I think about a bold move like buying Verizon or so.
But in my opinion Apple is losing by simple being Apple. They can't keep up with the speed of Google. They spent their money left and right and Apple is sitting on it's cash. Why? They even paid out a dividend, that was the sign that they have no big plan. What was one of the first actions of Tim Cook.
The stat we should be tracking is: out of people who actually use their phones (a horrible name for these things now anyway) as computers, which percentage of those people are using which device? We constantly see stats of "Android has 80% market share! But--now keep this between just you and me--iOS makes up 80% of mobile web traffic."
Source: Statscounter
Given the cheapness of some of these phones, would not surprise me if many users had low interest in their devices beyond the phone and basic web/app use.
I can't see this massive Android flood being based largely on OS loyalty.
Buying T-Mobile, on the other hand...
You have the best network so a lot will join with their contracts. Make tons of profit there.
I think Apple has a real problem now, the iPhone is their primary source of revenue. There is not much diversification going on there.
Edit: And btw, this would create an Arms Race for greater good, why not "Who has the best Network" than "Who has the most patents?"
They are sitting on 120B that is just in some hedge funds anyway, why not do something with it that has a competitive advantage. They just have no plan....
Give this money Amazon or Google they would know what to do with it. That's the reason i dislike Apple. They don't have a mayor purpose any more. If there is no company vision, then at least do something that improves everyone's live and gives this company another shot. In the worst case Apple loses the phone wars and is the biggest mobile operator in the world. Not even that of a risky move, mobile operators have a pretty solid business model.
It was difficult for AT&T to purchase Alltel because after the breakup of Ma Bell, the baby bells have been eating each other and consolidating into the current Big Three (ATT, Tmobile, Verizon). The AT&T purchase of Alltel was seen as a baby bell further consolidating the wireless marketplace.
You really can. It's only "biggest" in sales, but not all those sales are to people buying apps and living the "online" life. In most interviews/surveys developers say that the make little money on Android sales compared to iOS, and that they prefer ad-supported apps so that at least can make a buck with free (which only was for high volume apps).
On the other side, there are tons of iOS only apps and games, that ignore Android altogether, including very successful examples.