Does Apple want to buy Facebook? | Hacker News Reader

Does Apple want to buy Facebook?

tuaw.com

20 pointskylelibra27 comments

Facebook is something that Apple couldn't compete against even if it wanted

They can't compete against Boeing either but I don't think anyone expects Apple to buy them. Seriously though I think if Apple really wanted to they could build their own homegrown social network and at least be a credible player. They might not have 500M users overnight but 100M in a year? Sure. Build it into the next version of iOS (~125M devices) Another 25-50M would probably leave Facebook because there's a trendy new service in town. Apple's wave of clever advertising gets them another 25M. In 2 or 3 years they have 40-50% as many users as Facebook and still have $51B in the bank. Then they buy Boeing and integrate FaceTime into airplane seats.

I suspect if Apple was going to spend a ton of money they would want to sure up their ability to deliver good products from a box of sand to a box on the shelf at the Apple store. CPU/chip fab, flash memory production, display technology/production, etc. They're not as exciting to talk about but I think it makes a lot more sense. Maybe something in telecom since all those devices need to be well connected.

This is the exact reason why Apple shouldn't want to buy facebook (at least right now). The A4 chip is the first in a long line of supply chain consolidation. I wouldn't be surprised if in a few years time we saw a Macbook Air with an A4 type CPU and a more iOS-integrated OS X (for both x64 and A4). The more ownership of the supply chain Apple has, the more they can inflict quality control standards on to it, and the cheaper they can make equipment.

I think ping will succeed as far as Apple's initial goals are concerned (more iTunes sales), but will fail as a social network until they find a compelling way to integrate it into the iPhone experience. Personally, I think the killer app for ping as a social network is messaging and status updates (as every iPhone user has iTunes and thus access to ping) but Apple can't create a messaging client without raining on the Carriers' and developers' parades.

Bouncing around ideas like this is so good for the brain. This is unlikely, but not impossible.

I don't think Zuckerberg is going to allow Facebook to be bought by anybody, he's doing the buying these days.

I'm tempted to agree along those lines. If you turn down billions, why does more billions suddenly appeal to you?

Facebook has in a lot of ways run its course. They're still iterating, but I don't really see it benefiting users much.

I don't see a sale to Apple benefiting users much either, but the fallout could be interesting. If I were him I might sell just out of curiosity to see what would happen. It sounds, if not better, at least profoundly interesting.

It doesn't... but the chance to work along side one of your idols is a pretty big factor.

The chance to work for a new boss when you are doing great being the boss? Nah.

I believe Microsoft has right of first refusal, so if Facebook sells, Microsoft would have to pass before Apple could buy.

It would be the most significant departure from their existing product line ever. It seems fantastically unlikely, as they mostly seem to build devices and software specifically meant to run on those devices. Hard to see how their core expertise in this area lines up with a Facebook acquisition.

Facebook isn't elegant enough for Apple. Nor Steve needs any "synergies" to sell more products.

No way. Zuckerberg wants to BE a Steve Jobs, not work for him.

Maybe that's it.... maybe Jobs wants to buy Facebook to groom Zuck to be his successor of the new Apple+Facebook company.

Jobs won't be there forever.

Do you have any reasons in mind why would Jobs want to groom Zuck to be his successor? They don't seem particularly similar to me.

Perhaps his hatred of Google runs so deep he feels Zuck is the only person who can destroy them?

I'm not saying it makes perfect sense... Steve is an awesome madman genius... he doesn't have to make sense.

I would rather have the Jon Ive / Tim Cook combination.

I like this train of thought. Who better to know who can replace Steve Jobs than Steve himself? (Maybe he just sees a lot of himself in Zuckerberg.)

If such a thing were to become reality, this honestly would be a credible explanation for it.

Facebook is a bag of hurt.

I don't think it will happen simply for the fact that Steve doesn't compromise and he's smart enough to know that this evaluation of Fb being worth over 33 billion is ridiculous -- he wouldn't pay that, ever.

But is Apple worth $300 billion? One might argue that 10% of Apple is a fair price to pay (perhaps even a bargain), even if both were reasonably priced.

Maybe Jobs just has an OCD and wants to collect $100B in a bank.

Seriously though, why would they NEED to buy anything right now instead of rolling out capital expenditures as they need (like that data center for $1B recently) and keep cash at hand for potential new thing if there was an opportunity where one would need to act quickly (and have cash to do so).

If those $51B assets are live cash, I would imagine it being a big burden just to keep up with inflation eating it's way through it.

After all that talk from startup school about building and running facebook for the fun, I don't think that zuckerberg is going to let facebook go.

For this situation, I'd just stick to the thought of facebook and apple having a deal for social integration.

a buyout is probably unlikely (given how many offers/deals Zuck has either rejected or pulled out of in the last minute over the past 6 years). That said, he may be looking to Apple as a default liquidity provider which would save Facebook from needing to go public. If existing VC firms seeking liquidity and employees looking to cash out all sold to Apple that would probably decrease their outstanding # of shareholders and keep them clear of SEC regs for at least a little while longer. Also seems like a solid long term relationship given both companies' strong focus on design, usability, and the consumer.

The TUAW story is a summary of the original point made by All Things Digital, discussed at length here: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1805839

I wouldn't believe it if it weren't for the fact that this would be the biggest showing of balls in the Apple-Google war by far.

Steve hates social networking. It's just too messy!

God I hope so. At least Facebook would be in the hands of a literate design team.

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