According to a review of financial filings by EE Times, some of the top semiconductor companies are sitting on huge piles of cash that could be used to fund acquisitions, R&D and product development.With the economy stabilizing, the ever-increasing need for new technologies, and revenue on the rise again for chip firms (according to the Semiconductor Industry Association), this makes sense.
EE Times lists the top 10 cash-rich chip makers, with Intel (net cash position of $10.5 billion), Qualcomm (net cash position of $9.9 billion) and TSMC ($7.5 billion in net cash) holding down the top three positions.
In a related post, Om Malik & Stacey Higginbotham speculated that Intel is likely to focus more on acquisition of software technologies rather than buying hardware companies.
