数据调查机构Asymco的贺拉斯•德迪乌在这方面是专家，他勾绘的苹果公司(Apple)手头现金增长图以及一些比较为我们提供了参考。下面我进行了摘录：

    • 这些资金已足以令苹果公司首席财务官办公室跻身全球最大的100家基金管理公司之列，且超过任何一家对冲基金管理公司。

    • 一个季度的现金增加超过了很多公司的市值。例如，如果加回预付款，现金增加额相当于摩托罗拉移动（Motorola Mobility）的市值。

    • 当期现金额高于诺基亚(Nokia)、RIM和摩托罗拉移动的市值总额。

    • 苹果公司所持现金相当于谷歌(Google)企业价值的一半。

    • 约两年前，即2009年1月，该股股价为78美元，当时至少有一位分析师将目标价定位70美元。如今，苹果公司的每股现金额已达70美元。

    • 如果你持有10万美元的苹果股票，其中1.9万美元为现金，只有约8万美元是“风险性”资本。

    • 如果苹果公司没有营业收入，当期现金足以维持营运(销售管理费用和研发费用)超过7年，直至2018年年中。

    任何时候如果持有苹果公司70.8%已发行股本的机构敦促该公司将部分现金回馈给股东，我相信苹果公司都不会予以理睬，就像一直以来的那样。

    欲知苹果公司如何放置其现金及现金等价物，可参阅德迪乌的《If Cash is King, Apple is an Emperor》。

    Asymco's Horace Dediu, who is a master at these things, has charted Apple's (AAPL) growing cash hoard and offered some comparisons to put it in perspective. I quote:

    • The funds are big enough to place Apple's CFO office in the top 100 largest fund managers in the world and larger than any hedge fund manager.

    • Cash growth in one quarter was higher than the market cap of many companies. For example, if pre-payments were added back, the cash increased by about the market cap of Motorola Mobility.

    • Current cash is worth more than Nokia, RIM and Motorola Mobility's market caps, put together.

    • Apple's cash is worth half of Google's enterprise value.

    • About two years ago, in January 2009 the stock traded at a price of $78 with at least one analyst placing a target of $70 on the stock. Today Apple's cash is worth $70/share.

    • If you owned $100,000 of Apple stock, $19,000 of that would be cash and only about $80,000 would be "at risk" capital.

    • If Apple had no revenues, the current cash would sustain operations (SG&A and R&D) for over 7 years or until the middle of 2018.

    Any day now I expect to see calls from the institutions that hold 70.8% of Apple's outstanding shares urging the company to return some of that cash to its shareholders. I fully expect Apple to ignore them, as it always does.

    For more on where Apple parks its cash and cash equivalents, see Dediu's If Cash is King, Apple is an Emperor.