1) I think there's the possibility of a symbiotic relationship between the results of a Sony acquisition and Apple in a great number of areas, as the original a

1) I think there's the possibility of a symbiotic relationship between the results of a Sony acquisition and Apple in a great number of areas, as the original author points out, however culturally it would be difficult and it would break away from apple's traditional mantra... 2) A quick google search finds that they own two production facilities (one in Mesa, AZ, one in San Jose) though you're right that using either of these facilities or ones acquired through Sony would be a departure from what we generally know. 3) Very subjective - even among DSLR manufacturers, depending on who you ask, who is #1 in cameras varies greatly. Taken at face value, DxO Mark recently declared[1] that the iPhone 8 Plus had the best smartphone camera available. It's definitely one of Apple's talking points during product announcements, but non-smartphone camera market seems to have devolved into a niche these days[2]. Aside from IP I'm not sure there's value add to the smartphone market that Apple can obtain from Sony and moving into the DSLR space, while potentially exciting from a photography perspective, it seems to be a declining market. Then again, maybe DSLR photographers are the ones who have moved away from flickr. [1] https://www.dxomark.com/apple-iphone-8-plus-reviewed-the-best-smartphone-camera-ever-tested/ https://www.dxomark.com/apple-iphone-8-plus-reviewed-the-bes... [2] https://www.flickr.com/cameras https://www.flickr.com/cameras