Apple Inc., the Cupertino-based company that makes iPhone handsets and other communication devices, is all set to report $250 billion in cash and cash equivalents as of March 31, 2017. The tech company's cash pile had already hit $246 billion at the end of December last year. The company's cash and equivalent are mostly (about 90 percent) held offshore, the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) said in a report.
To put things in perspective, at $250 billion, it would be higher than the combined foreign exchange reserves of Canada and the UK, the WSJ said.
In India's context, the cash pile is just short of the country's exports of $274.64 billion for 2016-17.
The publication said that during the January-March quarter this year, "Apple was adding $3.6 million to its cash position every hour."
The news assumes significance in the context of US President Donald Trump proposing a one-time tax break to US corporates to repatriate the money held by them abroad.
The offshore cash pile held by US companies is estimated at about $1.8 trillion and the Trump administration has proposed a 15 percent corporate tax rate instead of the existing 35 percent to encourage the companies to bring back the profits held abroad, to the US.
Oxfam had earlier estimated the offshore cash reserves of 50 American companies at $1.5 trillion in 2015. Its research suggested that Apple would be able to save about $43 billion by availing of Trump's (then reported) one-time, 10 percent repatriation tax.
Oxfam, an international of global NGOs, had said other US companies with significant cash reserves included pharma company Pfizer ($193 billion), IT software products company Microsoft ($124 billion) and GM, with reserves of $104 billion.
Apple will be publishing its March 2017 results on Tuesday. The share price closed at $143.65 on Friday, on the Nasdaq, close to its $52-week high of $145.46. Based on its Friday closing price, Apple's market capitalization was $752.9 billion.
