Does Apple want to buy Facebook?
Jobs and Facebook founder/CEO Mark Zuckerberg met for dinner the other day. Many presumed that they were discussing Facebook Connect and Ping integration, but what if it were something more, like Apple buying Facebook? Kafka thinks that Apple acquiring Facebook makes sense because Facebook doesn't compete with Apple in any significant way, and Facebook is something that Apple couldn't compete against even if it wanted to. Plus, Facebook is already competing with Google, "which has to make Jobs like it even more," Kafka argues.
What would Apple buying Facebook lead to? Every Facebook user would probably automatically have an iTunes Store account. FaceTime chat could be integrated into Facebook chat, potentially leading to increased sales of iOS devices. If Apple continues down the road of using not only phone numbers, but email addresses and eventually Facebook IDs as designated FaceTime "phone numbers," then 500 million users would already have a FaceTime ID to use when all telephony goes VoIP.
Apple has the cash to buy Facebook outright (Facebook is valued at around US $25-35 billion), but will they? Steve Jobs and Mark Zuckerberg seem to share a lot of traits (not to mention both having had movies made about them), but could two of the most powerful people in tech -- with equally powerful egos -- work together?
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Jobs and Facebook founder/CEO Mark Zuckerberg met for dinner the other day. Many presumed that they were discussing Facebook Connect and...
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This makes perfect sense!
Can you imagine EVERYONE on Facebook all of a sudden has an account on itunes? Once they see how it easy it is to get new music off of itunes they are going to want a device to play it on.
facebook by itself not such a big deal, but if they took facebook, and integrated mobileme and ping with facebook and created a single social hub for chat email etc etc. you would end up with a very big competitor to google and gmail.
October 21 2010 at 12:44 AM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down ReplyI would rather Apple buy Microsoft's Entertainment and Devices Division. If anyone could fix Kinect and make it worthwhile it's Steve. Integrated into facetime and AppleTV would be AMAZINK! It would help get rid of the Zune and integrate any unnoticed innovations in the WinPhone7 situation.
October 20 2010 at 8:53 AM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down ReplyI hope this never happens, because I don't use Facebook, and I never want to. But I'm a big-time Apple user, and I'm worried if they bought it they would eventually tie it up so an Apple user is a Facebook user. I don't want that to happen.
Why don't I use it? I just don't want to. I prefer face to face communication, phone calls, hanging out. I don't want to become a click on a page. Sigh. Something like that, anyway.
... and before you there was some guy ranting that he preferred writing letters to making phone calls. The social world is moving; you either keep up with the times or get left behind.
October 20 2010 at 12:47 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down ReplyMy point is that Jobs is a control freak and it seems to me like he would stifle Facebook. Say what you will, that's my opinion.
October 20 2010 at 12:22 AM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down ReplyMy Take on the Apple Facebook rumors:
http://tekcheck.blogspot.com/
Apple buy Microsoft and release OSX XP? :-)
October 19 2010 at 9:18 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down ReplyFriendface and Chitter rule!
October 19 2010 at 9:16 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down ReplyNo way this needs to happen. If Apple wanted to tie FaceTime into Facebook chat and allow for Ping integration, they could do that as a contractual agreement for a hell of a lot less than $35 billion+. What would that even be worth? $1 billion?
October 19 2010 at 7:58 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down ReplyWhy buy Facebook for ~$30bln when you can buy Sprint for
October 19 2010 at 7:56 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down ReplyDeals of the Day
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