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Would it make sense for Apple to buy Yahoo! ?
- Thread starter Bernard SG
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I don't have a clear-cut opinion about it, that's why I try to launch a debate.
There seems to be workable synergies between a well-implanted - albeit declining - web-infrastructure like Yahoo! and the whole iTunes marketplace concept (including iAds, Ping...). The cold war between Apple and Google also seems to be a motivation for Apple to acquire Yahoo! And, finally, even though Yahoo! is faltering there is still a non-negligible user-base out there.
On the minus-side, there's a clear risk that such acquisition would make Apple "Too big not to fail" and it is not clear whether the Yahoo! brand is not damaged beyond any hope of salvation.
no, Apple have said they are not interested in the search business. they said there are other companies that do it perfectly well i.e. Google and Microsoft.
Well, last year Steve Jobs said he was not interested in adding a camera to the iPod Touch
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What fiscal, business or economic problem would this solve.
Would buying yahoo increase apple's core business? How long would it take for apple to get a return on its investment, i.e., making money on the yahoo purchase.
Yahoo is using the bing engine, yahoo tried and failed and is a shell of what it once was. They're going nowhere fast and spending good money after bad is not how you increase your profits.
Would buying yahoo increase apple's core business? How long would it take for apple to get a return on its investment, i.e., making money on the yahoo purchase.
Yahoo is using the bing engine, yahoo tried and failed and is a shell of what it once was. They're going nowhere fast and spending good money after bad is not how you increase your profits.
Don't see where there would be any technical or financial gain. There are enough search engines out there already so I don't know if advertising dollars iswhat Apple would be looking to gain from such a purchase. But at what cost and how long to recoup the investment? apple has bigger fish to fry.
I want to resurrect this thread as given some of the news stories that have floated out there recently and the direction Mayer is taking Yahoo - I think Apple should DEFINITELY buy Yahoo!
The question is, what would is take and what would an acquisition like that mean in today's technological marketplace?
I think a HUGE benefit would be for Apple's core services (all those apps included on every iPhone/iPad/iPod and other ecosystem services). Take a small example like the weather app for instance and compare it to Yahoo's current offering. Same data (as Apple already partners with Yahoo for this data), vastly different experience.
I think, given Yahoo's (and Apple's) current directions, an acquisition like this could shakeup and enhance the core Apple offerings while bringing Yahoo further in mobile relevance. Do I have any idea what this would look like financially or structurally? No.....likely it would be a massive undertaking and would cost Apple quite a bit of money.....
The question is, what would is take and what would an acquisition like that mean in today's technological marketplace?
I think a HUGE benefit would be for Apple's core services (all those apps included on every iPhone/iPad/iPod and other ecosystem services). Take a small example like the weather app for instance and compare it to Yahoo's current offering. Same data (as Apple already partners with Yahoo for this data), vastly different experience.
I think, given Yahoo's (and Apple's) current directions, an acquisition like this could shakeup and enhance the core Apple offerings while bringing Yahoo further in mobile relevance. Do I have any idea what this would look like financially or structurally? No.....likely it would be a massive undertaking and would cost Apple quite a bit of money.....
I don't think so. Yahoo doesn't bring a diverse enough offering for Apple, and the business goals aren't really the same.
Would the obvious benefit be to diversify your goals and expand your reach? I suppose that's never really been Apple's thing....
At any rate, I'd love for Apple to at least let Yahoo!'s weather and stocks apps be the defaults instead of Apple's garbage - much like Google held the maps and youtube apps....
Apple isn't competing with Yahoo anywhere, so it wouldn't do anything be benefit iOS users.
Outside of search and advertising there's really nothing worth acquiring for Apple....and I don't think they have much interest in diving head first into either.
Assuming Yahoo! is looking to sell itself, I think the most likely candidate is Microsoft. The tools Yahoo! would bring to their push into becoming bigger/better than Google would be huge, the areas Yahoo! are in do not really interest Apple as much as Google/Microsoft....and Google would gain nothing really from getting Yahoo! since they seem to do everything better already.
Yahoo's market cap is $27 billion; a full buy-out would cost no more than 40 b, in my view. A lot of money but in the realm of the financially doable for Apple.
Right now, it seemingly isn't, indeed.
Yahoo! is already strong with content and that's where Marissa wants to improve things furthermore.
It's also well-known that Apple is weak on Web and Internet services. Yahoo! has people skilled in that area.
One of Yahoo's strategic problems is that it's kind of a platform-orphan. Google has Android and Chrome, Microsoft has Windows but Yahoo! was built on web. Web is still relevant of course, but the mobile revolution has decreased that relevance. Yahoo! has a mobile presence but it's quite small and lagging for a company of that importance, hence Marissa Mayer's efforts to get more integration in the iOS platform.
Another domain where Marissa Mayer's Yahoo! seems to struggle is at attracting talent. Having an Apple stamp on Yahoo! would probably help easing it up.
Apple has the reverse strategic problem(but it's not a very acute problem at this point in time): It is dependent on other companies for the content and services that give life to the iOS platform and it's particularly a drag with Google (the maps problem comes to mind).
It is not clear for me how important it is for Tim Cook and his team to try and decrease that kind of dependence; the answer to that is linked to Apple's product road-map, which no one knows outside of Apple. But if it's an area of focus for Apple, then Yahoo! is a strong option and if the current talks between the two companies to have Yahoo! more integrated to iOS are going anywhere, Apple might want to, if not buying-out Yahoo! entirely, at least take a stake in its capital, in order to have some significant control. It would also be a "f u" option when Apple has to negotiate deals with the likes of Google and Facebook.
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I believe that would be getting away from their core ideal. Instead of getting into everything like Google, Apple seems to have a very fundamental, unspoken directive to do a few things and do them well.
I agree with the statement I emphasized in the quote, however acquiring a Yahoo! stake would not necessarily be going against it: at this point of its history, iOS is basically Apple's core business. There could be an argument that, to maintain iOS as the leading mobile platform (yes iOS is leading, at least economically), Apple needs to go further in terms of content and services offerings.
... And release Premiere Pro X.
I would rather see them start with FrameMaker for OS X then branch out from there.
This would be extremely interesting. I could see a lot of people really liking this if it were to happen.