Facebook, Adobe, Disney, Sony — Apple takeover rumors ignite

Financial wires are reporting that market speculation now claims Apple could be on the verge of acquiring Adobe Systems, Sony or even Walt Disney!

[movements]

Whoa, that would not be good. Not Sony, stay away Apple!

[Longrod_Von_Hugendon]

This is nothing but a ploy to manipulate stock prices. Don't worry kiddies uncle Steve has other plans. I can't say more else for the fear that uncle steve will dispatch Ninjas to hunt me down and kill me dead.

[TOO PAWNED]

To acquire Sony is unrealistic. If they want TV line up they can go else where and acquire someone cheaper. Playstation division isn't making profit atm, so i doubt thats what they want. Everything else they got covered.

Apple could acquire Disney, that seem more reasonable due to Job having large ammount of shareholders in that company, plus they would get their hands on many great IPs.

[nveenio]

The only company I could see Apple acquiring would be Adobe because it is the competition to Mac's software lineup. They could scrap Flash and get revenue shares from Photoshop, Premier, Lightroom, etc. But they'll never buy Sony (that's just stupid to even think about), and Disney would never allow such a thing, either.

[sikbeta]

Isn't SONY as a whole, a multi-Billionaire Corporation? or we're talking about some Divisions separately, like Bravia, PlayStation and so on, Sony is part of the Big 5 in the Music Industry alone, also SPE = Columbia, Tristar, Screen Gems are Huge in the Movie Industry.... Idk....

[Longrod_Von_Hugendon]

Apple has enough reserves to buy Adobe and Sony's PS3 division without problem... believe that.

[TOO PAWNED]

prc frc cprc a prc

[CimmerianDrake]

Playstation division isn't making profit atm?

You're kidding right? Yeah, you must be. No one actually believes that.

[InfectedDK]

I don't believe it's Adobe Systems, Sony nor Walt Disney.
Apple taking over Sony sounds redicoulous. I don't even believe that Apple has that much moolahs at all.

[nickjkl]

this is the dumbest article ever

APPLE would have to buy the majority of sonys stock in order for them to take over sony

i doubt that will happen because sony in this situation is the larger company

[AtatakaiSamurai]

ahh the internet. where bs can have validity no matter how ridiculous. lol

[gaffyh]

Apple cannot afford to acquire Sony, the company is way too big, and the Apple shareholders would take a major hit. Adobe seems possible.

[darx]

Look it up

[drdistracto707]

well, a takeover is impossible, Sony is way too big

but a merger could happen easily, and i think everyone would benefit

get the genius marketing and user experience expertise of APPLE and add it to the incredible list of assets owned by SONY and you have a winning combination

ps: i would get osx on a vaio over windows anyday

[darkknight0996]

SONY Corp is the world's fifth largest media conglomerate with revenue exceeding $77.20 billion U.S.
and SONY Computer Entertainment (SONY PS3) is company not a division in SONY ( the other companies are Sony Electronics, Sony Pictures Entertainment, Sony Music Entertainment, Sony Ericsson, and Sony Financial, and all of these companies form SONY corp ).
their is no way that Appel can takeover SONY or even SCE.
dose the one who wrote this title know what is he writing or what is he implying?

[Dee_91]

how can apple buy sony when sony is bigger than apple ?
unless they are talking about a division from sony like their vaios ot tvs

[Danteh]

Ummm can anybody tell me how Apple could buy Sony?

I mean yeah Apple is incredibly powerful but Sony is like one of the biggest companies on Earth with its Playstation, Bravia and Sony Music divisions...

[N4Great]

"Playstation division isn't making profit atm, so i doubt thats what they want. Everything else they got covered. "

say the misinformed xbox fanboy.

[darx]

I believe Sony's market cap (value) is at about 35 billion and Apple has about 51 billion to spend.

[CimmerianDrake]

Wow 14 Xbox Fanboys think Sony is still in the red. I guess Google doesn't exist for them or they would be able to look this stuff up.

[ComboBreaker]

Disney? Impossible too.

Adobe? Yea. That's possible.

[AndrewRyan]

With Adobe on Apple's side, flash support would be inevitable. Including many other options Mac users do not have.

[hikayu]

apple acquiring any of the above mention company is unrealistic , even adobe . adobe is a strong company that is making profit every year , they'll never allow that to happen . plus , it's not about Apple wants Flash's support , it's that Apple DONT want Flash . adobe tried to work with apple before , but Steve's minions refused to .
why would apple want to acquire disney ? what would they achieve ? nothing ! apple and disney have nothing to benefit one another , it's like you're telling BP to go buy Google ... why ?
and i believe that Sony is WAAYY bigger than Apple . Sony could even buy Apple if they want to ( and have the bawls + lawyers to because a massive monopoly law suit will hit'em like a ton of brick ) . i believe that almost all division in Sony is still making profit or at least surviving right now .

[KurdGamer]

SONY is to expensive for apple to by out same with walk Disney. btw every PS3 sold is making money for SONY. idk how the play station division is not making money.

[DORMIN]

Fail article is fail.

Adobe is the only believable one, does the writer not realize Sony and Disney are HUGE companies in all practically all forms of media?

[N4g_null]

Imagine what sony and apple could do if sony made an extention to the iphone? With the touch screen being a set piece in a cradle that has gasp dual analogs. Hey it wonthappen apple wouldnt fold to sonys decision and it would be nintendo and sony all over again.

Steve does have other plans and its hard to tell what they are but its clear he hates adobe and flash. Well just flash yet I cant blame him.

