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Microsoft has reported record revenues of $15 billion for the last quarter with profits of $4.37 billion, almost four times the $1.136 billion that Apple made in its most recent quarter. But Microsoft’s cash reserves of $20.7 billion fall short of the $24.5 billion that Apple has in reserve.

Microsoft’s reserves have dwindled in recent months as the company has sought to shore up its stock price though paying dividends to shareholders and buying back shares, neither of which Apple has felt the need to do. It has also been some time since Apple has made an acquisition, while Microsoft has bought a number of companies largely, though not exclusively, to expand its search and related web advertising businesses.

That however may change. Apple chief executive Steve Jobs hinted last week that it may be thinking of

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putting its hands in its pockets.

“This provides us tremendous stability and the ability to invest our way through this downturn,” he said. “This is what we did during the last downturn - we increased R&D investments and created some of our best new products and businesses, like the Apple retail stores, for one. This downturn may also present some extraordinary opportunities for companies that have the cash to take advantage of them, like Apple does.”

He refused to be drawn on specifics, but it did not pass unnoticed that Apple now has enough cash to buy Adobe outright, for example.

Microsoft, by contrast, only just has enough in reserve to buy Yahoo. Just four months ago Microsoft offered $48 billion for Yahoo, a bid that now seems preposterous given that the internet firm is currently valued at $17.5 billion.

A Yahoo acquisition has been seen as the only way that Microsoft could expand its own online business to have any chance of competing with Google, the runaway leader in search, web advertising and web services. But such an acquisition now seems highly unlikely, as Microsoft’s chief financial officer Chris Liddell said last week.

“We will continue to buy small to medium businesses, our sweet spot,” Liddell said during a conference call with analysts. “I don’t see us necessarily increasing our acquisition volume.”