“Given Apple’s $233 billion cash stockpile and the growing competition for video content, speculation linking the company to Netflix or Time Warner seems only natural,” Chris Nolter reports for TheStreet. “Shares of the companies, especially Netflix, surged on Thursday after the Financial Times reported talks between Apple and Time Warner and suggested that Apple CEO Tim Cook should take a look at Netflix.”
“Such potentially expensive deals don’t match up with Apple’s M&A history and strategy, however. For starters, Apple has not bought big companies in the past and Reed Hastings’ streaming service has a market cap well above $40 billion,” Nolter reports. “‘If Apple launched this service and gave it way for free for a year how many defectors would Netflix have?’ Moody’s Investors Service analyst Gerald Granovsky said. ‘That would cost less than $40 billion.'”
“While the valuation of Netflix dwarfs the price tag for Beats, Christian Renaud of research firm 451 Research said that isn’t the only potential snag to a deal,” Nolter reports. “Much of Apple’s cash is overseas, Renaud said, and would be taxed if repatriated for purchase. It would also be cheaper for the company to raise debt for a purchase. ‘I’s unlikely,’ Renaud said of an Apple-Netflix combination. ‘It’s not impossible… Tim’s gotten a lot of criticism for not really moving the needle and being as disruptive as Jobs was. Maybe his way to fix that is to buy his way out of the problem. You never know.'”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: 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.
SEE ALSO:
Should Apple buy Netflix for $53 billion? – May 10, 2016
Why Apple should buy Netflix – January 7, 2016
Apple’s move into content creation could devastate Netflix and 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
reason to buy netflix – software and infrastructure already in place.
reason not to buy Netflix – software and infrastructure already in place.
because you totally want an apple video solution running on their crappy icloud system… its so stable and smooth and amazing..
they are all on amazon anyways.
@Yeah
The article was about Netflix. Yet you steer straight for child molestation. Seems you may have an obsession.
‘build vs buy’ would be a legit argument if apple has recently demonstrated ability to startup anything beyond a spaceship; how many years have we been hearing apple are on the cusp of media deals but can never make it happen for example; they’re just pissing away returns with cash and investments over 75% of the balance sheet
It has nothing to do with Apple’s ability to create the service, and everything with their ability to get shows licensed from networks who are afraid of Apple owning television thee way they own music.
If Apple bought Netflix, they would end up with the same problem. Getting licences to shows renewed at an Apple-owned Netflix would be as hard as at Apple.
Please don’t Apple. Netflix works great on literally any platform. Apple’s history of cloud services gives no assurance they wouldn’t mess that up.
When I see articles about why should Apple by Netflix, I always get an impression that it is the other away around. I mean, I think Netflix would love to be bought by Apple and its big pilled of dollars. That would certainly give full metal jacket power to Netflix. The most interested in this merge seams to desperately keep pushing these articles.
I have TWC. I would love to get CNBC without having TWC. Looks like there’s no way to do that now.If could get CNN,MSNBC, and CNBC, I would dump cable NOW. Your paying WAY to much, if all ya want is THREE channels. I Would love to see a future, where you pick what you want…. and nothing more.
How is that related? Does Netflix offer those?
If Apple were to have bought a company, it should have been Tivo, but, alas, that bird has flown.
Tivo requires a ripoff subscription service.
The ChannelMaster DVR+ requires no such subscription. Tivo is starting a death spiral.
You can pay lifetime for a Tivo, so it is included in the price.. Some are sold that way out of the box too (e.g. the OTA one).
Does the ChannelMaster DVR have 6 tuners? Does it have wishlists? Does it skip commercials at the touch of a button (for top 20 channels)? NO NO NO.
Open a Think or Swim account. Free CNBS streaming during market hours. Don’t really know why you want to watch CNN and MSNBC.
The way I would like to see Apple do the video streaming thing is a combination of Apple Music and Audible – give us the old clunkers like Netflix and Hulu, plus one “new” title every month with the subscription that could then reasonably cost $15-20. And, as Audible does it, those newly “rented” titles are “owned” to watch again in the future, so long as your account remains paid and active.
But Apple should have bought Dropbox (and it’s users) and incorporated it into iCloud.
YouTube would have been a worthwhile investment, or at least better than letting Google own the space.
Dropbox is drag and drop for Windows users, not worth buying if you are Apple.
This article is fluff to fill space. Apple is just as likely to buy Bolivia. That is, not at all.
Pixar for 10 billion, was the only buy Apple should have made along with Freehand.
The persistence of this rumor is unequivocal proof of the overwhelming ignorance and gullibility of people/investors regarding Apple. So incredibly stupid.
I say buy DIS and spin off the Theme Parks.
Apple has become two financial companies – thank you Barack Hussein Obama – in that they are rapidly becoming a massive debtor company state-side, yet a flush cash rich company off-shore.
50% repatriation tax is asinine. Only a Karl Marx would find this type of power grab a good idea. Legalized theft is a wonderful thing when the one achieving power from it…
Apple should set up it’s new corporate headquarters in Belize. That country would welcome Apple with absolute open arms. Heck, they might call their country “New Apple” if they had to.
They would bring all that cash into their own Belize bank, the Bank of Apple, for oh, zero tax, and then go and buy Netflix, Comcast or do whatever the heck they wanted to do in order to move the country forward.
This tax is so stupid. It locks up hundreds and hundreds of billions off U.S. company earned bucks in off-shore banks. All so some stupid greedy politicians can play 3rd grade “their evil” envy politics to gain a few stupid communist votes stateside. Brilliant…
Don’t blame the POTUS on this stupid law! Blame Congress as the President only signs the bills.
I Used to live Netflix. It’s not what it used to be. If anything Hulu is the one
To buy .