Apple Buying Frenzy
OK, the holidays are approaching, Apple has tons of cash saved up, and lots of little companies are on the ropes because of the recession. So let's say Apple decides to go on a buying frenzy to increase it's size and capabilities.
What companies would you want Apple to buy?
My choices would be:
1. a gaming company, like MacPlay, to increase the amount of games offered on the Mac, and to allow Apple to offer computers with lots of games preloaded.
2. AMD. Buy this company, which is getting killed by Intel, and completely revamp their factories to create Risc processors.
3. Intuit. Buy this damn company, kick the CEO out, (and off Apple's board) and port everything to the Mac, especially QuickBooks.
4. some DVD software company to make killer Mac compatible DVD's.
What companies would you want Apple to buy?
My choices would be:
1. a gaming company, like MacPlay, to increase the amount of games offered on the Mac, and to allow Apple to offer computers with lots of games preloaded.
2. AMD. Buy this company, which is getting killed by Intel, and completely revamp their factories to create Risc processors.
3. Intuit. Buy this damn company, kick the CEO out, (and off Apple's board) and port everything to the Mac, especially QuickBooks.
4. some DVD software company to make killer Mac compatible DVD's.
Comments
What companies would you want Apple to buy?<hr></blockquote>
Most of the dot-com companies were useless money holes that had nothing of value except the hype they used to lure in brainless investors.
[quote]1. a gaming company, like MacPlay, to increase the amount of games offered on the Mac, and to allow Apple to offer computers with lots of games preloaded.<hr></blockquote>
Apple could easily offer incentives for Mac software development, and they could easily preload tons of games right now.
They just choose not to.
The specs on the top of the line "consumer" iMac are so pathetic, it is obvious they care very little about games.
[quote]2. AMD. Buy this company, which is getting killed by Intel, and completely revamp their factories to create Risc processors.<hr></blockquote>
AMD would be dead in a year.
[quote]3. Intuit. Buy this damn company, kick the CEO out, (and off Apple's board) and port everything to the Mac, especially QuickBooks.<hr></blockquote>
Not gonna happen.
[quote]4. some DVD software company to make killer Mac compatible DVD's. <hr></blockquote>
The motion picture studios determine what their DVDs are compatible with, not the software makers.
Anyway, it's not like Apple is even offering DVD capability to 98% of it's customers.
<strong>
4. some DVD software company to make killer Mac compatible DVD's.</strong><hr></blockquote>
Apple already acquired Spruce, one of the top companies specialize on DVD authoring solutions on Windows based systems.
Second thing I would advise Apple to do... put infrared ports on the front of all their systems, and one on the iPod. Expand iPod 2 into a "universal remote" for computers, TV's, stereos, and whatnot. Make this thing so useful that people live with it in their hands.
<strong>Second thing I would advise Apple to do... put infrared ports on the front of all their systems, and one on the iPod. Expand iPod 2 into a "universal remote" for computers, TV's, stereos, and whatnot. Make this thing so useful that people live with it in their hands.</strong><hr></blockquote>
That's a good idea, I second that!
<strong>Second thing I would advise Apple to do... put infrared ports on the front of all their systems, and one on the iPod. Expand iPod 2 into a "universal remote" for computers, TV's, stereos, and whatnot. Make this thing so useful that people live with it in their hands.</strong><hr></blockquote>
Great idea. I'd love something like that.
<strong>I think that a prudent and viable move for Apple would be to make a sizable investment in Pixar, establish a commercial software division, and have Pixar start cranking out exclusive Mac-only 3D apps. </strong><hr></blockquote>
It doesn't necessarily follow that a great film entertainment company would also be a great software development company.
[ 12-06-2001: Message edited by: sizzle chest ]</p>
Plus, I don't think Apple can buy one of the a company with a 5.5 billion dollar market cap.
I should have clarified that.
AMD would be dead in a year if Apple bought them out, cancled production and started using it to pump out RISC chips, as the origional poster suggested.
[ 12-06-2001: Message edited by: DoctorGonzo ]</p>
That's essentially true; however, Pixar has two things going for them. First, they have a very strong brand name in regards to 3D graphics and animation. It would be difficult to overestimate the importance of that.
Second, big tech studios like Pixar and Lucasfilm code a lot of proprietary tools in-house, typically plug-ins for off-the-shelf packages. So, there's already some infrastructure there to work with. That, and the fact that Pixar started off selling 3D apps on the Mac, so it wouldn't be totally foreign to them.
From Apple's POV, a lot of damage has been done to the Mac brand in the last 5 years; the Mac is no longer the undisputed champ of all graphic design, partly because of the lack of popular 3D apps on the platform. For Pixar to release some killer high-end and consumer level 3D apps, and release them only for Mac, it could go a long way towards recapturing some lost mindshare (and marketshare), IMO.
<strong>If Apple has a bunch of cash on hand, they should start paying their stockholders dividends.
I'm sure all the stockholders would love that.
<strong>2. AMD. Buy this company, which is getting killed by Intel, and completely revamp their factories to create Risc processors.
</strong><hr></blockquote>
Craig Barrett whispering sweet somethings into your ear again or you making this up on your own?
Yeah AMD is getting killed, I mean:
[quote]
- AMD gained ground in the U.S. commercial sector, securing 40 percent of the small business PC market in the third quarter.
- AMD processors accounted for more than half of all processors shipped to the Japanese home desktop PC market, as AMD captured 54 percent share, up from 24 percent one year ago.
- And in Western Europe, AMD grabbed 49 percent market share of processor shipments targeted for the home desktop PC market, an increase from 25 percent one year ago.
- In the overall U.S. market, according to Gartner Dataquest, AMD experienced considerable PC processor market share growth, from 17 percent in the third quarter 2000 to 27 percent in the third quarter 2001.
- In the U.S. government sector, AMD had 33 percent share.
- AMD also doubled its presence in the U.S. education market, capturing 18 percent market share.
<hr></blockquote>These are all bad things right? Marketshare growth, that would be a new term for Apple, wouldn't really fit into their corporate culture. Perhaps they wouldn't be the best buyer for AMD. Apple should buy companies that specialize in market share decline such as SGI and Palm, now there is some synergy
Whahaha AMD getting killed by Intel whahahaha. I laughed this hard for quite some time. Purhaps you havent been keeping up on the latest microproc news or something?
Oh and if Apple full out bought AMD, Apple would forever be utterly hated in the PC community. They would completly and utterly destroy all their chances for marketshare growth.
[ 12-15-2001: Message edited by: Falcon ]</p>
<strong>Second, big tech studios like Pixar and Lucasfilm code a lot of proprietary tools in-house, typically plug-ins for off-the-shelf packages. So, there's already some infrastructure there to work with. That, and the fact that Pixar started off selling 3D apps on the Mac, so it wouldn't be totally foreign to them.</strong><hr></blockquote>
Pixar is an offshoot of lucasfilm (steve jobs bought it from george lucas) part of the deal was that lucasfilm retain use of ALL pixar technology, this means that pixar and lucasfilm are both (probably) using renderman.
Pixar was, believe it or not originally a hardware company, do a google on "pixar image computer"
<strong>If Apple has a bunch of cash on hand, they should start paying their stockholders dividends.
They need to keep their cash and invest it in themselves, the theory being that they can create more value that way than if you just got cash.