“Apple acquires an average of 15 to 20 companies a year, according to CEO Tim Cook. Of that number, we only hear about a couple, as most of these acquisitions or aqcui-hires are not consumer-facing, nor disclosed,” Jonathan S. Geller reports for BGR. “However, we have exclusively learned that Apple is planning an interesting partnership and a potential acquisition of AgileBits, maker of the popular password manager 1Password.”
“According to our source, after many months of planning, Apple plans to deploy 1Password internally to all 123,000 employees. This includes not just employees in Cupertino, but extends all the way to retail, too,” Geller reports. “Furthermore, the company is said to have carved out a deal that includes family plans, giving up to 5 family members of each employee a free license for 1Password.”
“While Apple is said to have a custom rate for this incredibly large deal with AgileBits, we haven’t been able to confirm what the company is paying. A standard family license goes for $60/year. If the company hypothetically secured a 50% discount, Apple would be paying around $2.5 million a year for the deal,” Geller reports. “AgileBits’ annual revenue is said to be around the $5 million to $10 million range, and our source told us the company would most likely sell for two to three times revenue. Could Apple just be kicking the tires before diving in? Possibly, but it would seem unlikely at this point. Either this deal is the actual acquisition, structured in a way that provides additional annual revenue for a set number of years, or there’s something else going on.”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: Well, now you know which third-party (for now) password manager to choose.
UPDATE: 11:35am PDT: AgileBits has dismissed any talk of an acquisition by Apple:
Rumours of my acquisition are completely false. My humans and I are happily independent and plan to remain so.
— 1Password (@1Password) July 10, 2018