Apple’s cash could buy HTC, Motorola, Nokia & RIM

At the end of the current fiscal quarter, Apple is expected to have a whopping $70 billion sat in the bank – a sum that would allow the Cupertino company to purchase rivals HTC, Motorola, Nokia and Research in Motion.

Collectively, these four companies make up 75% of all mobile handsets sold, and are worth around $66 billion. Horace Dediu, an analyst for Asymco, noted that at the end of this month when the current fiscal quarter concludes, Apple is likely to have the cash required to buy all four companies. Dediu wrote:

“As market values of phone vendors continue to decline, Apple’s cash will continue to grow dramatically. Indeed, a time may come when Apple’s cash will be worth more than the entire phone industry.”

While Apple wouldn’t dream of acquiring companies that would serve little benefit to the already hugely successful iPhone maker, the move could put a stop to a number of the patent disputes ongoing between the smartphone rivals.

Companies left out of the mix are Sony Ericsson, Samsung, and LG, which are estimated to be worth $3 billion, $53 billion and $10 billion respectively. At their current valuations, however, Apple’s $70 billion in cash could actually cover the cost of every single mobile phone vendor except for Samsung.

The advantage Apple has over companies like HTC, Nokia, Sony Ericsson and RIM is that it doesn’t rely on smartphones alone to generate its revenue. Apple is without question the most profitable company in both the PC and the phone hardware markets, overtaking the market leader in smartphones, Nokia, in profits in late 2009 – two years after launching the iPhone.

[via AppleInsider]