[westy552]

I hope thats the case because if Apple buy sony im going to get my an xbox.

[SkyGamer]

I don't know about Facebook as MS owns a big share of facebook. I also doubt about Adobe as they make majority of their money on PC's. sony seems unlikely as well.

Apple
308 dollars a share
283 bil market cap

sony
34 dollars a share
34 billion market share

All a company needs to do is own 50.1 percent majority shares to have control of a said company.

Plus MS bought 150 Million of Apple stock back in 97. So Microsoft owns a big chunk of Apple.

http://www.pbs.org/newshour...

[The Lazy One]

Apple's market cap is high, but Sony would never sell for it's current market cap.

There's so many factors that go into the actual selling price of a company. You don't get to buy a company at it's current price. I forge the exact number, but when you purchase more than a certain percentage of a company you have to announce it before you do it, and apple would probably end up having to put up the majority of apple to get enough money to buy sony.

They'd be better off just investing the money in themselves.

walt disney is more possible, but why would walt disney (one of the biggest media corporations in the world) want to sell? They'd probably end up having to pay way more than walt disney is worth to buy them as well.

[BattleAxe]

Microsoft stock is crashing at the moment, so theres where I would put my money.

[Rush]

Are you such an epic retard that you honestly believe of all people Apple would buy out Microsoft?

Hitler has more chance of rising from the grave and becoming a Jewish preacher then Apple buying out Microsoft.

Apple any Sony share a lot of ideals both make quality hardware, both have invested interest in the latest tech.

Both have good mobile divisions both offer hand-held media.

What on earth would Apple want with Windows? What could Apple possibly do with Windows? Why would Apple want Microsoft's Media Division that has spent it's entire existence taking the piss out of apple?

I mean Dam I get it PS3 fanboy trying to make a point but at least think about what your typing you fucking tard.

[BattleAxe]

@ RUSH,

Its nothing personal, its just business.

[RedDragan]

"Apple could acquire Disney, that seem more reasonable due to Job having large ammount of shareholders in that company, plus they would get their hands on many great IPs."

Wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong and just to hit home the effect.... wrong.

Companies like Disney buy companies like Apple Inc. It doesn't work the other way around. Apple Inc. needs to grow considerably to be in position to even consider making a bid to buy Disney.

Disney are a much bigger, and much more powerful business entity than Apple Inc.

Steve Jobs might be the largest shareholder, but at owning 7%, he is very, very, very far off being able to do what he wants. He is easily out voted on decisions by the other shareholders and if he starts to annoy the other shareholder, he will be booted off the board of directors in less than 24hrs.

Like another other shareholder, Steve Jobs' influence in Disney is limited by the majority, and for Steve Jobs the majority is 93%!!! His power is next to non-existent in the grand scheme of Disney.

Disney can buy Apple Inc. tomorrow. Apple Inc. couldn't buy Disney by 2020 as current trends go!

Also... for other comments here. Sony is 3 times bigger than Apple and Sony is growing despite losses, their equity and assets are rocketing up. Apple are much smaller than Disney and Sony, but they could buy Adobe and Faceboook.

[CrazyOrange]

not as if they can afford sony... silly article

[cleanhealthy12]

www. wolframalpha.com/input/?i=Sony +Apple

interesting.

[AndrewRyan]

Apple in theory could "eat" Sony.

[stevenhiggster]

Some people just don't understand how these things work. Apple may have recently had a hell of a lot more revenue than Sony but I can assure you that Sony are worth a hell of a lot more than Apple could ever afford.
Sorry to burst your bubble AndrewRyan but Apple could not buy Sony, thats to suggest that Sony shareholders would even sell!?

[King-Leonidas]

im pretty sure you can't aquire a company that has over 20% share of the market.

[jerethdagryphon]

from wiki on sony value

Internet service
Revenue ▼ ¥7.214 trillion / $77.205 billion (2010)[3]
Operating income ▲ ¥31.8 billion / $342 million (2010)[3]
Net income ▲ −¥40.8 billion / −$437 million (2010)[3]
Total assets ▲ ¥11.22 trillion / $137.694 billion (2010)[4]
Total equity ▲ ¥2.77 trillion / $31.741 billion (2010)[4]
Employees 167,900 (as of March 2010)[1]

and apple (its out of date

Revenue ▲ $42.91 billion (2009)[4]
Operating income ▲ $11.74 billion (2009)[5]
Profit ▲ $8.24 billion (2009)[5]
Total assets ▲ $47.50 billion (2009)[4]
Total equity ▲ $31.64 billion (2009)[4]
Employees 34,300 (2009)[6]

[TOSgamer]

I doubt Apple would even want all of Sony. Maybe just their games and movie division. And it is very unlikely that Sony would chop themselves up like that unless Apple was willing to offer a huge premium. A merger with Disney would sound like a much better idea out of those 3 companies. Apple would get the media content they need to help push their overpriced sh!t.

[sikbeta]

Sony Pictures Entertainment is Huge
Sony Music is Huge
Sony PlayStation is Huge (line-up + IPs + 20 Studios)

[lightningsax]

Dudes, seriously. They wouldn't buy an entire one of these companies, but buying one of a company's subsidiaries is entirely possible. For example, look at the amount of subsidiary companies in just Disney's corporate overview: http://corporate.disney.go.... . And yeah, Apple couldn't even buy out ESPN, and Disney owns them, so no, Apple isn't buying the entirety of the Cthulhaic Disney conglomerate.

It's akin to (AOL lol) Time Warner selling off their cable subsidiary to someone who does it better. That's altogether possible.

