Rumor: Apple seeks to invest 'hundreds of millions' in Twitter [u]
According to New York Times sources, Apple has approached Twitter about a possible investment in the microblogging company valued in the "hundreds of millions" of dollars.
Update: A follow-up report from The Wall Street Journal claims its own sources have said Apple's talks with Twitter occurred over one year ago, not in "recent months" as described by the NYT, and ultimately bore no fruit. The Journal goes on to note that there are no "current formal investment or acquisition discussions between the companies."
In a report on Friday, The Times said people briefed on the matter claim Apple has been in talks with Twitter over the past few months though the publication was quick to mention that the purported negotiations are liquid and may not result in an agreement.
From the NYT report:
Some speculate the talks may be in response to Google's recent social network push with Google+ as well as rumors that Facebook may be entering the handset market in the near future.
Apple has only dabbled in the space with its Ping social music network, though success was limited at best. Facebook was purportedly close to reaching a deal with Apple over Ping integration but negotiations ultimately fell through over what late Apple co-founder Steve Jobs called "onerous terms." Early versions of Ping's software showed some evidence of Facebook Connect connectivity but the features were absent upon the service's debut in 2010.
At WWDC in June, Apple announced deeper Facebook integration in iOS 6 at this year's WWDC which will be implemented in a way similar to Twitter's tie-in to the mobile operating system. The new functionality is limited in scope, however, and is not considered to be a comprehensive solution.
Despite its previous missteps in the sector, the iPhone maker is looking to "go social" and CEO Tim Cook said as much at the D10 conference in May.
"Apple doesn't have to own a social network," Cook said during a D10 panel. "But does Apple have to be social? Yes."
Most recently Apple took Twitter cross-platform when it expanded the microblogging service's functionality to OS X Mountain Lion.
Twitter has yet to go public and reportedly has some $600 million in the bank on strong advertising revenue and $1 billion in accumulated financing. The company is expected to make an initial public offering in the coming years though the rumors are as yet unsubstantiated.
Both Apple and Twitter declined to comment on the matter.
Update: A follow-up report from The Wall Street Journal claims its own sources have said Apple's talks with Twitter occurred over one year ago, not in "recent months" as described by the NYT, and ultimately bore no fruit. The Journal goes on to note that there are no "current formal investment or acquisition discussions between the companies."
In a report on Friday, The Times said people briefed on the matter claim Apple has been in talks with Twitter over the past few months though the publication was quick to mention that the purported negotiations are liquid and may not result in an agreement.
From the NYT report:
The publication notes the purported investment would not affect Apple's bottom line in any significant way as the company has $117 billion in liquid investments, but such a move would be unusual. Apple leans toward acquiring small start-ups and assimilating their technology for use in branded products, an example being Siri on the iPhone 4S. Earlier on Friday it was announced that Apple acquired AuthenTec, a small security company known for its work in fingerprint scanning technology, for $356 million.Apple has considered an investment in the hundreds of millions of dollars, one that could value Twitter at more than $10 billion, up from an $8.4 billion valuation last year, these people said. They declined to be named because the discussions were private.
Some speculate the talks may be in response to Google's recent social network push with Google+ as well as rumors that Facebook may be entering the handset market in the near future.
Apple has only dabbled in the space with its Ping social music network, though success was limited at best. Facebook was purportedly close to reaching a deal with Apple over Ping integration but negotiations ultimately fell through over what late Apple co-founder Steve Jobs called "onerous terms." Early versions of Ping's software showed some evidence of Facebook Connect connectivity but the features were absent upon the service's debut in 2010.
At WWDC in June, Apple announced deeper Facebook integration in iOS 6 at this year's WWDC which will be implemented in a way similar to Twitter's tie-in to the mobile operating system. The new functionality is limited in scope, however, and is not considered to be a comprehensive solution.
Despite its previous missteps in the sector, the iPhone maker is looking to "go social" and CEO Tim Cook said as much at the D10 conference in May.
"Apple doesn't have to own a social network," Cook said during a D10 panel. "But does Apple have to be social? Yes."
Most recently Apple took Twitter cross-platform when it expanded the microblogging service's functionality to OS X Mountain Lion.
