Apple reported a monster first quarter last Tuesday that sent the company’s stock skyrocketing over the past week. Apple’s holiday quarter was the most profitable quarter ever reported by a technology company, and the second most profitable quarter reported by any U.S. firm. With a market capitalization that now sits in excess of $420 billion, Apple is currently the most valuable company in the world, and with more than $97.6 billion in cash and cash equivalents at the end of calendar 2011, Apple has amassed an unbelievable war chest that is unrivaled among its competitors. Business blog MBA Online recently put together an infographic to help us visualize just how big Apple has grown since it teetered on the brink of bankruptcy in the late 90s. Among the graphic’s bullet points are the facts that Apple’s year-end cash pile is enough to buy an iPad for each and every person living in Canada and Greece combined, and it’s also enough to pay off the entire public debt of eight countries within the European Union. The site’s full infographic follows below.

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T-Mobile USA has been setting aside cash that it plans to use in an effort to keep its top employees on board should AT&T’s proposed $39 billion takeover of the firm gain U.S. regulatory approval. The carrier has reportedly already recorded $64 million in merger-related employee costs during the past two quarters. A spokesperson for T-Mobile’s parent company Deutsche Telekom confirmed to The Wall Street Journal that T-Mobile USA is indeed saving money to keep “top employees on board” after the deal closes. AT&T originally said the deal would close by March 2012, however it recently pushed that date back after the U.S. government filed a lawsuit in an effort to block the acquisition.

Samsung recently kicked off its “Time to Tab” video contest in which it’s giving away $15,000 in cash prizes. All you have to do is film a 60-second clip about how the Galaxy Tab 10.1 makes your life (or someone else’s life) better, or how you use the device during a 24 hour period. The top prize is $7,000, but you can also win $500 prizes for sharing videos about the competition. We could think of worse ways to win moneyRead

Earlier this month we heard reports from TechCrunch that TweetDeck had been acquired by Twitter for $50 million. CNN now says that Twitter has finalized its purchase of TweetDeck in a $40 million cash and stock deal, and that the paperwork was signed on Monday. Neither Twitter nor TweetDeck have confirmed the purchase, and Twitter’s PR team tweeted: “For all those who might be curious, we continue to not comment on rumors.”

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Giddy over Apple’s consistent staggering growth — and seemingly giddier over the iPad — Formula Capital managing partner James Altucher believes that Apple is poised to become the first $1 trillion company. In fact, Altucher thinks Apple could already be a $2 to $3 trillion company. According to Altucher, Apple can basically do no wrong — he believes demand for the iPad 2 will continue to grow and then new products like the iPhone 5 and iPad 3 will send demand for Apple devices through the roof. He goes on to state that Jobs’ eventual departure from the company won’t even have a significant impact on Apple’s future, as many analysts expect, thanks to other great innovators within Apple such as Tim Cook. Apple’s market capitalization is currently around $320 billion, so its stock price would have to balloon to about $1,000 for Apple to hit $1 trillion. Hit the break for an enthusiastic Altucher talking up Apple in an interview with Business Insider.

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Reuters is reporting that Samsung Electronics has agreed to sell its hard drive business to Seagate Technology for $1.4 billion in cash and stock. The move is seen as two pronged: first, it will allow Samsung to exit an extremely competitive market and refocus its efforts on its successful memory-chip business. Secondly, it will allow Seagate to be more competitive with Western Digital — a company that has announced its intentions to purchase Hitachi’s hard-drive business for more than $4.3 billion. “The transactions and agreements significantly expand Seagate’s customer access in China and Southeast Asia,” reads a statement released by both companies. The deal will see Samsung become the second largest shareholder in Seagate — with a nearly 10% share worth over $687 million — and the assets should be transfered sometime in 2011.