Still, I couldn't see Apple buying the rights to Sony's e-reader stuff, as the iPad is dominating the market. Maybe they buy it out, shut out a competitor, and have a lock on any patents? Who knows. It wouldn't make any sense for Apple to take over Sony's games division, as it's giant, global, and complicated. Apple isn't big or experienced enough to handle it.

[dabri5]

I would argue that it is more likely Disney as Steve Jobs is one of the founders of Pixar, which is Disney's bread and butter. ( I know, surprised me too),

[INehalemEXI]

MS would hate that , and MS bailed Apple out back in the day. Crazy. Even though Apple is crazy rich atm, while it might almost be possible for them to acquire Sony it is 100% not likely.

[TheLastGuardian]

Fuck apple. Stay far away from Sony.

[King-Leonidas]

wait no! I want Sony first... damn you Steve.

[Kaneda]

Disney and Sony would be wrong for Apple.

Sony is such a big a electronic company. I think it would be harder for Apple to manage it. Apple makes one great model and manage and improve that.

Apple is software and hardware company, not movies making company. So Disney no...

Adobe is maybe. Since Adobe is software company. It would be easier for them to take over Adobe and managing it.

[Malice-Flare]

by way of being half-owner of Pixar...

Also, Sony can be bought as it has a $35b market cap as opposed to Apple's $51b cash-on-hand...

[Kaneda]

They are two different companies. Jobs was CEO of Pixar before he returned to Apple. He ran both for awhile til Pixar was sold to Disney...

In term of business Disney doesn't make sense to Apple because it is a software and hardware company.

[PS360fanboy]

Wow, great news for Sony! Nothing like a 52 billion dollar company to fill last year's 40.8 billion dollar debt hole...

[morkendo23]

buying SONY?? even DISNEY..disney just bought the GREATEST comic company in the WORLD MARVEL!! steve job must have 5 TRILLION DOLLARS.. HAAAAAAAAAA YFR (yeah,fking right) haaaaaa whooooooo that was a good one. that apple must have worms in it, smell like FLAMEBAIT!

[popup]

If I was Steve... I would buy Sony, force Polyphony to release GT5 now and sell it back to them.

[frostypants]

Apple couldn't afford Sony. Gimme a break.

[kparks]

just what we need apple to do turn the playstation into the PIPPIN LMAO this is a bunch of BS

[XxZxX]

you will see Japanese goverment intervene very fast.. If Apple really want to buy Sony.

[SkylineR]

Sorry to burst your bubbles kiddies, but Apple is worth more in revenue than Microsoft alone, so if you think Steve and Co. can't acquire Sony or Disney then you're in for a shock. Their Mac business alone is worth $22bil a year! Just 1 part, or 1/3 of where their revenue comes from. When was the last time you heard of Sony's Playstation business making that amount of profit? As a company, last time I read Sony was worth about $33bil which is the same as Nintendo. Apple could potentially buy both.

I seriously don't see them buying Sony though. Unless they mainly want a part of Sony Music...
Facebook seems a more logical purchase.

[pr0digyZA]

Agreed, people (especially the teens on this site) need to catch a wake up and realize that apple is nearly the biggest company in the world.Sorry you got disagrees (Ill get some too :P)but people obviously don't understand how stock works in the business world.

[jden28]

Look for those of you that don't understand what a market cap is or share holder value...Sony "CAN" be bought and afforded by Apple or Microsoft, and I don't mean just a division I mean to whole company all divisions... Some of you non-busines class taking folks can use google but have no idea how to "INTERPERATE" the data. So let me give you a couple examples of how a smaller company can buy a larger one...Time/warner not the 5th largets it is "THE 2nd" largest media conglomerate was bought by AOL 10 years ago... AOL used its stock price which was way higher than Time/Warners to leverage the buyout... No revenue is important but profit is king and Apple and Microsoft have 'WAY" higher profit margins than Sony i.e they that being Apple and Microsoft have tens of billions in cash and High enough market caps to purchase Disney, Sony, Adobe, GM, Ford you name it if it isn't named wal-mart or they don't sell oil they can afford to buy it.

[gameraxis]

more likely to buy apple?.... their vaio desktop and laptop are doing great, so soon that will cover the people getting macs, since its a smaller target audience (for macs that is)... and sony has almost every other technology covered...except the phone space, but they still have a decent share in it, Ericson is getting better. Sony is HUGE, and I'm not saying this because of fanboyism... but remember those "apple machintosh" computers we all used in grade and middle school? (if ur around 25) well, since then sony has had hundreds if not thousands of different devices, tvs, walkman, gamming systems, etc... all I'm saying is that sony shot up covering all bases generally well where apple kinda did 2 things, the mac, and the line of ipod/pad/phone. so i don't think so... Now as far as adobe and the rest, i could see that happening, but companies like ge, microsoft,DISNEY??? yea ok! phillip morris, panasonic, (maybe)... arn't going to be strait out bought by apple... they might join to combine technologies but that's about it...

[Karooo]

cant be true

[ABizzel1]

Apple has money, but not nearly enough to buy Sony or Walt Disney.

They could definitely buy Adobe Studios comfortably, But Walt Disney and Sony are only a dream.

[Monkey521]

I agree they wouldn't buy Disney, but they have a foot in the door. Since Steve Jobs is on the Board of Directors at Disney.

http://corporate.disney.go....

And the reason he is on the board, is because he is the largest individual shareholder of Disney which happened when Pixar was bought out by Disney.

http://www.nytimes.com/2006...

Believe it or not, Steve Jobs has a lot of influence and could eventually create some kind of merger between the two.

