I was idly wondering, how Apple could transform the AppleTV from a odd little downloading box - into a full-on television service.
C.
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Speculation of an Apple Acquisition Drives Sony's Stock Price Up
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I was idly wondering, how Apple could transform the AppleTV from a odd little downloading box - into a full-on television service.
C.
Here a quote from Blu-ray.com
According to the 2010 Consumer Technology Household Online Penetration Study from research company The NPD Group, the percentage of households with a Blu-ray player nearly doubled since last year, going from just 6% in 2009 to 11% in 2010. Key factors behind this increase were deep discounting during the 2009 holiday season, and the broadening penetration of HDTV (64% of households now have a flat-panel TV)
11% isnt that much... better than 6% for sure.
According to the 2010 Consumer Technology Household Online Penetration Study from research company The NPD Group, the percentage of households with a Blu-ray player nearly doubled since last year, going from just 6% in 2009 to 11% in 2010. Key factors behind this increase were deep discounting during the 2009 holiday season, and the broadening penetration of HDTV (64% of households now have a flat-panel TV)
11% isnt that much... better than 6% for sure.
I have no idea why Apple would want to buy Sony:
1)Apple seems to hate Bluray...so...Apple's going to kill the entire BR line/technology and anger millions of consumers?
2)Sony has lost its edge over the years for portable electronics but it still makes top notch (and affordable) home audio/video equipment (receivers, dvd players, cd players, bluray players, tvs, etc). What's in it for Apple?
3)PlayStation...the iPad seems to have targeted the PS since the iPad announcement yet as far as I understand, nobody is using the iPad for gaming (ok, maybe 1% of consumers). What's Apple going to do with PS? And supposedly PS4 is coming out within months.
4)Sony computers...so Apple will just kill these off? I have never owned a Vaio but they are quite expensive...and have managed to last for over 15 years so Sony's doing something right. But I can't see Apple holding onto any non-Apple computer division(s).
5)Not sure if this is part of the deal but what about Sony Pictures and all the movie stuff? What about all the music labels Sony owns?
Sony won't be a cheap purchase...and it would boggle my mind. I think Apple's better off hiring some quality QA engineers to actually test the stuff Apple keeps churning out (iPhoto '11 nightmare, Antennagate, iMac screen problems of 2009, etc). And if they want to buy some companies, invest in true technology companies...not giant conglomerates like Sony (remember when AOL bought Time/Warner?...yeah, that lasted long and more importantly, made 0 sense from the beginning).
1)Apple seems to hate Bluray...so...Apple's going to kill the entire BR line/technology and anger millions of consumers?
2)Sony has lost its edge over the years for portable electronics but it still makes top notch (and affordable) home audio/video equipment (receivers, dvd players, cd players, bluray players, tvs, etc). What's in it for Apple?
3)PlayStation...the iPad seems to have targeted the PS since the iPad announcement yet as far as I understand, nobody is using the iPad for gaming (ok, maybe 1% of consumers). What's Apple going to do with PS? And supposedly PS4 is coming out within months.
4)Sony computers...so Apple will just kill these off? I have never owned a Vaio but they are quite expensive...and have managed to last for over 15 years so Sony's doing something right. But I can't see Apple holding onto any non-Apple computer division(s).
5)Not sure if this is part of the deal but what about Sony Pictures and all the movie stuff? What about all the music labels Sony owns?
Sony won't be a cheap purchase...and it would boggle my mind. I think Apple's better off hiring some quality QA engineers to actually test the stuff Apple keeps churning out (iPhoto '11 nightmare, Antennagate, iMac screen problems of 2009, etc). And if they want to buy some companies, invest in true technology companies...not giant conglomerates like Sony (remember when AOL bought Time/Warner?...yeah, that lasted long and more importantly, made 0 sense from the beginning).
Because A 27" screen is small for a 2010 HD telly mate. They would need to sell 32 and 40 and 50" sizes to compete and even then sell them for a price Apple doesn't know how to do unless it tackles the premium end where it would face stiff competition.
if you think the other way round -- if steve jobs say bluray is a "bag of hurt" because of licensing problems, buying sony would solve that problem.
if you think the other way round -- if steve jobs say bluray is a "bag of hurt" because of licensing problems, buying sony would solve that problem.
We're past Blu Ray. It's all about streaming.
What I find pretty amazing is: $90 billion in cash by 2012? And by that time they'll have passed Exxon Mobil to become the most valuable company on the planet.
