Investors speculate Carl Icahn could push Apple to buy Nuance for speech tech
Carl Icahn's large position in Apple may be a move to force the iPhone maker to buy Nuance Communications, the speech recognition company that drives the some of the tech behind Siri, some investors believe.
The theory was presented by the New York Post, which noted that Icahn has recently bumped up his stake in Nuance to 16.4 percent. The billionaire investor has stated that he thinks share of both Apple and Nuance are currently undervalued.
Icahn is notorious for attempting to block efforts by Dell to take the computer maker private. He has filed a number of lawsuits against the company, which he also owns a large stake in.
Some investors view Apple's reliance on Nuance's technology as a key reason to buy the company. Though it was long suspected, Nuance confirmed in May that its speech recognition helps power Apple's voice driven personal assistant software, Siri.
Nuance does not handle Siri's artificial intelligence layers, but its technology does provide the capability of Siri to interpret a user's voice. Nuance CEO Paul Ricci revealed earlier this year that his company is the "fundamental provider" of voice recognition for Apple.
Investors speculate that Apple could acquire Nuance for $7 billion ??an amount that could easily be afforded by the company, which is flush with cash.
However, Icahn has given no public indication that he's interested in a potential deal between Apple and Nuance. The billionaire investor has instead pushed for Apple to buy back more shares in itself, and plans to meet with Apple Chief Executive Tim Cook for dinner in September to discuss that possibility.
Icahn has said he believes that shares of AAPL are "extremely undervalued" at their current price. His support of the company helped to push Apple past $500 per share last month.
The theory was presented by the New York Post, which noted that Icahn has recently bumped up his stake in Nuance to 16.4 percent. The billionaire investor has stated that he thinks share of both Apple and Nuance are currently undervalued.
Icahn is notorious for attempting to block efforts by Dell to take the computer maker private. He has filed a number of lawsuits against the company, which he also owns a large stake in.
Some investors view Apple's reliance on Nuance's technology as a key reason to buy the company. Though it was long suspected, Nuance confirmed in May that its speech recognition helps power Apple's voice driven personal assistant software, Siri.
Nuance does not handle Siri's artificial intelligence layers, but its technology does provide the capability of Siri to interpret a user's voice. Nuance CEO Paul Ricci revealed earlier this year that his company is the "fundamental provider" of voice recognition for Apple.
Investors speculate that Apple could acquire Nuance for $7 billion ??an amount that could easily be afforded by the company, which is flush with cash.
However, Icahn has given no public indication that he's interested in a potential deal between Apple and Nuance. The billionaire investor has instead pushed for Apple to buy back more shares in itself, and plans to meet with Apple Chief Executive Tim Cook for dinner in September to discuss that possibility.
Icahn has said he believes that shares of AAPL are "extremely undervalued" at their current price. His support of the company helped to push Apple past $500 per share last month.
Comments
It's not the worst idea in the world (albeit a big price tag for questionable advantage), but I wish Icahn would go and root around in someone's business. Or someone else's trash, where he belongs.
I don't know if acquisition of Nuance would help Apple a whole lot, but given Apple's interest in speech recognition, I'd like to see them hire Janet & Jim Baker as consultants, if they haven't already. Then, if Nuance was bought, the Bakers would be perfectly situated to take it (the technology they invented) to the next level of excellence. And there would be a modicum of justice in it, too.
Read how the Bakers were swindled out of their inventions, which Apple now exploits:
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/15/business/goldman-sachs-and-a-sale-gone-horribly-awry.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0
How in the world can this guy "push" Apple to do something? He is as releAFAIK, he is just a stock gambler, correct?
I do not fear this Icahn, I fear that he is just the begining. I hope they can only manipulate the stock but not the company itself.
Nevertheless, I hate seeing a 2 bit gambler like Icahn meddling in business decisions.
Cook will not let Icahn tell Apple what to do. As to Icahn having a big position in Apple, what I have read is that Icahn's son is BIG on Apple. Unlike Icahn's mercurial ideas, I am sure Cook, as I can be sure of, is still running the company and Apple will NOT pay $7 bln for a software company. Would you trust New Yrok papers?
Quote:
Originally Posted by Crowley
It's not the worst idea in the world (albeit a big price tag for questionable advantage), but I wish Icahn would go and root around in someone's business. Or someone else's trash, where he belongs.
Agree wholeheartedly.
Nuance should be on Apple's list for the right price, but I'd start with Square and Parallels.
I seriously doubt, however, that Icahn will drive Cook's strategy in any way. Even if any or all of these acquisitions were to happen, it would be the equivalent of a rooster taking credit for making sun rise.
I disagree. While I thought Apple should have bought them years ago (along with other companies) this is important to them. It isn't the licensing fees they should care about. It's the fact that their rivals are also using Nuance tech for their own voice services. Apple should have bought Nuance when they first decided to do Siri, before Google and Microsoft also decided to copy that service. It's late in the game for it, but Apple can afford it. They can also use some of that foreign cash for this.
This would be a maneuver to head off the competition. It's similar to Microsoft buying Skype for $8.5 billion. Not worth it in the sense of direct costs or profits, but prevents others from making a deal, or buying it themselves. Apple should have also bought that several years ago. Navicon is another company they should have picked up earlier, before Nokia did. they could have had the premier mapping company for the phone in 2007. They should have bought Imagination too. I can think of several others.
Haha, best comment of the day!
Great!
There is none. Even IBM pretty much gave up on this.
...push Apple [full stop]
Helped to push Apple where to AI? Off a cliff? Into oblivion?
Calling the Post a New York paper is like calling Meyer Lansky a New York businessman.
The problem with the paper is not where it's published, but who's doing the publishing. I won't mention his name. Bad luck.
Interesting about Icahn's son, though.
Having lunch with Icahn doesn't make a bit of sense either.
Indeed, investment return is his only interest and this is how it starts. Idle chatter with a couple of analyst chums, get the NYT to take the bait, alert other companies to the fact that Nuance might be for sale and who wouldn't want Apple to own it...etc...etc
I doubt Icahn cares a toss either way, be it MS, Apple or someone else, just as long as his stake gets a big boost. Hope Tim Cook keeps some distance from this man.