Remember when Wall Street was obsessed with Microsoft's bulging bank account? Now it's Apple that is awash in cash, the latest symbol of the company's stunning ascendance over the past decade.

As of June 27, Apple had a whopping $31.1 billion in cash and investments, up 27% from the year-earlier figure. The company's cash position is the strongest among all technology companies, reckons Brian Marshall, an analyst at Broadpoint AmTech. (It's not the largest, strictly speaking; Cisco Systems recently reported $35 billion in...