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Aside from announcing a management change during this afternoon’s earnings call, Google also decided to go over its numbers for Q4 of 2010. Google raked in $8.44 billion in revenue, a 26% increase year-over-year, rewarding its investors with $7.81 earnings per share. Operating income for the quarter was $2.98 billion, or 35% of revenues — down from 37% last year — and 52% of total revenues came from overseas. Google reports $35 billion in cash, cash equivalents, and marketable securities along with 24,400 full-time employees as of December 31, 2010. Pretty solid showing from the Big G.

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Last month, we reported on the short-term liquidity problems on the horizon for WiMAX network operator Clearwire, and today, the company has announced measures aimed at rectifying its current situation. Clearwire plans to raise over $1.1 billion through the sale of debt securities in “private placement transactions.” As the press release reads:

Clearwire Communications is offering $175.0 million first-priority senior secured notes due 2015, $500.0 million of second-priority secured notes due 2017 and $500.0 million of exchangeable notes due 2040 and will grant the initial purchasers of the exchangeable notes an option to purchase up to an additional $100.0 million of exchangeable notes.

The securities will be offered to “qualified institutional buyers” only and note-holders will be paid-out in either cash or stock once the paper hits maturity. Recently, the “4G” network operator cut close to 15% of its workforce in order to conserve cash.

U.S. wireless provider Sprint — whose WiMAX enabled devices run on Clearwire’s airwaves — owns 54% of the network operator. Sprint declined to comment on the planned sales.

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The Wall Street Journal is reporting that U.S. wireless providers AT&T, T-Mobile, and Verizon Wireless are working on a joint project that aims to bring a mobile-phone payment system Stateside. Purportedly, the effort is being headed by General Electric executive Michael Abbott and will be financed by Barclays PLC and Discover Financial Services.

“The rare showing of cooperation between three of the four national carriers creates a potentially large base of users for its mobile-payment system,” writes the Journal. “The carriers are eager to move into mobile transactions because it represents a new revenue stream and another feature that gets subscribers spending more time on their phone.”

The report goes on to note that the announcement of the new service’s existence could come as early as today. Mobile payments systems have been in use in Canada and Europe for several years.

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Today, during their Q3 2010 earnings call, WiMAX network operator Clearwire announced that it would be slashing 15% of its workforce and instituting several “cash conservation measures” in an attempt to raise “short-term funding.” As the earnings brief reads:

While the Company is cautiously optimistic it will resolve its short-term funding needs in the near future, there can be no assurances. Thus, it is implementing a series of significant cash conservation measures to reduce costs, including: a substantial reduction in sales and marketing spending, a suspension of additional retail channel market launches of the CLEAR-branded operations in select markets including Denver and Miami, delays in the introduction of CLEAR-branded smartphones, a substantial reduction in the contractor workforce, a 15% reduction in the number of employees, and the discontinuation of development activities for sites not required for its current build plan. The Company currently has thousands of sites in various stages of planning and construction beyond its current build plan, and it intends to suspend zoning and permitting in a portion of those sites until such time as additional funding becomes available. These contemplated initiatives are intended to result in potential cost savings of between $100 million to $200 million in 2010 and again in the first half of 2011.

That certainly doesn’t sound good. We contacted Sprint for comment — as their 4G network depends on Clearwire — and they were kind enough to provide us with a statement. Hit the jump to read Sprint’s take on Clearwire’s situation.

Dan Hesse recently stated that Sprint has been in discussions with Clearwire regarding the financial status of its ongoing operations as well as Sprint potentially providing new financing. We expect those discussions to continue as we review alternatives with Clearwire. There is no assurance that the discussions will result in any transaction with Clearwire.  Sprint is providing no additional comments on this matter at this time.

At Sprint, our 4G plans remain unchanged:
• Sprint has demonstrated unparalleled leadership in 4G.  This dates back to our technology selection in 2006 and includes over two years’ experience running a 4G network which now covers 80 million people in over 60 markets.  We will continue to demonstrate network leadership and innovation in 4G in the years to come.
• This leadership has resulted in increased market share, especially in iconic devices like the EVO and Epic 4G.  Sprint currently offers a dozen 4G devices and is on its third generation of several 4G devices before the competition’s launch of a single device.
• While our leadership will resolve these matters, Sprint’s sales teams and retail associates will remain focused on leveraging 4G to enrich the lives of our customers and deliver solutions that save businesses time and money.