[HarryMonogenis]

I'm pretty sure that Apple won't be buying Disney. :S

[SMW]

Is it even financially possible for Apple to aquire Sony? I know they have done well with the iGarbage range, but have they done THAT well?

[maxcer]

well considering every douche and his dog have an iPad/iMac/iFucked these days i can see the apple name has grown by leaps and bounds.

[coolstuff]

There's no chance of Apple acquiring Sony.

[Cold 2000]

There actually is a chance. You're just scared as hell thats all lol.

Anyways I dont like Apple because of their overpriced products and the fake a$$ "I got Apple so Im cooler than you" attitude that Apple followers have so I'd rather Sony stay independant.

[Adva]

Lol Cold 2000 has reached the top level of stupidity.
Apple buying Sony? hahaha

[ThatCanadianGuy]

LMAO oh cold..

Do you know how much assets Sony has and what there worth in total? 3X bigger than apples.Sure, apple is a profitable company, but can in NO way buy out Sony.Thinking there is even a chance is just foolish dream of a 360 fanboy.

[bananlol]

Id say it would be cheper (and make much more sense) for them to try and acquire microsoft. Sony may not have as much capital as microsoft but they shure as hell have a lot more assets. Not that i would want any buyouts, apple made my favorite phone/portable media player, sony made my favourite console(nothing wrong with the 360 and wii, the ps3 just have more games i like) and microsoft made the best operative system ive ever used, windows 7.

[Dee_91]

@bananlol
nah microsoft is bigger than apple too

[nycredude]

I've always suspected the trolls on N4 were brainless but you guys are just proving it now. Apple to buy Sony or Walt Disney? LOL!

[Jazz4108]

EhI see comments on here that brainless 360 fanboys are responsible for this. Why would 360 fans want apple to buy sony? I don't get it?

[Mista T]

of course they can, they're one of the highest earning companies in the world, right next to Exxon mobile

[KratosGirI]

wat

[KratosGIRL]

woot

[Dr-ZOOM]

WTF?

[Lyr1c]

-confused-

[jerethdagryphon]

the new istation twice as expensive and half as good....

yea cant stand apple products other then there os

works well in my hackintosh

[Cloudberry]

.
Nice one, I give you that. XD

[Rhythmattic]

Fair enough..

iAlso Bet you downloaded osx via p2p.

[KaiokenKid]

I always thought Apple products were usualy pretty great or atleast really popular and the people who own them think there great.

[ak3nji]

This is what i think of when i think of Apple owners...

[Cloudberry]

.
Hard to tell... : /

[k2d]

Do a little research. Those of us who've already been around for a couple of years know this rumor is rooted in muck-all.

[wat634]

Apple could obtain square...

[SMW]

I dont know... Would apple be interested in aquiring the only company on the planet that makes worse products than themselves.

[frankymv]

So is that why apple has been the most successful company on the planet for several years now?

[skrug]

by ripping people off

[ABizzel1]

@SMW

Apple products are great, they're just outrageously overpriced.

[karl]

i love my ipod... but seriosly thats the only apple product i would ever buy..

[frankymv]

Oh I see...Apple has been ripping people off for several years now.....so thats why they set records every quarter in terms of revenue and profits? WoW, I guess the 400 million people that own apple products have it all wrong then.

[Joostin]

Just because they pummel the market with new products that sheep like customers file into the stores in droves, doesn't mnean people are buying worthwhile products. $400 for a phone that has a touch screen and internet access...hmmmm

Just because people like a product or are swept up in the marketing buzz doesn't mean it was a good product. Just means the marketing worked. We can have this discussion again once Kinect drops and a ton of people waste their money on another useless product. IE. Wii.

[frankymv]

Apple has $51 billion in cash and 0 debt. They can pretty much do almost anything they want.

[mushroomwig]

No company can be debt free, that's impossible.

[green]

Apple has been completely debt free since 2004. As of Dec 2008, Apple had $24 billion in cash and no debt http://www.bizjournals.com/... That figure increased to $31 billion 8 months later http://www.hedgehogs.net/pg...

At the rate that Apple products have been selling since then, it's not hard to believe that that figure could have increased to around the $50 billion mark.

Anyway, i doubt this will happen.

[UltimateIdiot911]

It is very possible for a company to be debt free but a lot of companies choose not to so they can have leverage and tax shield.

[dkblackhawk50]

Apple only pays iTax.

[Dee_91]

lol 51 billion is alot but still not enough to buy the entire sony corp
you would need atleast double that amount to completely buy out sony

[mushroomwig]

@Green

Money IS debt, that's the problem. The money you have in your pocket was created out of debt.

[green]

Are you saying that nobody can be debt free?

[Rhythmattic]

I agree.

just google "Zeitgeist" . It give you information for you to follow up.

[MariaHelFutura]

Federal Reserve.

Every dollar printed is sold w/ tax/interest attached to it. So no, there is no way out of debt technically. That`s not to say a company can`t be profitable. It just money is not money anymore it`s a "pay you back later NOTE". Every $1.00 is technically about a $1.15.

@rhythmattic

Zeitgeist has some good information, but don`t believe EVERYTHING it`s says some of it is bullsh!t, just to prove their point more. Which is disappointing cause if they would have just stated the FACTS, it would have been alot better off.

[bailoutbenny]

Money IS debt, that much is true. The Federal Reserve system is a positive feedback debt loop, that much is also true, I should know ;)
However, there IS a way to eliminate this chain from your ankle. Almost nobody knows about it because, well, the government wants to keep you in the system so they don't tell you or teach you about it.

