Viewing a single comment thread. View all comments

Prax150 t1_itmq2b7 wrote

Reply to comment by Isiddiqui in Apple raises the price of Apple TV+ to $6.99 by Murky-Insect-7556

I think they'll inevitably swallow up one of their competitors and merge platforms. They literally have the largest corporate cash stockpile in the world and outside of Amazon they probably wouldn't have much trouble merging with or outright buying any of their competitors, outside of antitrust issues (which, let's be honest, is barely a hurdle anymore in the US).

7

Radulno t1_itmyaqi wrote

Yeah they would have no problem but Apple isn't known for big acquisitions like that. Beats remains their biggest one IIRC.

Also, I don't think they're going all-in (or even half in) on video streaming, Apple TV+ is like a side hustle to them, it's not their main interest.

They could have gone for Warner when AT&T sold it but apparently had no interest (Comcast and Discovery were the only ones apparently and Comcast dropped it). Now that's it's with shitty reality TV with Discovery, I highly doubt they are more interested

3

Prax150 t1_itqe285 wrote

You're right I think Beats is pretty much their only 10+ digit buy. They generally make really smart acquisitions so I think it's more a matter of waiting for the right company to buy rather than not wanting to spend the money. I could totally see why they wouldn't be interested in a legacy company like Comcast or Warner that comes with more problems than it's probably worth.

Honestly I'm thinking more Netflix. They've very highly valued now but if the price is right that feels like it could fit.

1

Isiddiqui t1_itmqnoh wrote

Though one of the reasons they have so much cash is they don't randomly buy up companies. And at this point, they don't have too many options. I don't think they'd want to run a broadcast network (or deal with the increased scrutiny if they did), so Disney, Paramount, and Peacock are out. Maaaybe WBD, but they weren't really in play for Warner Brothers when AT&T wanted to get rid of it before.

1

TiberiusCornelius t1_itoaq7h wrote

WB apparently had shitloads of debt before the Discovery merger though and their stock is currently about half of what it was in April shortly after the merger went through. Not saying that they will definitely go in for it, but I could see how maybe it could be a more enticing option now that Zaslav has Batgirl'd away some of the debt and it could probably be scooped up for less than what AT&T wanted.

2