Apple might acquire Sony? | Hacker News Reader

Apple might acquire Sony?

reuters.com

37 pointsspcmnspff48 comments

Sony makes the Playstation, Vaio Computers, Walkmen (well, not anymore), BluRay, Cybershot cameras, Bravia TVs…going to Amazon and just searching for Sony under electronics indicates that there are over 50,000 items for sale. Certainly some dups, but Sony has A LOT of SKUs…

…and they made $17.6B profit last year.

Apple makes the MacBook Pro, MacBook, MacBook Air, Mac Pro, iMac, Mac Mini, iPad, iPhone, iPod Classic, iPod Nano, iPod Shuffle, and iPod Touch along with some peripherals…

…and they made $17.2B profit last year. And some would claim that Apple has let the SKU list get out of hand over the past few years…there's probably some fat trimming in the company's future...

Two completely different corporate philosophies. Chance of merger: 0%.

You could go even further:

Let's not forget that it's internally divided - so many horrible compromises were wrought by Sony because its IP division (movies, music) was pissed off by technical advances made by its tech division (hardware).

Sony has also tried and failed time & time again to make its own proprietary formats win -- Betamax, MiniDisc, Memory Stick, etc. -- showing that it is more invested in "being right than being effective." Apple has won by taking risks on standards -- even when it was doing DRM, used existing standards.

Sony is, if anything, the Anti-Apple.

There is nothing Sony could do to help sell any Apple products. They have a few stores, but nothing as good as Apple's stores. The computers they sell run Windows, Apple would not keep that side. They already sell mp3 players, why would Apple keep them both around? They sell crappy phones with ericsson, no need for that.

It would also put Apple/Sony at odds with all the other media companies, they would lose support.

They're also competitors. They'd have to get this approved too.

the recently released Google TV is the main thing though

Amazing the number of rumors flying after two vague, non-committal sentences in the earnings call last week.

We should start a betting pool for what companies Apple will buy. Oh wait, such a pool already exists and is called the stock market...

The most amazing thing in these rumors is how dumb they appear to me. Not sure if it says more about rumors or me. Either way I see no point for Apple in buying Sony, or Facebook. What for??? Does someone just pick a random name from the list of companies that are affordable to Apple and starts to speculate on that? The other thing I cannot wrap my head around is stock markets. The silliest thing influence them, that sure does not leave a good impression on me. Maybe it's just me.

"What for???"

Not to imply that I think it's likely, but Sony DOES have something that Apple might benefit from: manufacturing. Don't forget, Sony makes quite a few semiconductor products -- including, for example, the sensors in Nikon's digital SLRs.

Overall though, I agree with the prevailing opinion, that it's pretty unlikely.

A great opportunity to go short on Sony. Apple wont buy them - Apple buy small companies that make successful products, which Sony has not for quite some time.

Make money when the rumor pops and short.

While I also don't think Apple will buy Sony, they kinda are in the same place Apple was in the 90's pre-jobs. They have a strong brand but make a TON of mediocre products. Jobs coming in and axing everything non-essential to a small "only the best" product line up could really turn the company around. I wouldn't write them off just because of their current lineup.

You're arguing that Jobs could fix Sony, which is probably true.

But there are many companies which could be fixed by a CEO such as Jobs. What brick would Sony bring to Apple's offer that makes sense to buy rather than make?

* brand recognition? Sony's isn't too bad, but it's leagues away from Apple's.

* a bunch of Wintel PC with nice-looking casings? Come on!

* a bunch of almost adequate MP3 players? LOL.

* rights on their music and movies portfolio? This sounds much better, but I doubt they would buy the whole Sony-the-consumer-appliances-maker to get Sony-the-music-major.

I fail to see what would make Sony valuable specifically to Apple.

Sony seems to be doing OK with the PS3 and their A/V equipment sells pretty well too. They also developed the Blu-Ray format; possibly they get licensing fees for that?

> "They also developed the Blu-Ray format; possibly they get licensing fees for that?"

