The coffers are full

Horace Dediu from Asymco calculated that Apple could buy quite a number of its competitors or their respective phone-making subsidiaries – using its enormous cash reserve (Cash, Cash Equivalents, Short-term marketable securities and long-term Marketable Securities) of around USD 70 billion. Asymco came up with the following calculations: Nokia: USD 22.6 billion RIM: USD 13.8 billion HTC: USD 25.4 billion Motorola Mobility: USD 4.2 billion Samsung: USD 53 billion Sony Ericsson: USD 3.0 billion Plus of course the – not so profitable - mobile phone business from LG that Horace Dediu values at USD 10 billion. A little bit of this, a little bit of that With this in place, the shuffling can begin. Nokia + RIM + Motorola Mobility = USD 40.6 billion HTC + Nokia + RIM = USD 61.8 billion Samsung + Sony Ericsson + Motorola Mobility = USD 60.2 billion All of them minus Samsung = USD 79 billion Endless possibilities and yet – it's only idle thinking.