Twitter has yet to go public and reportedly has some $600 million in the bank on strong advertising revenue and $1 billion in accumulated financing. The company is expected to make an initial public offering in the coming years though the rumors are as yet unsubstantiated.
Both Apple and Twitter declined to comment on the matter.
Comments
Don't do it, Apple.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Tallest Skil
Don't do it, Apple.
They aren't. NYT doesn't know what they are talking about
Apple's buying Twitter.
Twits and FarseBook are a waste of resources.
Originally Posted by charlituna
Apple's buying Twitter.
DON'T DO IT, APPLE!
Quote:
Originally Posted by charlituna
Apple's buying Twitter.
What makes you think so?
This makes a lot of sense.
I dont see what they would gain by investing in twitter.
I don't understand it either. Presumably it's come combination of 1) a way to invest a tiny fraction of the cash they need to manage and 2) to influence Twitter strategically. Or perhaps to guard against getting shut out in case someone else bought Twitter, but I doubt that's a major risk.
tim is keeping up with the joneses. well, the bin Talalses, i suppose. that saudi prince (bin Talal) already owns several hundred million dollars worth of twitter. don't do it apple.
I can see how this makes sense. I'm not a big fan of Twitter, but it is what it is.
Apple by holding a significant percentage of Twitter could be in the 1st stage of acquiring all of Twitter or at least is doing this as a way to prevent Twitter from getting into the wrong hands.
For better or for worse, Apple has fully committed to integrating Twitter across their products and services. This investment, at the very least, helps secure the other investment they made of developing the Twitter integration.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Pooch
tim is keeping up with the joneses...
What are you talking about?? Apple IS the "Joneses"!!
Just ask Scamsung...
Quote:
Originally Posted by Tallest Skil
Don't be twits, Apple.
Fixed that for you.
On another matter, anyone else think that the new Mac ads (there were two that I caught during the olympics opening ceremony) were the **absolute worst** that Apple has ever produced?
Honestly I dont like twitter. Can't see what the benny is for investing in it. I like FaceBook way more than Twitter.
Quote:
Originally Posted by anantksundaram
This is a bit of a weird move, if true. Yes, 'social' is important, but Twitter!?
On another matter, anyone else think that the new Mac ads (there were two that I caught during the olympics opening ceremony) were the **absolute worst** that Apple has ever produced?
Um, nope. I thought they fit into the evening very well. Like it or not Apple has a growing reputation as a big, bad global dominator, so some nice human-scale, likable ads for Mac is probably overdue. When's the last time you even saw an ad from Apple that wasn't about the iPad, iPhone, or iPod. We should be cheered that Apple still cares enough about good, old fashioned computers to have ads that end with "Mac" on the screen.
Quote:
Originally Posted by tylerk36
Honestly I dont like twitter. Can't see what the benny is for investing in it. I like FaceBook way more than Twitter.
That's like saying you like television better than e-mail. They are completely differently, mostly complementary, things. And Twitter is less likely to burst like a bubble than Facebook. It's more mature, is less disrupted by the shift to mobile, and doesn't have the gonzo hype associated with Facebook. Probably not a horrible way to invest 1/10 of 1% of the cash Apple has available to invest in stuff.
Originally Posted by anantksundaram
On another matter, anyone else think that the new Mac ads (there were two that I caught during the olympics opening ceremony) were the **absolute worst** that Apple has ever produced?
Ellen Feiss.
Yes, the Olympics ads were bad.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Tallest Skil
Ellen Feiss.
Apple SO needs to bring her back for at least a cameo in a new ad.
EF: "whoa, I like lost my paper. and it was a good paper."
Someone else: "you're using a Mac, right? With it's weird versioning thing and iCloud, you never need to save anything and you never lose anything. See here's your 'missing' paper on your iPad even. Um, you realize you only wrote 2 sentences, right?"
EF: "uh... Why am I still writing papers anyway, I was in college a decade ago."
Quote:
Originally Posted by tylerk36
Honestly I dont like twitter. Can't see what the benny is for investing in it. I like FaceBook way more than Twitter.
what's your myspace?