The Blu-Ray format sums up what is wrong with Sony. It's a dead end format which probably won't even recoup the money it took to develop.

The VAIO Z series is a great product. Maybe not a successful one, but it's a nice machine. Faster and lighter than a MBA.

They also make nice iPod competitors.

Of course, there's no reason why Apple would buy such a huge company. They prefer to buy small tech companies that they can absorb without losing their design and management DNA. Not big competitors. Not $33 billion companies with 163,000 employees.

Though some of Apple's acquisitions fit that description (Nothing Real and eMagic -- though it seems like they managed to kill off Nothing Real, which is sad), they've also bought a few companies that didn't have any products at all, like Raycer Graphics and... I can't think of the name of that PPC design firm they bought. They had products that sounded promising, but didn't exist yet... same with Raycer.

Why would Apple acquire Sony?

Blue-ray? Apple thinks optical media is dead.

Playstation? Apple has it's own gaming devices: Mac, iPhone/iPod, Apple TV (if they add an App Store).

TVs? Apple can build it's own TV hardware, they don't need Sony.

Talent? Takeovers of this scale are very hard. Apple probably has a very different culture than Sony. Apple could get key talent significantly cheaper than acquiring the whole company.

Components? Same as talent and licensing is probably much less trouble and cheaper.

Music/Movies? Creating content is not what Apple is about. Apple creates tools for content creators and content consumers.

B2B? Apple/Steve is mostly interested in the consumer market.

The article also mentions Disney as a target. I thought Steve is the or one of the biggest single shareholders of Disney. Jobs is also on the Disney board, so he already has influence on Disney, without spending huge amounts of Apples cash.

Well, Apple probably can't make TV hardware in same sense as Sony can make it. Sony is almost completely vertically integrated when it comes to TVs and consumer electronics.

Why would Apple want to be making TVs, at least in the sense that TVs currently exist? The profit margins must be razor thin, because you're competing with a damn-near-indistinguishable product from LG and Samsung, and prices keep getting driven down every year.

The only way they'd do it is to make some sort of integrated TV/AppleTV thing. But I'm not sure that's really to their advantage versus just selling an AppleTV and letting folks plug it into their existing TVs.

Sony makes really great hardware, and (most of the time) utterly wretched software. Sony could be a much better company with Apple's help. Not sure how such a merger helps Apple, though.

Their Playstation software is pretty decent, and I think the XMB even won an Emmy.

Sony manufactures TVs and other electronics. Apple could bring this in house rather than having the likes of Samsung and Foxconn manufacture their hardware. There is also Sony Pictures Entertainment, Sony Music Entertainment, and Sony Computer Entertainment.

I rather doubt the rumours though. There would be many business units that would have to be spun out or shut down. (Sony Ericsson, Sony eReaders, BluRay, etc)

I like Sony. I like Apple. I'd like to see Sony find its way again and start competing hard and innovating.

I've worked with Sony engineers myself and have experienced what it's like dealing with a (successful) Japanese company.

Such a merger will never happen and if it does it will be a dangerous move for both. People never think about cultural match when discussing mergers.

So what's it like? Tell us more.

Apple also makes really great hardware, and (most of the time) utterly wretched software- see itunes, iphoto, etc....

Not sure how this would help either company. Apple doesn't need any help getting really great hardware made. If anything, Sony would bring the quality down considerably.

(written from my macbookpro in chrome)

I'd like to know who are starting these rumours. I saw them on a videogame blog (along with rumours about Netflix, Adobe, EA, Facebook, and Disney - basically all of which are ridiculous speculations).

Now I'm seeing Reuters keeping the story alive. Again, ridiculous.

I don't know why Apple would want to do that. How Sony looks at hardware, software and their product line-is is something I'd call very 'traditional' - (1) hardware is important, just patch in some software that can make users manage to us the hardware. (2) Build so much stuff that everyone can find something in the line-up that suits them (3) Keep the content business and delivery far off from the products.

I see fundamental differences between the two companies. What Apple gets by buying Sony is control over a brand that is instantly identifiable across the world (come to India to know what I mean). That might probably be of huge value to Apple, as Apple is definitely not seen as a 'people's brand' around here.

