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Should Apple buy Sony?

V

veena3

macrumors regular
Original poster
Sep 18, 2021
112
47
Should Apple buy Sony?

Seems both have similar area of focus for consumer electronics and creative professionals. Would it be worth it for Apple if they:
  • keep Sony brand for cameras and other electronics?
  • throw away Sony phones and merge phone branch under iPhone development?
  • use Sony lenses and image sensors in iPhones?
  • put Sony Pictures collection into Apple TV and Sony Music into Apple Music?
  • make brand new Apple PlayStation powered by Apple ARM SOC?
  • maybe just maybe make a car together (https://www.sony.com/en/SonyInfo/vision-s/) (called Apple Sony haha :)
And would Sony sell?
 
why?
from someone who honorably worked for Sony in the late 80
there is most humilitry and ganbate still left in Sony corp.
 
Sony would be probably too expensive for APple to justify a purchase. The Playstation franchise is not worth what Apple would need to pay -- especially given Apple's ambivalence of the gaming market. Viacom would be a much more sensible purchase, I would think, as it would give AppleTV a reason to exist.
 
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Madhatter32 said:
Sony would be probably too expensive for APple to justify a purchase. The Playstation franchise is not worth what Apple would need to pay -- especially given Apple's ambivalence of the gaming market. Viacom would be a much more sensible purchase, I would think, as it would give AppleTV a reason to exist.
Click to expand...
I can't see a ViacomCBS sale to Apple ever getting past regulators. Just as Apple buying Sony would never fly, or even be feasible.
 
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Madhatter32 said:
Sony would be probably too expensive for APple to justify a purchase. The Playstation franchise is not worth what Apple would need to pay -- especially given Apple's ambivalence of the gaming market. Viacom would be a much more sensible purchase, I would think, as it would give AppleTV a reason to exist.
Click to expand...
Ok. Didn't now Viacom.

I was thinking that owning PlayStation and moving it to Apple Silicon could definitely bring gaming studios of AAA games to seeing the market opportunity for making Apple Silicon optimised games.

Personally I think Apple is much more closer to consumer market for gaming than eg. Microsoft's servers, enterprise or office. And, they have possibility in future to take a bite of the pie from gaming market specifically on consoles. Could be much more easy if PlayStation would be in their garage.
 
veena3 said:
Ok. Didn't now Viacom.

I was thinking that owning PlayStation and moving it to Apple Silicon could definitely bring gaming studios of AAA games to seeing the market opportunity for making Apple Silicon optimised games.

Personally I think Apple is much more closer to consumer market for gaming than eg. Microsoft's servers, enterprise or office. And, they have possibility in future to take a bite of the pie from gaming market specifically on consoles. Could be much more easy if PlayStation would be in their garage.
Click to expand...
Why would Sony sell PlayStation to Apple?
 
MBAir2010 said:
why?
from someone who honorably worked for Sony in the late 80
there is most humilitry and ganbate still left in Sony corp.
Click to expand...

Seems to me both companies share similar approach to focus for design and user experience.

Naming few possible benefits...

...Apple could penetrate into gaming and secure quality content for their services.

...some Sony products could get bigger awareness so bigger sales, and PlayStation with Apple Silicon with next M2 Max 40 GPU cores could instantly outperform Xbox and best PC laptops and even maybe PC game desktops literally as soon as it will be released and game developers would meanwhile prepare optimised games for it.
 
veena3 said:
Seems to me both companies share similar approach to focus for design and user experience.

Naming few possible benefits...

...Apple could penetrate into gaming and secure quality content for their services.

...some Sony products could get bigger awareness so bigger sales, and PlayStation with Apple Silicon with next M2 Max 40 GPU cores could instantly outperform Xbox and best PC laptops and even maybe PC game desktops literally as soon as it will be released and game developers would meanwhile prepare optimised games for it.
Click to expand...
Sony isn't a company, it's a conglomerate.
 
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MacNut said:
Sony isn't a company, it's a conglomerate.
Click to expand...
Yes, maybe too much diversified for Apple. Joint venture for putting Apple Silicon into PlayStation would make more sense. Unless Apple don't pay game studios to develop for their possible "Apple TV Game Box"
 
From a strategic perspective, I'd say it would make more sense for FB, NFLX, or SPOT to combine with SNE. Or maybe CMCSA but the rationale isn't as strong. TCEHY would be interesting but I bet a lot of governmental regulators would try to stop a deal.
 
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No that’s a headache they really don’t need they’re pretty lean with a small amount of products with high margins why overextend themselves with video games , cameras , movies studios,etc things that are expensive to make without guaranteed profits every year
 
veena3 said:
Don't understand what "humilitry and ganbate" means.
Click to expand...
GanBate is to keep on try with all effort, in Japanese (Kanto and Kansai ben)

humility is what was supposed to be but mr iPad switched that word
then bluetooth itself to a Sony™ Tv located in Iburaki prefecture, Japan.

