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Why Apple should acquire Nokia

34 points by tristan_louis 14y ago

Apocryphon 14y ago
How could Nokia suddenly do an about face heel turn away from Microsoft.
- manojlds 14y ago
  Hostile take over? Also, Elop's time is running out, so turning away from MS is possible in more than one way.
- mtgx 14y ago
  What if Nokia has a 5 year contract with Microsoft? Could they still end that somehow? The patent thing actually makes it a very good acquisition target for Samsung as well.
niggler 14y ago
Funny that ALU is mentioned given that the ADR is trading near >10 year lows
- tristan_louis 14y ago
  Which makes a deal with ALU even more likely if no cash has to change hands (ie. ALU gives APPL a large set of patents and get the networking business, making it either #1 or #2 in telecom as a result). That deal would probably bump ALU stock up.
aaronharnly 14y ago
Nice article. A formatting nit: Having link hovers italicize means that hovering a link reflows the entire paragraph. Example: http://makeagif.com/i/6KTHGR http://makeagif.com/i/6KTHGR
- bbx 14y ago
  And it's actually easy to end up in some infinite loop: http://i.imgur.com/IDR64.gif http://i.imgur.com/IDR64.gif
- tristan_louis 14y ago
  Good point. I need to fix that one someday... I'm trying to find a way to deal with hovers in a better way. Maybe I should get rid of the italics altogether in that case.
frozenport 14y ago
Seems like a popular blog title: http://www.businessinsider.com/why-apple-should-acquire-nokia-2012-10 http://www.businessinsider.com/why-apple-should-acquire-noki... http://www.cultofmac.com/194130/why-apple-should-buy-nokia-to-fix-their-mapping-disaster/ http://www.cultofmac.com/194130/why-apple-should-buy-nokia-t...
protomyth 14y ago
I doubt it would be allowed by the regulators, but buying Nokia also gives you a lot of connections in places Apple does not have.
- tristan_louis 14y ago
  Apple could argue that they need to do it to counter the threat of Android. With all the claims of more Android devices being out in the market, it's an argument that could hold water with regulators and get such a deal approved as a result.
barredo 14y ago
Honest question: Will the EU commission even approve the acquisition?
- Breakthrough 14y ago
  Most likely not, so good question. All that went through my mind when I read the post title was "Why Apple should acquire [Some Company With Way Better Maps]"...
  - tristan_louis 14y ago
    Did you miss the part about patents? and mobile TV? and more patents? (oh yeah, and maps too :) )
- tristan_louis 14y ago
  With all the noise about Android being the biggest player, Apple could make a claim that it is a defensive move before Google goes against them in court. This may get regulators to approve it.
lostlogin 14y ago
Has Apple ever made any acquisition even a portion this size? It would be a pretty big difference between Jobs Apple and Cook Apple to make a purchase this big. Given that the likely targets would be maps and patents, the rest of the business wouldn't be of much value surely? But winding up a company Nokia's size would be a brutal hit that would inflict a lot of damage in many different areas - to Apple almost as much as Nokia I'd guess. Edit: Auto predict. Sigh
- tristan_louis 14y ago
  I think the NEXT acquisition, which brought Steve Jobs back, was in that neighborhood from a capabilities standpoint. From a dollar standpoint, you're right, it's substantially larger than what Apple has done in the past in terms of acquisitions.
ansy 14y ago
Wouldn't it make more sense for Apple to buy TomTom or Waze before buying Nokia? TomTom is much cheaper and Apple already has a cozy relationship with it. Not to mention Nokia is already in bed with Microsoft. NOK: $10B market cap TOM2: $800M market cap Even then, TomTom comes with a lot of baggage. A savvy operations expert like Tim Cook would choke in disgust at the financial waste of such an acquisition. Apple acquiring Waze makes the most sense. It only has 80 employees already in Palo Alto. It is still private and only has $67M in funding. Its only product is a mobile app. And its product is actually an advancement for navigation rather than stuck in the old world.
- dpark 14y ago
  How would purchasing Waze address any of the perceived shortcomings of Apple Maps? And where does Waze currently get it mapping info? I kind of doubt that Waze has data sets that rival Google or Nokia, or even Tom Tom.
  - lobster_johnson 14y ago
    Waze is crowdsourced. So even if the original data comes from sources such as Tiger or OSM (which are known to be much worse than Google's), presumably data such as road vectors are continually tweaked from the driving data that the app collects. From the FAQ (http://www.waze.com/faq/ http://www.waze.com/faq/): By simply driving with the app open on your phone, you passively contribute traffic and other road data that helps the Waze system to provide other Waze drivers with the most optimal route to their destination, including live traffic information. But you can also take a more active role by reporting on accidents, police traps, or any other hazards along the way, helping to give other users in the area a 'heads-up' about what's to come and contributing to the common good out there on the road. Some of the Waze community members with a passion for maps also take an even more active role by editing and updating the Waze map, itself. Most of the editing work is done on the Waze website, but some parts, such as the naming of streets, can be done through the application directly.
    - dpark 14y ago
hayksaakian 14y ago
Apple won't want products, considered by the market as inferior, to carry any association to themselves.
- jmspring 14y ago
  Nokia Maps as well as photo technology in their cell phones are considered quite highly. Nokia hardware is generally respected as well. There are gems that Apple can mine.
thisismyname 14y ago
I actually think they should acquire a carrier like tmobile... They always say they want to control "the entire customer experience from hardware to software".
- callumjones 14y ago
  Considering Apple is a global company, it wouldn't make sense to acquire the 4th largest carrier if all they get is some spectrum and nothing else. How would T-Mobile (USA) help the iPhone across the board?
robwgibbons 14y ago
I highly doubt this would clear an antitrust check. Considering Microsoft's heavy leaning on Nokia, this just doesn't smell realistic. Optimistic, yeah, and a genius fix for Apple Maps, but pretty unrealistic.
tnuc 14y ago
It would be like Google buying Excite.
callumjones 14y ago
If the rumours are true about Nokia wanting to sell off their HQ in Finland, it seems Nokia is a bit desperate for money. This could mean at some point (in the interests of getting some cash in the bank) Nokia could sell off their mapping division (NAVTEQ etc) to Apple.

