Why doesn't Apple buy LG? Sharp?

No, they have nothing to gain from doing this.

Could they afford either company. Not to mention that Sharp and LG both make panels for everyone else. I don't think Apple wants to be involved in that.

MacNut said:

Could they afford either company. Not to mention that Sharp and LG both make panels for everyone else. I don't think Apple wants to be involved in that.

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Good point, dont want to make screens for the competitor. But then again, they could be getting more pieces of the pie

Considering Apple is like 99% of Sharp's business why not?

Apple bought LuxVue Technology for a reason...

MacNut said:

Could they afford either company. Not to mention that Sharp and LG both make panels for everyone else. I don't think Apple wants to be involved in that.

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Sharp's market cap is about $5 billion, LG's is around $10 billion. So, theoretically, Apple could afford them. Whether it makes sense to do this, is another question. These are very large, diversified companies that make a lot of things that Apple probably isn't very interested in (Apple iAirConditioners?) and would be nightmarish to merge. And for what? To get some manufacturing capacity?

Hmmm what an interesting idea

Apple iMicrowave
Apple iRefrigerator
Apple iWashingMachine
....

And the list goes on. LG and Sharp are involved in more than computer/media related products. Perhaps you are suggesting buying out those divisions under those names?

MacCruiskeen said:

Sharp's market cap is about $5 billion, LG's is around $10 billion. So, theoretically, Apple could afford them. Whether it makes sense to do this, is another question. These are very large, diversified companies that make a lot of things that Apple probably isn't very interested in (Apple iAirConditioners?) and would be nightmarish to merge. And for what? To get some manufacturing capacity?

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I could see Apple wanting to get into the smart home area, but not by having to actually make appliances. Apple would either buy the panel division or have to start selling blenders.

phrehdd said:

Hmmm what an interesting idea

Apple iMicrowave
Apple iRefrigerator
Apple iWashingMachine
....

And the list goes on. LG and Sharp are involved in more than computer/media related products. Perhaps you are suggesting buying out those divisions under those names?

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Dragging your washing machine to the Genius Bar is going to suck.

rdowns said:

Dragging your washing machine to the Genius Bar is going to suck.

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Okay, you made me have a bit of an iChortle with your response. (grin)

What if LG or Sharp aren't for sale? You can't just throw money at something and expect to own it.

What's the benefit of buying Sharp when they're losing money? There's no guarantee that apple could turn around an aging electronics company.

As for LG, they're huge and they make many other products other then displays, like refrigerators and air conditioners. Does apple really want to get into the air conditioner business or would they be better served buying the components they need from various manufacturers.

maflynn said:

As for LG, they're huge...

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Curiously, LG has a market cap of around USD 10bn, whereas Sharp's is USD 5bn.

I'm surprised that LG isn't more valuable, and isn't a bigger multiple of Sharp. Although I guess that's based on perception of their own branded consumer electronics, and here in the UK at least Sharp has practically disappeared from view.

Anyway... silly idea, which would probably fall foul of all sorts of monopoly/antitrust legislation.

roadbloc said:

What if LG or Sharp aren't for sale? You can't just throw money at something and expect to own it.

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Apple could make an offer. Companies try to buy other companies all the time. Sometimes even without the target company's cooperation (a 'hostile takeover'). One of the dangers of being publicly=traded. It means you're _always_ for sale.

MacCruiskeen said:

Apple could make an offer. Companies try to buy other companies all the time. Sometimes even without the target company's cooperation (a 'hostile takeover'). One of the dangers of being publicly=traded. It means you're _always_ for sale.

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The issue here is, LG and Sharp are not companies Apple would be really good at running, in fact I could see apple running them more into the ground than Sharp already is.

Apple is REALLY good at focusing on a few products.

Not the hundreds that these companies make, plus Apple higher ups have no idea how to design or market ACs, Blenders, Washing Machines or ovens.

MacCruiskeen said:

Apple could make an offer. Companies try to buy other companies all the time.

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They could. But why would Apple bother unless they are interested? There is no reason why given that these companies are in no way compatible with Apple and they sell tons of products that Apple has no competency with selling not to mention that it would be doubtful that they would want to be in said business.

“own the technology” only works for some things.

Companies tend not to be monolithic companies anyway. So why would Apple buy the whole company when all they really want is plant capacity of a few of the subsidiaries?

Just because Apple offers to buy a company does not mean that company will accept the offer, or that Apple can even legally buy them/the company can be legally purchased.

It's not as simple as going to the cash register and swiping your card. A business purchasing another business takes a long time filled with loads of legal paperwork and heavy reorganization. Really companies only buy other companies when they see a major benefit that can be added to the company. There's nothing that LG or Sharp can offer to Apple by being purchased compared to what they already get out of their deal now, so it's not worth the trouble.