Earlier quoted context omitted.
> That's not even a lot! Apple, Google & FB have $200bn, $140bn & $65bn respectively. Dividends don't seem to be a thing, and it's basically impossible to invest this much cash internally. These companies don't have factories to build, or any kind of hard capital investments to make. Apple arguably does have factories to build, given how utterly dependent on China it is.
They really don't. And neither do they need to buy SemiConductor Companies. Unlike most if not all other companies that outsource manufacturing. Apple still has the known how and detail view in not only the factory but the whole supply chain. They could, should they choose to, instantly assemble everything by themselves. Compared to other companies, they are making design changes and working with contract manufacture…
They can't "instantly" assemble everything by themselves at the scale they need, because almost all their infrastructure and supply chain for that is located in China. My bet is that it would take them on the order of a decade to build up alternate infrastructure and supply changes, and that's assuming the detailed knowledge they have about their processes.
This is an interesting article about how Apple's dependence has played out: https://www.nytimes.com/2021/05/17/technology/apple-china-ce....