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Today, AT&T and Nokia announced the “Calling All Innovators” contest for developers. The contests goal is to get more North American-centric applications into the Nokia ecosystem. Oh, and if your application happens to be picked by AT&T and Nokia as a winner… there is a cool $10 million in cash and prizes waiting to be given out. “Developers have until January 28th, 2011, to submit their applications in more than 17 categories. [...] Category prize winners receive USD 150K each for a total of USD 4 million and grand prize winners receive an additional USD 100K each. Although submissions must be relevant for the North American consumer, developers from around the world can participate.” So, if you’ve got some ill development skills, and want to take a swing at Qt, here is your chance to be paid for your efforts. Good luck.

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Today, Intel announced that it would purchase antivirus maker McAfee for $7.68 billion in cash. The deal will see McAfee shareholders paid out at $48 per share, a 60% premium on the stocks current $30 price tag.  Intel CEO Paul Otellini had this to say: “In the past, energy-efficient performance and connectivity have defined computing requirements. Looking forward, security will join those as a third pillar of what people demand from all computing experiences.” Intel and McAfee were advised by Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley respectively.

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Speculation is running rampant about the future of Palm after it lowered its guidance last week with analysts, pundits and bloggers alike offering up advice to the struggling company. One of the more unusual suggestions has Palm partnering up with Sprint to release a WiMAX handset, noting that the manufacturer and the carrier have had a close relationship in the past and the market for a WiMAX handset is brand new and wide open. Some analysts dismiss this idea, claiming that Palm would not risk its future on an untested and relatively niche market, and they point towards updated 3G hardware with a larger touchscreen and distribution on a major carrier like AT&T as Palm’s saving grace. The Wall Street Journal even chimed in with its “people familiar with the situation” reiterating the claim that Palm will release a webOS device on AT&T in the next few months and projecting that Palm has new hardware on tap for later this year. In the end, Palm has one or two final high stakes hands to play and let’s hope it has enough cash in the bank to be able to ante up what it needs to stay in the game.

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Back in June we told you about the updated electronics recycling program Best Buy was piloting (above and beyond their efforts already in place) and we’re happy to see other big retailers jumping on board with programs of their own. RadioShack is jazzing things up a bit with it’s electronics recycling program and offering up cash for your unused gear. Well, not really cash, but you’ll get a gift card good at any Shack which is still pretty cool. The process is easy – hit the site, appraise your unused electronics online and as long as your appraisal is realistic (don’t try to pass off your smashed BlackBerry as brand new) you’ll know exactly how much you’re in store for. The prices aren’t half bad either and some are even more than what you might get from eBay. $255 for a Nokia N95 8GB, $62 for a Samsung Blackjack, $42 for a 3rd generation iPod classic, $300 or more for a used laptop… They’ll even take that old Vertu Ascent off your hands for an even $510. Ok well that last one’s probably not such a good deal, but it’s definitely worth browsing through the site to see if RadioShack might be able to lighten the financial burden that this holiday season will undoubtedly be.

[Via SlipperyBrick]

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Is Microsoft looking to buy RIM? According to the latest buzz on Wall Street, the answer is possibly, but only if RIMs shares hit the $40 mark. With RIMs shares hovering around the $60 mark, Microsoft is rumored to be looking for RIM to tumble further before taking action. Said Canaccord Adams analyst Peter Misek, “RIM is a massive strategic fit for Microsoft. I’m fairly certain they have a standing offer to buy them at $50 [a share].” Granted this does sound a bit far fetched, but considering that the market cap of RIM is approximately $34 billion at $60 a share and would equal $28 billion at $50 per share, the move makes sense. But how would Microsoft afford such an expensive purchase? With cash and stock options, something which Microsoft has $23.6 billion to spare. If you were Balmer & Co., would you pursue the purchase of RIM?

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