I'd suggest doing some heavy research into the Uniform Commercial Code, particularly filing a UCC1. Discharge of debt. Fictitous person.

If you can file the UCC1 without dishonoring the court, you can free yourself from the system.

[dragonsight]

@bailoutbenny if this info is true. then more info please. i have been doing research on the economy and what are the driving forces. do you have any other good places for information?? thanks

[bailoutbenny]

I cannot give you any legal advice, I'm not an attorney.

Start here:
http://www.dailypaul.com/no...

The thing an individual is to attempt: establish the individual's sovereignity, unburdened by government imposed debt.

[Consoldtobots]

no need to file a UCC-1 financing statement as all you have to do is make a reservation of your rights with any court that tries to compel your performance. This goes all the way back to FDR and his "new deal" which was and still is treason against the republic. Once you call them on it this is a can of worms they don't want to open so they pretty much leave you alone. Always sign "without prejudice" under your signature on any government form that involves the transfer of federal reserve notes.

[ABizzel1]

It's true Apple, Google, Big Banks and a group of other companies all have 0 debt, because they move their money around the globe which prevents the US government and IRS from being able to get taxes from them.

Another reason why the US is in such a money crisis. These multi-billion dollar companies are cheating on their taxes leaving the public to cover the $13 trillion debt and so far only 6% of it has been paid off.

Now if these companies were to pay just 10% of their total revenue then that would be at least $120 billion dollars off the debt each year (at least $4 billion per company * 30 companies) which would be very beneficial to
the country and more important the citizen. Which means with cutbacks in military, exploration, and other departments the $13 trillion debt could be realistically be paid off in 40 years.

You guys should take a day off from gaming and find out what's going on in Politics. Voting happens in 8 days and you need to make sure you get someone in office who wants to help, and not make things worse than they already are.

[Elven6]

Publicly traded companies can't do that, the SEC would be onto them.

[INehalemEXI]

I already know they do this and it's breaking no laws, though it clearly should be. http://abcnews.go.com/WNT/v...

I was working for a subsidiary of HP and another company when the .com crashed. Factory's in Sac town closed people layed off. The CA budget in crisis making low level government employee's take work off etc these days.

Yet all these billion dollar a year grossing company's are right here in silicon Valley.... where the money go...you already know the top 2% of the population getting richer it's to the point now that the government cant even pay the bills. State government officials get caught taking money from company's all the time.

[air1]

Wtf? I'm not sure if they are debt free. But to say that they don't pay taxes so they are debt free is insane!

Trust me I'm sure they pay taxes and that does not mean they are in debt for doing so. Lmfao taxes does not equel debt. Its money you pay for making money.

[air1]

Wtf? I'm not sure if they are debt free. But to say that they don't pay taxes so they are debt free is insane!

Trust me I'm sure they pay taxes and that does not mean they are in debt for doing so. Lmfao taxes does not equel debt. Its money you pay for making money. Lmfao taxes eguels debt, yea, if you don't pay it it can become a huge debt. So upay it when its due.

[INehalemEXI]

If multiple Silicon Valley companies that gross billions of dollars each year payed there taxes instead of getting tax breaks , CA could balance the budget. That is all.

[bailoutbenny]

It is called loopholing. America has THE highest corporate taxes in the world at 35%. What company WOULDN'T want to reduce their tax burden?

America is NOT in its present day crisis due to deregulation or tax evasion. That is BS that the government will feed you in order to keep the sheep in line. It is the current crisis because of 2 things, an inflationary debt based monetary policy and fractional reserve banking and lending. This will continue for as long as we allow the government the power to borrow money, collect taxes and define and regulate the currency of the country.

As for business regulations, they are not designed to restrain big businesses, they are designed to suppress competition. Government and business collaborate very closely to craft laws and regulations that are mutually beneficial. Do not EVER think that the government is on your side. They are on the side of business always so long as we allow the government the power to regulate commerce.

Here are some names, I'd suggest you start reading:
Murray Rothbard, Friedrich Hayek, Henry Hazlitt, Garet Garrett, Carl Menger, Ludwig Von Mises, Eugen von Böhm-Bawerk.

[INehalemEXI]

It is cheating just cause it's legal loop holes does not mean it's not cheating. Look at Wesley snipes , etc. IRS goes after citizens like rabid badgers over what is chump change in comparison.

Ear marks , Cost of wars , operating military command centers all over the world etc. The fact that vast quantities of money goes into the defense department every year that is unaccounted for. There is all kinds of things adding to the deficit.

But here in CA these companies alone could balance the budget by not taking tax breaks...

[bailoutbenny]

A company's fiduciary duty is to its shareholders and investors. This means the company needs to maximize returns while minimizing outlays. Taking advantage of legal loopholes is not cheating, period. A company that does not take advantage of tax breaks is going to have some angry investors to deal with.

CA is in trouble because the politicians didn't know how to budget within their means. They became addicted to the crack that is debt spending and now they try to point the finger of blame at everyone but themselves for making piss poor decisions. The same applies across the US. Better than 70% of the municipal, state and federal governments are technically insolvent. Citizens in the US need to wake up, but it is too inconvenient to fight the system, so I doubt anything will ever be done.

[INehalemEXI]

Dude the government and big business are one in the same , you don't seem to see it.

Who is running for Governor of CA right now? Meg Whitman A former CEO of ebay...

You put someone in government who is always looking for loopholes , who does the government then gank ....themselves , no ....big business who lines there pockets? no.....the people...small business and future generations that is who will get ganked.

that responsibility to investors and shareholders just proves my point the richest 2% of the population are these people.

