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Apple Considering Barnes & Noble Acquisition?

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Apr 12, 2001
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Apple may be looking at an acquisition of bookseller Barnes & Noble, according to an "unproven source" at BGR:
We received a tip from an unproven source claiming to have knowledge of discussions within Apple to possibly purchase Barnes & Noble...

This unproven source also said that iTunes 11 would be released in September along with iOS 5 and iCloud, and will support reading iBooks on computers as well as textbook purchases and rentals.
Click to expand...
It's unclear what Apple would gain from such a purchase. B&N has more than 700 stores plus another 600 college bookstores, as well as decent digital penetration with its own eBookstore and Nook e-reader.

Barnes & Noble is currently trading with a market cap just above $1b, which would be a very small dent in Apple's $76 billion cash pile, though the price would obviously be higher as a takeover premium.

We're a little skeptical about the whole thing and mention it primarily to encourage conversation. If Apple really wanted to purchase a bookseller, it could have bought Borders at fire sale prices. Wall Street seems unimpressed by the rumor: Barnes & Noble's stock price is flat on the day.

(Image via Flickr/cjc4454)

Article Link: Apple Considering Barnes & Noble Acquisition?
 
Article Link
https://www.macrumors.com/2011/07/28/apple-considering-barnes-noble-acquisition/
This is silly. What would Apple do with all the brick-and-mortar stores? This is another "Apple to buy Twitter" or "Apple to buy EA" rumor.

If the rumor was Apple looking to buy Amazon…that might be a different story (even if it's also unrealistic, it would still make more sense than this).
 
I hope not, they'd probably kill my favorite book store off :(. Then again, I really doubt they'd be interested in buying it lol
 
Apple has absolutely no interest in textbook and book B&M stores or online distribution. Nor do I think they would buy them simply to gain their e-book marketshare anyway.
 
Could make sense if the real estate can be converted...

The only thing that would make sense that Apple could be considering is whether some large percentage of the real estate can be converted to Apple stores. Not sure they need the vendor relationships but that wouldn't hurt? But if they shut down the B&N stores (or converted them to Apple stores rather) and Borders is gone... there won't be any more large scale brick and mortar bookstores? Don't see that happening yet.

MacRumors said:
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Apple may be looking at an acquisition of bookseller Barnes & Noble, according to an "unproven source" at BGR:
It's unclear what Apple would gain from such a purchase. B&N has more than 700 stores plus another 600 college bookstores, as well as decent digital penetration with its own eBookstore and Nook e-reader.

Barnes & Noble is currently trading with a market cap just above $1b, which would be a very small dent in Apple's $76 billion cash pile, though the price would obviously be higher as a takeover premium.

We're a little skeptical about the whole thing and mention it primarily to encourage conversation. If Apple really wanted to purchase a bookseller, it could have bought Borders at fire sale prices. Wall Street seems unimpressed by the rumor: Barnes & Noble's stock price is flat on the day.

(Image via Flickr/cjc4454)

Article Link: Apple Considering Barnes & Noble Acquisition?
Click to expand...
 
"We received a tip from an unproven source..."

That pretty much sums it up. This was pulled right out of someone's butt.
 
I think if they wanted a bookstore they would have bought Borders, but I don't see any reason for them to buy a bookstore.
 
Is this rumor from the same guy who said the next gen iPad would have a built-in LaserDisc drive?
 
I swear people just want Apple to spend their cash on something, this is the dumbest rumor I have seen yet.
No chance in hell Apple will buy Barnes and Noble.
 
I miss Page 2....

I can't see this happening. I could only see Apple spending their savings on a small tech startup company.
 
Don't see them buying a Book resellers but a good clean simple reader on OS X would be swell.
 
Would buying Barnes and Nobles help Apple with content for the iBook Store? That's the only reason I can think off but I'm not familiar with Barnes and Nobles and their content deals.
 
Hastings101 said:
I hope not, they'd probably kill my favorite book store off :(. Then again, I really doubt they'd be interested in buying it lol
Click to expand...

I don't know, with how bookstores are going, they might keep it from going under like Borders.

But unless this gives them more access to titles to put in the iBook store (though I'm not sure why it would), I don't see how this would give Apple any advantages.

So unless some one could explain how it would give the iBook store more titles to sell, I'm very skeptical of this and wonder why it isn't 2nd page even.

And anyways Borders and B&N already killed my favorite bookstore (large local store in Atlanta went out of business in the 90's) so I'm not too sad about Borders (except for more people looking for jobs now). Though I do like B&N (would be sadder to see them go than Borders).
 
They're also going to buy Tower Records. I guess they'll be selling music on flash drives since Macs won't have CD drives for long.

Oh... wait a minute. Tower Records doesn't exist anymore?! That's right. Soon neither will B&N.

This is one of those rumors that is so stupid you have to wonder if you're being tested somehow.
 
I can't even see this one as a land grab. Apple likes closed malls more than standalone stores and strip malls, while B&N is the king of the complex. Also, they'd have to buy the entire business now, and they definitely don't want the business.

I can see Apple possibly buying land from the bankruptcy trustee when the vultures start picking pieces off the carcass, but not any sooner. B&N just doesn't have anything that valuable to Apple, IMHO.
 
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