Apple buys Intel modem business in $1B deal

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Comments

  • Reply 61 of 62
    Rayz2016Rayz2016 Posts: 6,957member

    bancroft said:
    This was worth $1bn, but I don't see how Beats was?!
    1) Beats headsets have already paid back Apple for the purchase.

    2) Beats had a nascent streaming service that was turned into Apple Music.
    Regarding point #1... is that officially verified by Apple, or is that just assumed? 
    Apple doesn’t break out headphone sales, so that’s unknown. Beats was making about 11 billion in revenue and a billion in profit before Apple bought them out, and I’d be surprised if they were making less now, given the deals Apple can strike for materials, and eye-watering price of the headphones. But the real reason they bought the company was its expertise and contacts in the music biz. 

    https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/tech-news/3-billion-question-why-did-apple-buy-beats-n117531

    Part of the deal was paid for in stock that only became vested after the two executives remained at the company for a certain period of time. This was less about the headphones and more of an acqui-hire. 

    Now should the Intel buyout be viewed in the same way? Dunno, but I am sure that Apple’s execs are the best in the industry. Intel was screwing the pooch, so Apple took a short-term hit by caving in to Qualcomm, bought Intel’s modem business, and moved on. The assumption is that the problem with Intel's modem business isn’t the engineers, it’s Intel’s management which, by contrast, is the most inept in the industry. 


  • Reply 62 of 62
    davgregdavgreg Posts: 1,036member
    Lots of speculation and Apple, as usual, has not said that much.

    Patents are nice things to have even if you do not build things they cover. You can selectively license them to your suppliers, for example, or use them to gain cross-licensing with other companies to lessen your licensing costs.
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