Atari Founder Nolan Bushnell discusses his outlook for an AT&T, DirecTV merger and an Apple, Beats Electronics merger on Bloomberg Television’s “In The Loop.”
I think it is a good deal for Apple. But it really says, we are a brand company, we are a consumer electronics company. “We are not an innovative tech company.”
If you look at what Apple is, or has been, they have created remarkable products, and they get what I called the innovators bonus. The innovators bonus gives high margins, a lot of buzz, and a lot of market share, but as you lose it, if you go a long time, the followers come.
[That gets you] high-margins and rapid deployment. They went from nothing to a significant percentage — maybe now they need that big brand.
There’s nothing wrong with [with becoming a big brand]. It is just a different kind of company.
Direct link to video here.
MacDailyNews Take: Why can’t Apple be both innovative and also buy profitable companies?
Fun fact: In 1976, Steve Jobs asked Bushenll to invest in his company, Apple Computer, Inc. As recounted by Walter Isaacson in Steve Jobs, Nolan remarked, “Steve asked me if I would put $50,000 in and he would give me a third of the company. I was so smart, I said no. It’s kind of fun to think about that, when I’m not crying.”
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