If anything goes wrong with stocks the low level employees lose there pensions that is partially in the companies stocks. I seen it happen to fellow employee's at past jobs... The majority stock holders will have warning though and CEO's etc. despite the company tanking will get crazy bonuses.

[bailoutbenny]

I follow Austrian economics, I see how big business and government collaborate. I think you aren't getting my points.

My point is that BUSINESSES, without regard to government, have a financial obligation to their investors. They need to provide a return. Taking advantage of tax loopholes and breaks is EXPECTED because they need to make sure they turn as much profit as possible. If not, the business faces legal troubles in failing their fiduciary duty.

The United States has the most un-business friendly tax structure in the world, period. Every company that operates here is trying to reduce their tax burdens. Some stay, others feel it is not worth it and move outright.

Here is where business and government merge:
The tax is high because some businesses know all the loopholes and pay NO taxes while others do not or cannot qualify for the same breaks. This is by design because EVERY regulation and law concerning business is meant to supress competition and allow only a few dominant players to succeed in any given "market."

[ABizzel1]

@BailoutBenny

America has the 2nd highest tax rate in the world for big business and the reason for it is because, these big business have been loopholeing their way out of paying any taxes for decades. When there's that large of a debt being unpaid what else is there to do besides raise the taxes to cover it until you can find a way to stop them from loopholeing (aka CHEATING) on their taxes.

I live in California as well, and the majority of those big companies are here and yes they are partly to blame as well as the government for as you said not balancing the budget correctly. But the IRS gives the government an expectation of what amount of money should be coming in from taxes, but they are missing out on BILLIONS of dollars because of these BIG BUSINESS. And who suffers, THE PEOPLE. School budgets are cut, jobs are cut, no one will get a raise, unemployment increases, taxes increase, all because BIG BUSINESS want to keep the image of their company as rich and successful looking as they can.

Now this is another reason why crime increases, and why you have people who were fired going back to the job and killing people. It's like a domino effect, and the thing is NONE OF THESE BIG BUSINESS GIVE A D@MN ABOUT ANYBODY. Not the people, not it's employees, nothing, the only thing they care about is their money.

But we're getting off topic. Apple can't buy Sony or Disney at this point of time.

[ABizzel1]

@bailoutbenny

Your logic is the exactly why America is in the turmoil it's in now. You can't disagree with him, because what he's saying is true, but it's not humane, logical, or ethical for these companies to operate like this. They are multi billion dollar organizations, and their shareholders are also billionaires or at least multi millionaires.

They are paying nothing in taxes, and yet everyday people who have to struggle to life day to day. It's not right.

[Joostin]

Except Sony clears approx. $70 billion in revenue each fiscal year. Apple doesn't have a chance at making a purchase like that. That would place Sony's price tag at most likely close to $500-800 billion dollars. Good luck getting that loan approved. Just because you have cashflow and no debt doesn't mean the back will front you a shitload of cash. It is all based on how much you can pay back each year. In Apple's case it would probably be around $80 Billion a year. Not feasible for them to buy Sony. Maybe Adobe as they need flash support for their products. But they will not be able to acquire a company much larger than themselves.

[darx]

What makes you say that? Can you explain to me why that is?

[Dee_91]

say what ?? i made like 4 comments in here

lol and there goess my last comment

[Taggart451]

How the hell did this get approved??

[Haxel051410]

Maybe Sony should acquire Apple, not the other way around.

I'd hate to see iPlayStation 4 or iPSP2.

Why do they have to put "i" in all their products? wtf is that...

[mordakai8]

iDunno...

[kerrak]

Ego engrandment is the most important part in Apple marketing strategy.
iNeed, iBuy, iPayAnything, iCantBeWithout
Remember, if you buy Apple products you will magically be:
-handsome
-fashionable
-clever
-interesting
-connected
And you will have:
-more friends
-better memories
-more smiles
-more colours
Everything is possible in Appleland!!!

[rrw]

and that it wil supposed to be also it will make it overpriced.

istation will sell with $9000 and sell like hot cake

[dirtydbz]

their computers don't have an i in their name ipod, iphone,and ipad naming probably have to due with itunes
the i stands for internet

[Joostin]

umm you must be pretty young. There was a machine called an iMac that set the trend off. It was around before iTunes, iPad, iPod, iPhone, etc.

So yes the computers used to go by that naming standard, and it actually started the use of "i" in Apple product naming conventions.

Please read before posting.

[duplissi]

lol silly kid.

[perfectCarbonara]

Nothing can buy Disney, nothing.

[kerrak]

Except money

[doctorstrange]

If An Apple-Sony takeover/merger was to happen, it would be interesting what would happen to the hundreds of competing products.
Also Apple's approach is to create one product at a time and give it a lot of marketing and focus, while Sony create a ton of products, with less focus and marketing.

[Strikepackage Bravo]

they both have that style over substance approach to their products, and they both have the media in their back pockets to shovel their hype propaganda campaigns on the public. I could see this being a match made in heaven.

I mean just look at iphone, both win phone 7 and many androids are superior in many many ways, but the media slobbers all over the iphone. Same with Sony and its products, HD DVD was superior to bluray in every way except storage size, the media sided with Sony. PS3 was arguably a mess at launch, the media still hung in there with it, along with most of you and now look at PS3.

[duplissi]

hddvd was initially superior to blu ray when blu ray launched, but as the specs for blu ray were updated (newer codecs, and features) they became even if you ignore the larger capacity of blu ray.

