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Apple Interested In Acquiring German Television Maker Loewe? [Updated: Company Denies]

genovelle said:
The Geman Cars are desirable, but the quality lacks quite a bit and then they very expensive to fix.
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Don't know why your comment was downranked so much, you're completely right. Check multiple reliability surveys, Japanese cars always come out on top, and more frequently Korean cars too. My German-auto owning friends who buy and repair Audis and Mercs as a hobby even admit that the cars have spotty reliability. They like the tank-like feeling of the cars and the handling, but in terms of reliability and repairs they're a mixed bag.
 
declandio said:
Loewe make excellent products. They are much more of a high-end premium brand than Apple have ever been. Their TV's cost an arm and a leg too.
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That is why they are a good choice for an Apple acquisition. The Apple television will be relatively expensive so it will be targeted at the same people who are willing to pay extra for a Loewe product. Apple and Lowe also share similar design philosophies; there are similarities in the minimalism and boldness of both companies' products.
 
goobot said:
Just wondering, If Ive was the designer of the TV, and foxconn was making it with sharp, what will buying Loewe exactly do for apple?
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Talent. Apple had to hire engineers working with radio and wireless technology when working on the iPhone.
 
Sol said:
Semantics. Please tell us what the correct term is for people who say that they do not like people from any nation. Most people would call that racism.
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Then most people would be wrong. That's not the correct usage of the word.

Xenophobia? Jingoism? There are words that fit the bill. Racism is not one of them.
 
goobot said:
Just wondering, If Ive was the designer of the TV, and foxconn was making it with sharp, what will buying Loewe exactly do for apple?
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You buy up the company who already makes the tv that most resembles the one you're about to announce.
That way they can't sue you.

This is the best clue as to what the Apple tv will look like.
 
Acerone said:
I always thought of Loewe TV's as high end... If this is true look out...

If Apple does come out with a new line of TV's they better follow that up with a Blu-Ray player... And may I suggest Apple purchase Oppo before someone else does...
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Apple wont even put a Blu-ray in its computers so I doubt they will ever manufacture one or by a company that does. Its all about streaming downloads not about 20th century spinning plastic discs.
 
Blu-ray sales are on the rise and its presence offers a choice: physical or download. I prefer the former. The picture and sound I get out of my Sony S760 is much better than what I could achieve with an Apple TV or my Mac.

I would guess an Apple TV will be overly simplistic. It will have an on button and that's about it, everything else would be wireless apart from the power cord.
 
Wardenski said:
Blu-ray sales are on the rise and its presence offers a choice: physical or download. I prefer the former. The picture and sound I get out of my Sony S760 is much better than what I could achieve with an Apple TV or my Mac.

I would guess an Apple TV will be overly simplistic. It will have an on button and that's about it, everything else would be wireless apart from the power cord.
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Depends on the files, if they are ripped there shouldn't be any difference, if they are from iTunes store then yes you're right.
 
Benjy91 said:
Really? I thought Germans were known for their ruthless efficiency, beer, large sausages, blonde beer maidens, and getting up at 3AM on vacation to put their towel on the best sunloungers by the pool.
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LOL, I didn't think that was true until I married one and moved here.
 
Ping Guo said:
Don't know why your comment was downranked so much, you're completely right. Check multiple reliability surveys, Japanese cars always come out on top, and more frequently Korean cars too. My German-auto owning friends who buy and repair Audis and Mercs as a hobby even admit that the cars have spotty reliability. They like the tank-like feeling of the cars and the handling, but in terms of reliability and repairs they're a mixed bag.
Click to expand...

Being a BMW 3-series owner, I had a look at your claim, and you're fairly right in terms of reliability - Japanese brands like Honda, Suzuki, Toyota etc do rank higher than their German competitors. Though 3-series have above average reliability, even when considering cost of repairs (bit of a sigh of relief for me!).

Anyway, if we're talking about "quality", I think there's more to quality than reliability. The excellent handling, great suspension, and overall is an excellent ride of my car are very significant signs of quality to me. I had a look at customer satisfaction surveys for Australia, and funnily enough the luxury German cars on average ranked better than the Asian brands - in particular Mercedes was a very close second (to Volvo holding first place), despite it having one of the worst reliability ratings. And on the other spectrum, Suzuki has one of the best reliability ratings, but below average customer satisfaction.

To bring it back to computers, consider those windows boxes that never give up. I wouldn't overall call them high quality, particularly with their loud fans and slow speed, but they still excel in reliability.
 
Anybody else having a hard time accessing the Loewe AG site ?

I don't know if I can believe this rumor. It just sounds so redundant to sell the whole bloody LCD screen in a cut throat competitive market when they can just push out cheap AppleTV boxes that can turn any TV screen into an Apple device/experience.

IF Apple were to enter the TV market, they'd have to have a really really really clever idea up their sleeve. And even though there is always the Apple premium price tag, Loewe's prices aren't just high they are stratospheric !

Where I have doubts about my own reasoning though is I think Apple never outright sets itself the objective of taking a whole market. Just like with the iPhone where they would have been happy for even 1% market share.
 
I still think this is a bad idea, TV's are expensive enough already.

Can you imagine the "apple tax" on it. Then being updated every year, and within three updates it will become obsolete.

Most people don't buy new TV's very often, they tend to keep the one they have till it breaks, HDTV took forever to enter the mainstream.

But knowing Apple they will surprise me with a must have product, that I will be waiting in line for.

HD just got here for most people, pushing smart TV's, 3D, and 4K are only going to bring out gadget geeks and people keeping up with the jone's.
 
MatLu said:
Cars, motorcycles, laundry appliances, kitchen appliances, power tools, solar panels, (many other things that'll take a while to list)... all made in America (obviously you can find imported brands of these products as well, but these category of products have many American manufacturers).
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put a whirlpool or ge dish washer or wash mashine next to a Miele. The US stuff looks like it is engineered in India...
 
Loewe AG is controlled at the moment by Sharp. Sharp holds ~28.83% of the stocks. If Apple wants to become the biggest shareholder it has to remain anyway under 30% threshold or face Public Offer laws for hostile acquisition.

I'm quite negative about the fact that Apple wants to acquire a German producer who has 1.024 employed people in one of the most unionized markets of the world.

Also, didn't Foxconn buy a part of Sharp to produce TV sets on behalf of Apple already?
 
Ping Guo said:
Don't know why your comment was downranked so much, you're completely right. Check multiple reliability surveys, Japanese cars always come out on top, and more frequently Korean cars too. My German-auto owning friends who buy and repair Audis and Mercs as a hobby even admit that the cars have spotty reliability. They like the tank-like feeling of the cars and the handling, but in terms of reliability and repairs they're a mixed bag.
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i think you mix up quality and reliability. probably right that asian cars don't break often but go to a dealer and test drive a toyota and then an audi/mercedes/bmw. you can feel, smell, see the difference.
 
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