“Two of the biggest tech companies, and rivals, Apple and Microsoft might not only work together in the near future but also merge in the next 5-10 years, a market analyst has predicted,” ANI reports.
“While explaining his ‘unthinkable but absolutely possible deal’ between Apple and Microsoft theory, Money Map Press’ Keith Fitz-Gerald [told Fox Business’ Stuart Varney that] the two companies might see a merger because they have to take on the Google/Android and Facebook,” ANI reports. “Fitz-Gerald added that now content and security is king and having all the devices connected to one is the future, and according to him, apparently Apple and Microsoft fit the bill perfectly.”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: Our advice for Mr. Fitz-Gerald is to seek professional help.
Unless Apple needs crippling bureaucracy, stifling office politics, unwanted and/or despised products, rudderless “strategies,” and rampant mediocrity, there is absolutely nothing Microsoft has that Apple needs.
[Thanks to MacDailyNews Readers “Fred Mertz” and “Dan King” for the heads up.]
April 1st already where did the time go.
Also Google/Android are 1 and the same.
Uh, no merger. Ever.
But I could see a day when Apple decides it will license OS X to other OEMs (assuming they meet certain criteria with their hardware). The reason? At some point Apple may be involved enough in mobile in terms of their profit that they don’t desire to compete as much in the desktop/laptop space.
If they want to go thermonuclear with Microsoft and really put a bullet through its heart, license OS X and take big share of the one place that Microsoft still makes some money — Desktops/laptops.
I never say never, but it’s highly unlikely (unless Apple for whatever reason decides to buy Microsoft, as opposed to a merger).
Yeah, embrace and extinguish.
Maybe if Wine ever reaches production status, it may become part of the extinguish phase.
Apple and Google merge.
Android spun off to open source.
Let the magic of open source fragment Android.
Apple establishes an enterprise software campus in Seattle.
Announces that they are hiring and that they use humane and reasonable employee reviews.
Free the many great Microsoft programmers from the Thumb of Balmer.
The first problem is this guy was on the Faux Out of Bidness Channel with BS artist Stuart Varney. Murdochvision’s Wall Street channel has about 3 viewers.
Friday 6 December
Total Day P2+ (000s) 25-54 (000s) 35-64 (000s)
CNBC 142 44 75
FBN 49 8 21
In other news, Israel and Iran have announced a 5 to 10 year plan to merge into one country.
Anything could come to pass in 5-10 years. It’s just as absurd for proud Apple fanboys to dismiss the possibility as it is for some pundit to declare it’s the best way to take on Google.
Facebook should be recognized for the marketing firm it is. May it slide into MySpace irrelevance as fast as possible.
MDN is absolutely wrong in claiming that MS has nothing Apple needs. If Apple wishes to maintain growth, it will have to:
1) replace or improve Siri with improved search capabilities. MS currently has Yahoo’s tech driving Bing, with a crappy interface. Apple would LOVE to acquire the underlying technologies, but MS beat them to the punch.
2) Apple needs to forge much more solid relationships with enterprise and small business customers. MS actually does quite well in both of these areas.
3) Apple just acquired some of the Kinect technology, but it doesn’t have any obvious immediate platform on which to deploy it. MS does.
4) servers, servers, servers. The iCloud is a disaster. Dropbox and MS and even -gasp- Google solutions are ahead in the market/mindshare — at least for gullible people who are willing to buy server space. The advantage of Dropbox and MS, believe it or not, is that it Just Works. iCloud, not so much.
5) Developer tools. MS Windows has by far the biggest and most diverse developer base. In comparison, under Cook, the Mac has really not grown as fast. There are more Win8 users than Mavericks users — hard to believe, but true.
6) Also, believe it or not, hardware is becoming an Apple weakness. Not the design — Apple easily maintains a lead here — but manufacturing. Apple was stupid not to snatch up Nokia when it had the chance. The manufacturing capacity alone would have been worth the price. As it is now, Apple is constrained by antiquated manual assemblers in China, with no clear plan how to grown any faster than Foxconn is willing or able to grow. And the gaps in the Mac product line are too huge to continue to ignore. Apple needs more products — and yes, MS Surface hardware isn’t terrible. It”s the software that sucks.
7) patents. MS has quite a few that Apple would find worthwhile.
8) MS Office, despite the horrid ribbon, remains the productivity gold standard of the world. Really. If Apple thinks that free iWork is going to displace MS Office by offering fewer features, they need to wake up. MS Excel is without peer, and Word blows away Pages for any complex document writing. If Apple actually cared about business customers, it would offer truly professional-grade apps instead of continually dumbing-down Mac apps into iOS-like crapware.
You make some thought-worthy points put I don’t know if those are still worth Apple absorbing the entire gigantic, floating shit pile that is Microsloth.
had a nap and when I read that I thought I’ve slept all the way to April 1st….
I don’t think either side will want this, ever.
Never! I remember Steve’s speeches when IBM was the Big Baddie, then M$. Then Google. M$ is already a dust heap. Run away from garbage! I can hear Steve’s wicked snickering from heaven.
OMG Where do these people come from?! This article is an embarrassment to analysts everywhere.