[doctorstrange]

Just to pick on a few points:
I never felt that HD DVD could compare to Blu-Ray, the size of the disk is massively important for proper HD/Surround sound, and because we stuck with it, it can also fit 3D on it.
The media mostly ripped into the PS3 at launch, and numerous mainstream outlets still reference its shaky launch.

But I agree, both companies have managed to get away with occasionally poor or faulty products due to their marketing power and fanbase.

[Perkel]

"both companies have managed to get away with occasionally poor or faulty products due to their marketing power and fanbase."

maybe Sony with PS2 but PS3 is reliable my premiere 60GB with BC speak for itself.

[doctorstrange]

The PS3 is amazing hardware-wise (and software). What I was referring to was stuff like the battery problems they faced, or the arrogance they used to have.

But overall, Sony is a terrific company with quality far above the average electronics company.

[Perkel]

@ Strikepackage Bravo

"HD DVD was superior to bluray in every way except storage size,"

FACEPALM

[Dee_91]

i thought storage size was like the only thing that matter lol

[mordakai8]

Apple Acquiring Sony is like Creative acquiring Microsoft.

Just won't happen

[xg-ei8ht]

Istation - Nooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

[Strikepackage Bravo]

then I checked the financial s of both companies. I cant believe it but it is entirely possible, I had no idea Apple was doing so well, Sony's market cap is a fraction of Apples!!!

I still dont think it will happen though since the Japanese are so protective of their industries. Sony would have to be on its death bed before Japan would allow it to be bought out from under them.

[doctorstrange]

If this had happened just when the recession was really hurting Sony then it would have made more sense, but now Sony is starting to get back on its feet.

And yeah, I never realised that Apple was so huge compared to Sony. Sony seems to have its fingers in every electronics market, whereas Apple has relatively few products

[maxcer]

"Sony seems to have its fingers in every electronics market, whereas Apple has relatively few products"

and that is where apple has gained a lot of its success, consolidating tech into all-in-one devices has been apples thing. and i guess the modern style of apple products help too.

then look at sony, trying to wet its beak in almost every market. pc, tv, audio, cameras, gaming, portable devices, phones, 3d tech and various software.

[dirtydbz]

yeah the second this was about to happen the japaneese would make sure no american could buy out sony their stock price would soar quickly
while alot of you see this as a bad thing it could be nice putting my iphone into a usb port and listening to my music on my ps3
of course I would hate buying my games from itunes

[Urahara]

Standard Oil of New York (aka Sony) will not be bought by apple. If anything it be sony buying Apple if it were to happen, and that would probably be the day Steve Jobs is dead.

[HarryMonogenis]

Despite the fact that Apple as a company is worth much more than Sony, you persist to believe that it'll be Sony buying Apple? Please explain..

[Strikepackage Bravo]

look at the financials. Sony cant afford apple, apple could easily afford Sony.

Now go sit down somewhere, grownups are talking.

[Eu]

This type of thing doesnt happen "easily". Besides all the others already said about anual revenues and the huge difference of assets both companies have, and lets not forget those pesty anti-trust laws that are all over the place to prevent monopolys to happen, theres always the hardships of meetings and so on where both higher execs would squable to try and set prices. Prices that would be so high Apple woudnt be able to afort, as you said, easily.

As Sony problably coudnt 'easily' buy Apple, the contrary is even harder to happen at all.

[mordakai8]

"Standard Oil of New York (aka Sony)"

That definitely isn't what Sony stands for dumbass.

"The name "Sony" was chosen for the brand as a mix of two words. One was the Latin word Sonus which is the root of "sonic" and "sound" and the other was "sonny," a familiar term used in 1950s America to call a boy.[7] The first Sony-branded product, the TR-55 transistor radio, appeared in 1955 but the company name did not change to Sony until January 1958."

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wik...

[duplissi]

ive actually heard and read both explanations to sony's name....

[doctorstrange]

Sonus is right

http://www.snopes.com/busin...

[plb]

Worst article ever

[rrw]

why would Sony want to be Apple subsidiary anyway. they have laptop, music, mobile department. not to mention they rivalling each other (itunes and qriocity,ipod and walkman, mac and vaio)

[TroyAndAbed]

Because Sony builds much better hardware than Apple.

Edit: Nevermind. I'm being told by coffee-sipping, indie-loving, pretentious losers that Apple makes better hardware...

[oilahize]

Apple makes progress in their mission to take over the world. Steve Jobs for President 2012!

[Simco876]

Apple taking of the world.

iBox and iStation... worst consoles ever. Touchscreen gamepads. I would leave the gaming genre forever.

[NarooN]

I don't even think Sony would go through with it. Unlike Apple, Sony doesn't suck balls and they and their fans (barring the obligatory fanboys) don't possess that "Lol I'm apple so I'm better than you" BS attitude.

[TroyAndAbed]

*sigh* Does anyone here besides me actually know how ridiculous this article is?

Edit: Ignorance is a two way door. Now, we just have to wait for the one of us who isn't a financial advisor to get hit with it.

[TOO PAWNED]

only thing ridiculous is your comment and ignorance.

[King-Leonidas]

Just go back to your cave troll...

[TroyAndAbed]

Wait...PSP2 and PS3 with iTunes support, including the full app store.

That would actually put both companies in a much better position.

Think about it!

Edit: Orion! THANK YOU! Bubbles.

[maxcer]

wait what? you can't use your ipod on your ps3?

[Flashwave_UK]

no this wont happen sony should takeover apple so we can finnaly do something usefull with our ipods fkn nubs apple stay away from sony

[josh14399]

i sense a lot of apple haters

[BYE]

Yeah, on N4G people love to troll Apple articles for some reason...

