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Post by rob_london on Oct 7, 2012 1:02:53 GMT -8
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Post by phoebear611 on Oct 7, 2012 4:21:22 GMT -8
I had mentioned that the week the issues first started to surface but no one on the thread agreed. I wish they WOULD actually acquire Nokia and Twitter....other companies would panic and we would soar.
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Post by mjuarez on Oct 7, 2012 5:46:40 GMT -8
I had mentioned that the week the issues first started to surface but no one on the thread agreed. I wish they WOULD actually acquire Nokia and Twitter....other companies would panic and we would soar. As far as Nokia, I don't see it. On Apple's side, maps is something that can be fixed with relative ease over the next 12 months. The platform obviously supports fast/easy updates, and they already have internal resources for this (at least two companies bought out over the last few years, as well as licenses with TomTom and other mapping providers). And from news reports, it's already working. Apple is rushing to get the fixed data out there. It will only get better and better with usage. The media outrage around this (deserved or not) will keep Apple on their toes for the next 12 months at least. Contrast that with spending at least $12B for NOK (20% premium to market cap), getting into a bidding war with Microsoft for the company, integrating 120K additional employees inside Apple (currently only at 60K, it would triple the size of the company), then laying off tens of thousands. They'd be the "evil" American corporation, selling off pieces of "Finland's pride". And it would be at least 6-9 months, if not more, when they can actually get to the matter of "fixing maps". You want to see something similar? Look at Google buying Motorola. That deal was announced on August 15, 2011, for $12.5B, a 60%+ premium to market cap (!!!). It's over a year later, the deal finally passed all regulatory hurdles, and the only "innovation" is a new 7" Nexus tablet, but their smartphones still suck, while Samsung, the biggest Android player, is even bigger now, and is probably going to abandon Android for its own OS anyway. So, what was gained? Nothing, just more fragmentation. Oh, and GOOG spent $12.5B, gained a division that is still losing money, doubled its headcount, is now laying off thousands of those employees, and is still at risk of losing all other Android partners because it stopped being neutral. Which leads me in quite nicely to the next question. I'd liken a Twitter buyout to Apple buying the New York Times. It's an advertising platform, a neutral medium people trust for news, entertainment, etc. It's pull and relevance is, to large degree, because the company that owns it is "neutral". People use it because it's not related to any government or big scary corporation. But, all that goodwill would stop the moment a company like Apple, the world's biggest company, owns it. One small example: Apple is "family safe", but on Twitter, there's tons of porn. Which would lead to 1) Porn on Twitter, 2) Apple owns Twitter, 3) Apple condones/offers porn!! You know the media would jump on that, harping on it over and over. No amount of Apple apologizing would get that over with. Media/publications like Twitter, Tumbler, etc, come and go (cue the media's realization that Facebook is gradually becoming the next MySpace), so I don't think it would be a good idea for AAPL to own any of them. Partner with them? Sure, for a price. But don't become involved with them. Just like suppliers, they come and go, and you play them off each other for your own benefit.
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Mav
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Post by Mav on Oct 7, 2012 10:33:02 GMT -8
Acquire? Apple could also just partner or license map data/tech as well.
Though it's true that Nokia is valued at about one fiscal quarter of Apple's net cash generation. Insane to think about when you consider where Apple was not 10 years ago.
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