May 6th, 2009
Apple should acquire...
Yesterday’s rumor from Gawker that Apple is in negotiations to acquire Twitter for $700 million made me smile. Not because I think that it would be a great acquisition (I don’t) but because it’s just one of the many companies that Cupertino has been rumored to buy over the years.
Not that it couldn’t. Apple has a very public $29 billion in cash reserves (which is bested only by Cisco’s $30 billion among tech companies) and could buy a substantial amount of the tech companies that are out there – they just never do. Apple seems perfectly content to sit on its cash hoard just in case a rainy day comes along.
Here’s a short list of some of the companies that Apple has been rumored to acquire over the years:
- Adobe (2008)
- AMD (2007)
- Autodesk (2008)
- Disney (2006)
- Electronic Arts (2009)
- Netflix (2007)
- Nintento (2006)
- Palm (2006)
- Pandora (2008)
- Pixar (2005)
- Sony (2008)
- Sun (2006 and 2009)
- TiVo (2005)
- Twitter (2009)
- Universal Music (2003)
- Yahoo! (2009)
I’m just as guilty as the rest for spending Apple’s bankroll. I’ve suggested Apple acquire TiVo (serveral times), Netflix, Pandora, Shazam, Midomi, Last.fm and even Hulu – but it doesn’t look like that’s going to happen either.
Who did I miss?
Photo: AppleGazette
Jason D. O'Grady is the editor of PowerPage.org, which has been publishing daily mobile technology news since December 1995. For disclosures on Jason's industry affiliations, click here or to view Jason's full profile click here.
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