“Late last week, chatter about an Apple acquisition of Disney picked up after RBC issued a note listing the pros and cons of a deal getting done between the two companies,” Jay Somaney writes for Forbes. “In the note, the analyst (Amit Daryanani) speculated that were Apple allowed to repatriate the money it holds overseas, the odds of a Disney acquisition would go up.”
“I am in total agreement with the analyst as far as Apple needing to make an acquisition in the content space. However, I disagree on Apple taking out Disney. I think the deal that needs to be made is for Netflix and not Disney,” Somaney writes. “By making a deal for Netflix, Apple would make its ecosystem the biggest and the best there is out there and will also eliminate the restriction of Disney-only content it will face were it to buy out Disney. Not to even mention the massive disparity in the price tag for a Disney acquisition versus a Netflix take-over.”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: Apple needs somebody who can negotiate deals as PlayStation Vue, SlingTV, DirectTV, and YouTube TV executives have done already.
What is unique about Netflix? A handful of TV series are not worth $40 billion. Apple is perfectly capable of taking on Netflix without having to buy them, deal with integrating their employees, etc. Until Apple actually buys Netflix, we’ll keep saying that Apple will buy Netflix for the same reason they bought Palm. — MacDailyNews, May 27, 2016
Disney would be a vastly different, much more intriguing acquisition. As we wrote just last week:
With Disney, Apple would gain not only content, but tremendous leverage in many areas, including “television.” With Disney, Apple would own ESPN, for example. Not to mention ABC, A+E, Marvel, Lucasfilm, The Muppets, Pixar (Steve Jobs’ babies unite!), 30% of Hulu, and much, much more.
Spin off the theme parks or deck them out with Apple technology and use them to showcase Apple products. The sky’s the limit!
As we wrote earlier this month in response to reports Apple was attempting to put together a plan to sell a premium skinny bundle consisting solely of HBO, Showtime and Starz:
“Yawn. You know what would really send a message? Buying Disney.”
All that said, we’ll believe it when we get the press release.
Bonus question: Why, late last year, did Laurene Powell Jobs cut her Disney stake in half?
By acquiring Disney, the instant leverage Apple would gain over cable/satellite companies would be immense.
SEE ALSO:
Apple’s cash conundrum: Is buying Disney the answer? – April 13, 2017
Analyst offers six reasons why Apple may buy Disney – April 13, 2017
Apple’s premium TV plans – the hobby doomed to stay that way – April 10, 2017
A premium TV bundle could be Apple’s secret weapon – April 4, 2017
Apple wants to sell HBO, Showtime, and Starz in a single premium bundle – April 3, 2017
Google just succeeded where Apple failed – March 3, 2017
Senior Apple executives vying in confused effort for transformative Hollywood acquisition – March 3, 2017
YouTube to unveil virtual cable bundle for $30 to $40 a month – February 28, 2017
Stalled talks with Ron Howard highlight Apple’s content confusion – February 16, 2017
Apple vowed to revolutionize television; currently prepping an unremarkable 4K Apple TV instead – February 16, 2017
Apple TV: Still not ready for prime time – February 15, 2017
Apple hires Amazon’s Fire TV head to run Apple TV business – February 8, 2017
Laurene Powell Jobs cuts Disney stake in half – February 1, 2017
Why Apple should buy Disney – January 26, 2017
Apple’s new TV app shows just how painfully behind Apple is – December 14, 2016
Are you ready for 4K TV? Apple TV isn’t. – November 28, 2016
Apple has no idea what they’re doing in the TV space, and it’s embarrassing – November 3, 2016—
Analyst: Apple could double dividend, buy Netflix with repatriated cash under President Trump’s U.S. corporate tax changes – March 17, 2017
No, Apple doesn’t need to buy Netflix – February 22, 2017
Why Apple should buy Netflix or something – February 22, 2017
Apple’s arrogance said to contribute to struggles to make big deals – February 15, 2017
Apple hires Amazon’s Fire TV head to run Apple TV business – February 8, 2017
Why Apple should buy Disney – January 26, 2017
Apple’s new TV app shows just how painfully behind Apple is – December 14, 2016
Apple approached Time Warner about possible merger before AT&T talks – October 21, 2016
Apple’s Eddy Cue: Nope, we don’t want to be Netflix – October 20, 2016
Google signs up CBS for planned web TV service to debut in early 2017; close to deal with 21st Century Fox – October 20, 2016
Bernstein: Apple buying Netflix would be a waste of $50 billion – October 5, 2016
Apple’s Eddy Cue alienated cable providers and networks with an assertive negotiating style – report – July 28, 2016
A chance for an Apple buyout offer as Netflix stumbles – July 19, 2016
Here comes á la carte programming – without Apple – July 13, 2016
Should Apple absorb Netflix? – July 11, 2016
Apple to buy Netflix? – May 27, 2016
Should Apple buy Netflix for $53 billion? – May 10, 2016
Apple declines to place bid on NFL Thursday Night Football – March 3, 2016
Why Apple should buy Netflix – January 7, 2016
Apple TV 4 is a beta product and, if you bought one, you’re an unpaid beta tester – November 5, 2015
Apple made ‘audacious bid’ for Top Gear trio of Clarkson, Hammond and May, but lost out to Bezos’ Amazon – September 1, 2015
Why Apple should buy Netflix – April 21, 2015
Why Apple should buy Netflix – March 26, 2014
Jim Cramer: Apple should buy Twitter or Netflix to spur growth – February 7, 2013
The Netflix buyout battle: Apple vs. Time Warner – April 10, 2012
Ugh. Drumpf. Not my president. Fascist mental case, disgustingly dangerous incompetent. Not going to help Anyone. Why bother normalizing the POS?