34 points by tristan_louis 14y ago

Apocryphon 14y ago

How could Nokia suddenly do an about face heel turn away from Microsoft.

manojlds 14y ago
Hostile take over? Also, Elop's time is running out, so turning away from MS is possible in more than one way.
mtgx 14y ago
What if Nokia has a 5 year contract with Microsoft? Could they still end that somehow? The patent thing actually makes it a very good acquisition target for Samsung as well.

niggler 14y ago

Funny that ALU is mentioned given that the ADR is trading near >10 year lows

tristan_louis 14y ago
Which makes a deal with ALU even more likely if no cash has to change hands (ie. ALU gives APPL a large set of patents and get the networking business, making it either #1 or #2 in telecom as a result). That deal would probably bump ALU stock up.

aaronharnly 14y ago

Nice article. A formatting nit: Having link hovers italicize means that hovering a link reflows the entire paragraph. Example: http://makeagif.com/i/6KTHGR http://makeagif.com/i/6KTHGR

bbx 14y ago
And it's actually easy to end up in some infinite loop: http://i.imgur.com/IDR64.gif http://i.imgur.com/IDR64.gif
tristan_louis 14y ago
Good point. I need to fix that one someday... I'm trying to find a way to deal with hovers in a better way. Maybe I should get rid of the italics altogether in that case.

frozenport 14y ago

Seems like a popular blog title: http://www.businessinsider.com/why-apple-should-acquire-nokia-2012-10 http://www.businessinsider.com/why-apple-should-acquire-noki... http://www.cultofmac.com/194130/why-apple-should-buy-nokia-to-fix-their-mapping-disaster/ http://www.cultofmac.com/194130/why-apple-should-buy-nokia-t...

protomyth 14y ago

I doubt it would be allowed by the regulators, but buying Nokia also gives you a lot of connections in places Apple does not have.

tristan_louis 14y ago
Apple could argue that they need to do it to counter the threat of Android. With all the claims of more Android devices being out in the market, it's an argument that could hold water with regulators and get such a deal approved as a result.

barredo 14y ago

Honest question: Will the EU commission even approve the acquisition?