Apple should acquire the rights to Steam from Valve. It makes a good fit for their business:
1) Prevent competition on the Mac app store 2) Proven distribution/scalability 3) Instant community that can bolster Ping

Edited. Brainfart, put "Sony" there

You do mean Apple instead of Sony here, right?

Yeah, fixed it. Thanks for the catch.

Apple is obviously on top of their career. But the fact that they climbed up insanely fast relying on only one or two products. That's good, that is great, of course I appreciate their success. However they also experienced a near death. If it was not iPod they would be so dead already. So they still do not give me the confidence that they will be on top forever. Hope they don't acquire Sony, so we don't lose them both in case Apple falls.

I think Apple buying Adobe makes more sense than Sony..but even still, not likely. With Sony's headquarters in Japan and all, Steve Jobs can't have the control he'd want. And getting rid of the Sony HQ and/or massive presence there is a crazy idea.

If they did buy them, I don't think it'd be for a merger of any kind. But I'm certainly no expert at these sorts of things. I've been wrong before!

Pie in the sky rumours, but I will say one thing:

If Apple did buy Sony, the PS4 would have an awesome controller.

The first thing that came to mind was the hockey puck.

I like a lot of Apple products but I've never used one of their mice that I've liked, even the new ones. Maybe it's because I once got stuck with that damned puck for a few weeks.

Mice are something they just never quite figured out. It's like they have some subconscious aversion to right-clicking. Even the trackpad on my MBP refuses to do it half the time.

Could they make a 1 button controller awesome?

Sony is not one company but more like multiple subcompanies working under the same brand. A merger with Apple would ruin both companies.

I have a hard time imagining even a close cooperation between the two. Apple always wants to control the entire value chain. Apple TV running on Sony TVs? Not likely.

Apple would absolutely have to gut Sony to make it work, and would lose a huge amount of value just to merging or cutting areas. Apple could not leave any of the Sony leadership intact in any area Apple had an existing business.

I would actually believe an AMD acquisition before this.

Apple will buy Sony and Facebook. Right after Apple acquires Fermilab and the LHC. Which would make about as much sense.

Most of these merger rumors have supposed benefits that would be more easily and cheaply obtained through a licensing deal or other limited cooperation agreement.

Way too much competition between the two. Apple is not going to sell Android phones. They won't sell Windows PCs. They don't care about gaming. Honestly, they'd get great consumer electronics, and that's it. I just can't see this working.

Since everyone agrees this makes no sense and sony is up +1.43% (pre-market), does this mean we should go out and short sony stock?

The interview with John Sculley indicates that Jobs has always had a great admiration for "the Sony way" and patterned early Apple processes after processes Jobs et al observed at the Sony factory.

As we keep that in mind and notice that Apple has converged into the consumer electronics space, which Sony had locked up back in the days of Walkman, Sony starts to make sense as a potential Apple interest. Perhaps Jobs feels that Sony infrastructure that he so admired is still lingering under the dust of wayward big-corporate management, caked on as Sony grew beyond good managerial capacity.

Apple is pretty big now and has been able to maintain that. Sony could go far in Jobs' hands.

Actually, I wonder if the rumor isn't more sparked from the Sculley interview than the earnings call. At any rate, it got Apple + Sony in people's minds.

It wouldn't be the first time Apple and Sony have cooperated; http://www.folklore.org/StoryView.py?project=Macintosh&s...

Someone wondered why Apple is suddenly favoring Vimeo in its iPad ads. I think Apple needs a YouTube competitor, but should it be Vimeo? [typo edit]

Apple might acquire BoA. Apple might acquire Chrysler. Apple might acquire Coca-Cola.

and so on.

This is just pointless speculation by people who don't understand Apple's MO. Apple would no more buy Sony that it would buy Compaq.

Who could have thought just a few years ago that Apple would ever be in position to even consider buying Sony. I'm simply awed...

Here is a line for Apple: "Never underestimate the power of people's vanity."

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