Why an Apple purchase of part of Sony makes sense (Apple TV related)

[chriskzoo]

I think when the rumors of Apple buying Sony started circulating, nobody asked what Sony had that Apple would want. I think the answer is quite simple - the functionality of video game systems like the Xbox 360 and PS3 (downloadable TV/movies, etc). has been THE main barrier to Apple being able to break into the living room in a big way. Even at $99, people just don't see the need to add yet another box to their entertainment center when they can get almost all the same stuff on their video game console. So does a purchase of Sony as a whole make sense? No. But does a purchase of the Playstation division and maybe a stake in their media (music/movies) makes sense - absolutely.

Looking at where we are in the current generation of video game consoles, it's likely that we won't see a new Playstation until at least 2012, giving Apple plenty of time, if they move within the next 6 months or so, to get iOS into a hybrid Playstation/iOS box. This way they would have an iOS front end and all the additional functionality offered by the App store with a kick-ass "traditional" gaming system on the back end.

The one thing that Apple has been able to do that no console maker has been able to do (but all want to do) is have their games available as digital download only. Apple is making a killing with the App store and the stakes would only increase exponentially if they could do that with traditionally more expensive console games.

 

[jaw04005]

Keep dreaming. Sony is such a behemoth that it would take Apple years to take it over much less develop products based on Sony technology.

If Sony wanted to sell off a couple of divisions (like Sony Music or Sony Television), maybe. However, I doubt it. Apple doesn't want to be in the content creation business. Jobs already has that with Disney and Pixar.

 

[maturola]

Apple doesn't want to be in the content creation business. Jobs already has that with Disney and Pixar.

The same way Apple didn't want to on the phone busuiness on early 2007 .

Nobody but very few people at apple knows what their plan to grow business will be

 

[benoitgphoto]

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I don't think it's gonna happen and for the following reason:

Main goal to buy Sony is to buy their technology which Apple really doesn't need. Gaming on physical media like Blu Ray is not in Apple further strategy. They are all in digital downloads. Cloud bases services will their big hit and all the news about multi-billion data centers prove that.

With their $$$ in cash flow, I have seen many rumors about Apple to buy Sony or Adobe. But curiously, I haven't seen any about Apple to buy Yahoo!. With the increasing competition between Apple and Google, I wouldn't be surprised to see such a deal to come up

 

[gorebeast]

mmmmmm i can't wait to buy the Apple Playstation 4

wooo!!

 

[maturola]

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I don't think it's gonna happen and for the following reason:

Main goal to buy Sony is to buy their technology which Apple really doesn't need. Gaming on physical media like Blu Ray is not in Apple further strategy. They are all in digital downloads. Cloud bases services will their big hit and all the news about multi-billion data centers prove that.

With their $$$ in cash flow, I have seen many rumors about Apple to buy Sony or Adobe. But curiously, I haven't seen any about Apple to buy Yahoo!. With the increasing competition between Apple and Google, I wouldn't be surprised to see such a deal to come up

While I agree Apple doesn't want the "media", Apple would love Sony's IPs

 

[Skika]

mmmmmm i can't wait to buy the Apple Playstation 4

wooo!!

Wo how much win that would be

 

[chriskzoo]

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I don't think it's gonna happen and for the following reason:

Main goal to buy Sony is to buy their technology which Apple really doesn't need. Gaming on physical media like Blu Ray is not in Apple further strategy. They are all in digital downloads. Cloud bases services will their big hit and all the news about multi-billion data centers prove that.

With their $$$ in cash flow, I have seen many rumors about Apple to buy Sony or Adobe. But curiously, I haven't seen any about Apple to buy Yahoo!. With the increasing competition between Apple and Google, I wouldn't be surprised to see such a deal to come up

I don't think Apple would be interested in the physical media - but neither is Sony. Both Sony and MS would LOVE to get rid of physical discs - all they do is rob future sales in the used game market, but neither of them has figured out how to do it and still maintain sales of their hardware. Sony has dabbled with the PSP Go, but they still make the regular PSP because they know they cannot get away with download only - Apple can.

I don't even think they need to push the gaming tech that much further - there is really nothing that developers can't do on on the PS3 or 360 that they want to do, other than maybe putting 1000 guys on the screen at one time and having it run at 60 FPS. The Apple TV is a dirt cheap device and if it was married to a Playstation with only a marginal bump in power (thinks PS3.5) it would be a massive seller. All they would have to do is show hardware that was demonstrably better than the PS3 and 360 - it's not going to be a leap like it was from the PSX to PS2 to PS3 - and they alone would be able to have lines nationwide at a $499 price point.

It instantly gets Apple to the front of the gaming market (a market they are only a bit player in with Mac gaming), they would get millions of their devices into the living room, and be the dominant player for content consumption on the big screen.

Anyone doubting the power of the Playstation brand just needs to look at the sales figures. Granted the Playstation has been around for 15 years vs. 9 for the iPod (which has many far less expensive models), but Sony has sold as many Playstations, PS2's, and PS3's combined (~280M) as Apple has sold iPods - not to mention an additional 60M PSPs. It's a massive, massive business.