Remember this?
I can think of only 1 reason to buy Sony. Kill Blu-Ray. Seems apple wants to stream (rent) all movies. No more ownership. Part of the cloud computing move. Anyone know how many shares apple owns of Sony? This would tell the tale if they own 51 percent and probably the only way it could happen, hostile take over.
Sony does not know how to do it either.
It is having all its TVs made by Sharp, Samsung & LG
C.
Why would Apple spend billions to kill off a format that has one step in it's coffin already? BD is no competition to streaming. If anything BD will become a format for videophiles -- not a huge market, and not the market Apple targets.
Think of it this way: BD is probably at its peak right now, maybe even slightly over it. Apple just announced record sales. BD clearly is not getting in the way of Apple profits.
How many foreign corporations have been able to acquire a big Japanese company?. Japan protects its companies and brands, and they are very proud of the Sony brand.
I can see some kind of collaboration between Apple and Sony. Maybe Sony will sell one of their divisions... but there is no way Apple is buying the whole Sony Corporation, no matter how much cash Apple has, it is not going to happen.
Apple market cap is bigger than Sony but Sony is larger because it has more divisions, product lines and a larger global presence. People are focusing only on the consumer electronic division... Sony is a leader in the Broadcast-Professional market. In those markets, Sony products are considered high-end.
These rumors generate a lot of traffic, but they are so absurd.
I can see some kind of collaboration between Apple and Sony. Maybe Sony will sell one of their divisions... but there is no way Apple is buying the whole Sony Corporation, no matter how much cash Apple has, it is not going to happen.
Apple market cap is bigger than Sony but Sony is larger because it has more divisions, product lines and a larger global presence. People are focusing only on the consumer electronic division... Sony is a leader in the Broadcast-Professional market. In those markets, Sony products are considered high-end.
These rumors generate a lot of traffic, but they are so absurd.
Rather ambiguous metric to compare sales to, don't you think? First, they are comparing $10-30 purchases w/ electronics that are multiples times more expensive. Second, the interval one buys a TV, BD player, iPod, etc. is much further spread out than consumable media. Third, the cost to produce, market, and distribute a BD movie is a couple bucks, leaving for a profit margin around 25-30%. The typical profit margin in hard electronics is 10%
But the key metric the article fails to compare to is streaming video rentals and purchases. I never said BD is dead, I said it was a dead format walking. It will live on for a while, most Sony formats do -- see Memory Sticks or MiniDisks. But the future is no BD, it's streaming. It's why Netflix just made a $115m investment to boost capacity, it's why Apple just build it's NC facility, it's why Hulu is so popular. It's why Google is getting in the biz. It's why so many companies are jockeying to have THE streaming set top box consumer want.
blu ray is an industry organization where dozens of companies pooled their patents to create blu ray. it's not just sony, which doesn't even own a majority of patents for the tech.
Both are independent. Ford sold its controlling ownership stake in Mazda in '08 (it's still a minority shareholder). Nissan has an alliance w/ Renault and Daimler. Renault has a controlling stake in the company as the largest shareholder but does not own the majority of shares.
Until such time as infrastructure seriously improves, streaming will not be a viable option for a very large proportion of consumers.
Streaming a full-1080p movie over an average 2-8mb ADSL line (as used by the majority of consumers, I would imagine) is not feasible, especially when you add in throttling, caps and the time it takes.
It may work for people connected via FIOS or a high-speed cable, but until the telephone companies roll out more fibre optic services to a greater proportion of consumers (as cable isn't everywhere), people will still prefer to have the disc in their sweaty little hands
Apple probably won't buy anything that is squarely in their core business area. That's generally a zero sum game when you're the market leader.
With that amount of money, you have to think big.
Since Apple is all about Mobile Devices, imagine Apple buying Tesla Motors.
Or how about Toyota? "The new iPrius - it's magical*. Drives by itself.**"
* iPad must be inserted in engine compartment for magical operation.
** On Apple Approved Roadways(tm), join the Apple Roadway Developer Program Today!
With that amount of money, you have to think big.
Since Apple is all about Mobile Devices, imagine Apple buying Tesla Motors.
Or how about Toyota? "The new iPrius - it's magical*. Drives by itself.**"
* iPad must be inserted in engine compartment for magical operation.
** On Apple Approved Roadways(tm), join the Apple Roadway Developer Program Today!
Not everyone can stream GBs of media all the time. The data cap wont allow it. Have you seen the size of a 720p film download.