Apple could buy out the rest of the whole phone industry, WITH CASH

Slightly depressing statistic from Asymco – the market intelligence website – Apple has enough liquid assets to buy up all of its competitors in one fell swoop. Well – apart from Samsung.

The figures look like this: Apple made $70billion in liquid profits in the second quarter of this year. That would give them enough spending power to buy out almost all of their rivals including RIM and Nokia valued at $13.8b and $22.6b respectively. It could also snap up HTC,(£25bn) LG phones and Motorola($4bn) with that much cash.

I guess the statistic isn’t depressing for Steve Jobs. It’s probably really great for him. But it is depressing for the other players in the market..And ultimately, I don’t think it’s good for the consumer either. I think more competition is better.

As it stands, Apple’s dominance in the field allows them to stitch up all sorts of other markets – stretching their dominance into new areas: app sales, music sales, film rental, magazine sales – you name it, Apple are getting their fingers into it. And when they do, they knock out the existing players through sheer force of being Apple. People like LoveFilm, magazine companies, independent music shops. You know. Apple are hard to compete with.