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Comment by Steko | Hacker News Reader

I like Microsoft as the buyer here but here's a more interesting idea: one of the big Android vendors looking for differentiation.

They've had weak results with their ui layers so exclusive apps is the clear next step to take. This could be Amazon, Samsung, Motorola or Sony. Amazon would be my bet.

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Has Amazon dipped its toes into content production before? Then again, I'm still occasionally surprised by the Kindle.

Rumor has it they're working on an Android tablet, which would probably involve some sort of content production.

http://www.engadget.com/2011/05/23/amazons-android-tablet-co...

Ahhh, thanks for that. I'd missed it.

Would someone really buy a tablet just to be able to run exclusive games on it? A gaming tablet maybe, but a regular tablet?

Plus, with games like Bejeweled or Plants vs Zombies, it's not exactly hard to duplicate in a matter of weeks and get rid of that exclusive edge.

I think if it was Amazon it would probably be exclusive Amazon Appstore instead of exclusive Amazon Tablet. Maybe exclusive Amazon App Store plus free on Amazon devices.

(1) Amazon's central business is the store, and something like this could be a loss leader to help build the Amazon Appstore vs Google Market.

(2) 90% of the value in these companies would be lost if you lost all phone sales (hence Rovio's short term exclusive on AB2).

Amazon bought Reflexive Entertainment, so there is a precedent of Amazon buying games companies. Afaik they moved a lot of the developers to A2Z Development, but I think they'd leave Popcap largely untouched.

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