Enjoy life in your liberal bubble.
Presidency.
Senate.
House.
34 Governorships.
1158 State Legislative Seats gained while Obama in power.
Supreme Court domination for decades.
Appeals Court domination for decades.
You forgot that 1% economy even before Trump came in. Thanks GOP congress, governorship and state legislators. The GOP is always thinking of the BIG guy. Record number of millionaires. Lowest home ownership since the 1960’s.
Obama to Drumpf bottom feeders……………………………………
Healthcare passed, Gay Marriage Passed, Legelized Marijuana Laws Passed in some States, and Minimum wages increased in some states. Thanks!
That has as much chance of passing as Trumpcare that was nothing but a massive tax cut for the wealthy and corporations at the cost of sick people.
In addition they were to gut Medicaid a program that pays medical bills for the poorest of the elderly, children and handicapped and give those funds to the rich as more tax cuts.
No Mister Wall Street Banker….
MDN — Please stop calling that man ‘President’ Trump. When the investigations are over, the arrests and trials are done, it’ll be seen by everyone that the election was another big con.
You couldn’t be bothered giving the title to Obama so, by whatever standard, stop giving it to this interloper.
You know, just for fairness.
Thank you.
Welcome to the politics of the MDN staff. It won’t change. Your only options are to ignore it or find other Apple news sources (they do exist).
“You couldn’t be bothered giving the title to Obama…”
You lie.
Apple does not need Disney. Apple needs a housecleaning of the Executive Suite.
Tim Cook is a great operations guy- he knows how to make the Trains run on time- but has not shown vision or leadership to a company predicated on vision and used to strong leadership. When Apple has not had strong leadership it has floundered.
And it’s totally tanking now.
Getting back to the topic at hand, an acquisition of Netflix is only as good as Netflix’s independent content and the viability of its content deals. Would those content deals survive an Apple takeover? If not, then Netflix has little inherent value.
While I am not advocating a Disney takeover, there is clearly much greater inherent value in the Disney empire. The author talks about a “restriction to Disney-only content,” but that is absurd. Apple would have massive bargaining power to negotiate cross-licensing agreements with other content providers/distributors based on the Disney content and ESPN.
I have long advocated that Apple find a way to either secure a major interest in Nintendo or to get Nintendo content on iOS. I still think that Nintendo is a good investment target for Apple.
Disney is a much larger target, but it is also very interesting given its extensive TV and movie content library and content development capabilities, such as Pixar. That is on top of ESPN, the Disney theme parks, etc.
It’s an Apple world after all! It’s an Apple world after all…
Doesn’t matter. Companies are not doing business with Apple primarily because they’re Apple. Just not being Apple raises your chances of getting a deal exponentially! 🙂
They are afraid of what Apple with do to their business, so they will cut deals with any of the smaller guys… mainly because these small guys will compete against each other for content. If Apple were to buy Disney, then they’d stop making deals with Disney (the same way some companies have stopped doing business with Beats).
The primary differentiator of Apple vs the competition vying for access to media company libraries is most likely Apple’s famous user privacy policy. Since Apple has (or claims) no user data is accessible by them, Apple does not have the same database to offer in deals. Even if Apple should purchase Disney or NetFlix, if that same privacy policy follows, all Apple would end up with are the media libraries specific to those companies and other media agreements will be allowed to lapse if not cancelled outright on acquisition.
This is strange very strange. MDN posts a generic topic mentioning the chump and a few days later, only 14 replies, and some of them on topic?
What happened, Apple’s home country dropped the mother of all bombs on someone?