Apple is expected to have an end-of-the-year net cash pile of around US$48 billion, according to Macquarie analysts. Macquarie (http://www.macquarie.com/us/index.htm) is a global provider of banking, financial, advisory, investment and funds management services.

What's more, Macquarie analysts expect the company to have around $75 billion in net cash by the end of 2012. Sounds good, right? However, "The Wall Street Journal says it's an "enviable, but difficult, position."

"The problem here is that that the forecast year-end net cash figure is around the same size as the current equity base–and 14 times the net PP&E–so it’s very hard in practice for Apple to put all its cash to work internally," the "Journal" says. You can read their analysis at http://blogs.wsj.com/source/2010/04/07/eating-into-apples-cash-pile/?mod... .