Breakthrough 14y ago
Most likely not, so good question. All that went through my mind when I read the post title was "Why Apple should acquire [Some Company With Way Better Maps]"...
- tristan_louis 14y ago
  Did you miss the part about patents? and mobile TV? and more patents? (oh yeah, and maps too :) )
tristan_louis 14y ago
With all the noise about Android being the biggest player, Apple could make a claim that it is a defensive move before Google goes against them in court. This may get regulators to approve it.

lostlogin 14y ago

Has Apple ever made any acquisition even a portion this size? It would be a pretty big difference between Jobs Apple and Cook Apple to make a purchase this big. Given that the likely targets would be maps and patents, the rest of the business wouldn't be of much value surely? But winding up a company Nokia's size would be a brutal hit that would inflict a lot of damage in many different areas - to Apple almost as much as Nokia I'd guess. Edit: Auto predict. Sigh

tristan_louis 14y ago
I think the NEXT acquisition, which brought Steve Jobs back, was in that neighborhood from a capabilities standpoint. From a dollar standpoint, you're right, it's substantially larger than what Apple has done in the past in terms of acquisitions.

ansy 14y ago

Wouldn't it make more sense for Apple to buy TomTom or Waze before buying Nokia? TomTom is much cheaper and Apple already has a cozy relationship with it. Not to mention Nokia is already in bed with Microsoft. NOK: $10B market cap TOM2: $800M market cap Even then, TomTom comes with a lot of baggage. A savvy operations expert like Tim Cook would choke in disgust at the financial waste of such an acquisition. Apple acquiring Waze makes the most sense. It only has 80 employees already in Palo Alto. It is still private and only has $67M in funding. Its only product is a mobile app. And its product is actually an advancement for navigation rather than stuck in the old world.

dpark 14y ago
How would purchasing Waze address any of the perceived shortcomings of Apple Maps? And where does Waze currently get it mapping info? I kind of doubt that Waze has data sets that rival Google or Nokia, or even Tom Tom.
- lobster_johnson 14y ago
  Waze is crowdsourced. So even if the original data comes from sources such as Tiger or OSM (which are known to be much worse than Google's), presumably data such as road vectors are continually tweaked from the driving data that the app collects. From the FAQ (http://www.waze.com/faq/ http://www.waze.com/faq/): By simply driving with the app open on your phone, you passively contribute traffic and other road data that helps the Waze system to provide other Waze drivers with the most optimal route to their destination, including live traffic information. But you can also take a more active role by reporting on accidents, police traps, or any other hazards along the way, helping to give other users in the area a 'heads-up' about what's to come and contributing to the common good out there on the road. Some of the Waze community members with a passion for maps also take an even more active role by editing and updating the Waze map, itself. Most of the editing work is done on the Waze website, but some parts, such as the naming of streets, can be done through the application directly.
  - dpark 14y ago

hayksaakian 14y ago

Apple won't want products, considered by the market as inferior, to carry any association to themselves.

jmspring 14y ago
Nokia Maps as well as photo technology in their cell phones are considered quite highly. Nokia hardware is generally respected as well. There are gems that Apple can mine.

thisismyname 14y ago

I actually think they should acquire a carrier like tmobile... They always say they want to control "the entire customer experience from hardware to software".

callumjones 14y ago
Considering Apple is a global company, it wouldn't make sense to acquire the 4th largest carrier if all they get is some spectrum and nothing else. How would T-Mobile (USA) help the iPhone across the board?

robwgibbons 14y ago

I highly doubt this would clear an antitrust check. Considering Microsoft's heavy leaning on Nokia, this just doesn't smell realistic. Optimistic, yeah, and a genius fix for Apple Maps, but pretty unrealistic.

tnuc 14y ago

It would be like Google buying Excite.

callumjones 14y ago

If the rumours are true about Nokia wanting to sell off their HQ in Finland, it seems Nokia is a bit desperate for money. This could mean at some point (in the interests of getting some cash in the bank) Nokia could sell off their mapping division (NAVTEQ etc) to Apple.