something truly compelling and desirable BEFORE Apple? That's kinda the whole point. Good Lord, even when Apple arrives LATE to the game, they still redefine the market completely (smartphones.) That's a rarity and Apple might be a special case. Not everyone can pull it off. But at the very least, Windows sufferers should be able to expect MS to use all that R&D money (apparently they have far, far more than Apple) to once in a blue moon upstage a company that is half their size, with half their workforce, with half their global reach.
Something is definitely wrong in Redmond. it's getting to the point where I don't really hate MS anymore, I just pity them. You have to feel sorry for an operation like that. It's being run by the WRONG PEOPLE. Probably a case of lions led by donkeys. The first to go should be Ballmer, regardless of how successful Windows 7 will be. It's a little late to be overjoyed by something that should have been out in 2004, or at least perfected by 2007, but wasn't.
No John, he turned down the offer because he didn't think it would really go anywhere and couldnt be bothered to learn to code for and support a platform that comamnds virtually ZERO mindshare, and which is likely to stay that way. And as long as Apple exists, there's a good chance it'll stay that way!
__________________
Ever hear of fucking proof-reading? This site has SERIOUSLY gone downhill over the past year. You guys need to step it up or you're going to start losing viewers. That "MS in the red" article was inexcusable for a "news" website.
I wonder how much a bucket is. Is it 2k? 10k? A free Zune Pass?
it's a subjective term so who knows what the developer meant by that.
IMO though 10,000 hasn't been anything one could consider "a bucket of money" for a long time.
Ever hear of fucking proof-reading? This site has SERIOUSLY gone downhill over the past year. You guys need to step it up or you're going to start losing viewers. That "MS in the red" article was inexcusable for a "news" website.
Ever hear of not using foul language and not advertising all over the forum?