Now we all exercise......
up and down and stretch about
up and down and stretch about
up and down and stretch about
Taiso Taiso, Minna Genki!
 
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MacNut said:
I can't see a ViacomCBS sale to Apple ever getting past regulators. Just as Apple buying Sony would never fly, or even be feasible.
Click to expand...
I do not know about Viacom. Apple would be buying it for its video content. It has basically no business in that market so I am not sure why it would not pass regulatory scrutiny.

Sony is to big and diverse a company for Apple to purchase. Apple would maybe buy a piece of it -- the Play Station portion -- if Sony were to look to sell it. Whether that invites governmental scrutiny is questionable as well because I do not really see Apple as a player in the console gaming market. I guess it would come down on how the market is defined and whether mobile gaming is seen as part of the market.
 
veena3 said:
Ok. Didn't now Viacom.

I was thinking that owning PlayStation and moving it to Apple Silicon could definitely bring gaming studios of AAA games to seeing the market opportunity for making Apple Silicon optimised games.

Personally I think Apple is much more closer to consumer market for gaming than eg. Microsoft's servers, enterprise or office. And, they have possibility in future to take a bite of the pie from gaming market specifically on consoles. Could be much more easy if PlayStation would be in their garage.
Click to expand...

Apple has the power to enter the console market on their own and most likely reinvent it or crush someone. They don’t need to buy Sony for that reason. Doesn’t make much sense for any other reason either.

Does apple want to? They did say recently they’re a gaming company and consider consoles competitors. https://www.cnbc.com/amp/2021/10/29/apple-says-it-competes-with-playstation-xbox-and-nintendo.html

Now whether apple is merely saying this to help fight off antitrust cases wanting to curb their 30%? Who knows. I would think apple wants a slice of the aaa pie but they need a console first. Leveraging its nearly 2 billion apple accounts, an apple game pass. And only then maybe it spills over to macs. This stuff takes time. They’d need original everything. Controllers, glasses?, chat, FaceTime?, recording, exclusives, etc.
 
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The only thing Apple would gain from this is a Playstation acquisition, the rest they more or less have covered in their own way. Sony has far less incentive otherwise in comparison. This sounds like it’s written too much from an Apple-only perspective.

In terms of gaming, Apple doesn’t really design their hardware around gaming, great processors but it means nothing if it’s still lacking in the graphics department, and no one will spend thousands on a gaming machine without the graphics. PC gaming maybe, console gaming absolutely not. If Apple cared about gaming, they would have a real product by now, and the Apple TV (closest thing to an apple console) and Arcade prove they don’t have a clue how to operate in the gaming industry, nor do they need to care.
 
But if they DID buy Sony, they could gift Spider-Man to Disney. Because, you know, Pixar and all that. :D

I don't really see the value in Apple doing this, but it would be almost poetic. Those of us that enjoyed Sony gear back in the day before Apple got their s**t together, really enjoyed how smart Sony was at ensuring their products worked well together.

Well, then Jobs came along and took it to another level. I have no doubt he saw what Sony was doing and saw the potential.
 
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Hjack2111 said:
No that’s a headache they really don’t need they’re pretty lean with a small amount of products with high margins why overextend themselves with video games , cameras , movies studios,etc things that are expensive to make without guaranteed profits every year
Click to expand...
What about Sony company could run independently and financially and they just merge some of their products (playstation), share technology (image sensors and lenses) and get rights for the content (movies and music).
 
cardfan said:
Apple has the power to enter the console market on their own and most likely reinvent it or crush someone. They don’t need to buy Sony for that reason. Doesn’t make much sense for any other reason either.

Does apple want to? They did say recently they’re a gaming company and consider consoles competitors. https://www.cnbc.com/amp/2021/10/29/apple-says-it-competes-with-playstation-xbox-and-nintendo.html

Now whether apple is merely saying this to help fight off antitrust cases wanting to curb their 30%? Who knows. I would think apple wants a slice of the aaa pie but they need a console first. Leveraging its nearly 2 billion apple accounts, an apple game pass. And only then maybe it spills over to macs. This stuff takes time. They’d need original everything. Controllers, glasses?, chat, FaceTime?, recording, exclusives, etc.
Click to expand...
Wow, didn't know about that saying from Tim :-o They are just doing it.

I think hardware console is easy moreover now with Apple Silicon. Could be on the market in spring or fall next year.

But to convince developers for developing for MacOS could be harder. Sony could have probably already set contracts with developers for developing for Playstation already.

It will be interesting.
 
The one that has had me scratching my head is why, as the HomePod has (mostly) flopped, Apple hasn't picked up Sonos.
 
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