[divideby0]

Apple should start buying software companies.. for games and their portable devices.. they got so much $$ and little to no debt

[Baka-akaB]

Those companies didnt get there by wasting money in suicidal endeavours ..

Both Sony and Disney are way too big now to even consider apple buying either one of them , even if overall they've got the means to .

It would cripple them for quite a while , even if providing profits in the medium/long term

[Eu]

People seens to forget this. People simple think that you will go the the main Sony building in Tokyo and say:

"I want to buy all this right now, heres the check from the bank."

Its not like this guys.

[Orion]

according to Forbes

Apple
assets value: $64.725 bil
employees: 34300
Sony
assets value: $143.987806531 bil
employees: 167900

not an economy expert but isn't this... unlikely?? Apple might buy Adobe, that's been said for months but... Sony???....

[Baka-akaB]

and disney's would $68.305 bil after acquiring marvel.

With a war chest of 51 bil for apple , that seems a tad too expensive too .....

[Omega Zues]

Sony is far to large for Apple to acquire. if any thing it should be the other way around, Sony to buy Apple.

[Jrome]

Wow, if this is what the Forbes said...where did all those "financial experts" a few comments up get their info that Apple was larger than Sony?

[OpenGL]

Their market cap is a lot higher than Sony's, but so is Microsoft's.

I don't think Apple will buy Sony as they already sell similar products, and even if they can afford it, I don't really see how it would help them. Right now the Apple brand name is very strong, but the Sony name is pretty strong as well.

If they did buy Sony, would they stop using the Sony name? If so, what would have been the point in buying them? If they keep the Sony name around, they'll cannibalize their own business. It's really a lose-lose situation for Apple when looking at Sony's electronics divisions. Their music labels and movie studios on the other hand could be of interest to Apple.

I really hope Apple doesn't buy Sony; if they do, the Playstation 3 may be my last Sony console. :(

[Eu]

Straith from Wiki (not tha tI believe in them in every thing but...)Market capitalisation is:

"Market capitalization/capitalisation (often market cap) is a measurement of size of a business enterprise (corporation) equal to the share price times the number of shares outstanding (shares that have been authorized, issued, and purchased by investors) of a public company. As owning stock represents ownership of the company, including all its equity, capitalization could represent the public opinion of a company's net worth and is a determining factor in stock valuation. Likewise, the capitalization of stock markets or economic regions may be compared to other economic indicators."

As it says, just how people who want to make money on the stock market see the company (besides how much money they can try and make with their own stocks...if I got this one right...).

[Gamer_Z]

If Apple were to acquire anything it would be Adobe either to shut them down or to implement their own version of flash into their products like the iPad.

[cpt_kaos]

Reckon Microsoft would buy Adobe before they let Apple get there hands on it.

Though I'm on the fence where Microsoft is concerned but they did save Apple's ASS a few years ago

[duplissi]

bet theyre kicking themselves for reviving apple...

[AnimaOnline]

Rumours like these surface every now and then and nothing comes of them. I'm taking this with a big heap of salt. Although, in a "what if" scenario, had Apple taken over Sony I think I'd have to boycott PlayStation and all things Sony. As much as I love my PlayStation and Sony products, I wouldn't continue to support them if Sony got taken over.

[Baka-akaB]

meh sounds very stupid to me . I support sony's games and products wich i happens to like ... not their name and brand .

In correlation to the disney part of the article , it reminds me of the whining about Disney acquiring Marvel , as if it changed anything , besides consoliding their access to book stores , retail chains , and more finances and stability for Marvel's movie division , with even so far , disney buying movies right back , for Marvel .

[Flashwave_UK]

same

[KillerPwned]

Seriously people believe this crap!? Sony and Especially! Disney would never sell out to apple. Personally Disney is bigger then Apple could ever be. Also sony yeah they arent that dumb. Crap article.

Plus the Disney family sell out? Walt Disney would turn over his grave the day that happen.

[Garnett]

Apple Playstation Ipad 4?

Yuck..

[DanteKnightsTemplar]

A merger is possible as he was also working as a board director at Pixar.When Disney bought Pixar and became Disney Pixar,he joined the Walt Disney board of directors.So,if he got the board to vote in favor of selling to Apple inc,or merge.They are all 'in on it' and would pay themselves in the deal and still get positions in the new merged company.The only reason this made news on Rumors4Gamers is because it said Sony,which isnt a smart business move,but was written in to make people that dont understand the market to go crazy.

[sweettooth]

iSONY

[thehitman]

Elvis is alive.

[DJMarty]

Hope it's not true about Adobe takeover. Apple don't support flash now.

What would it be like having an Apple owned Adobe?

[KillerPwned]

It would probably suck a lot.

[FrigidDARKNESS]

Sony shares have been falling the last five years. They're electronics e ntertainment division has been bleeding cash out the ass. The TV division Bravia has sold poorly due to competition from other manufacturers. I see Apple going after Sony electronics entertainment division thus it would be the end of Sony Vaio computers and a new gaming division is born with alot of muscle and marketing power that would rival MS.

[ngecenk]

Adobe and MS talked few weeks ago and it pump both stock price by5-10%

let see what this rumor can do!

[jjank11]

Wow, this is idiotic. For someone to think Apple would take over Sony. I know this is a gaming website but the reach of Sony far surpasses Apple.

It might be reasonable for Apple (with the whole Flash argument) to acquire Adobe but I'm pretty darn sure the folks running Adobe want nothing to do with Apple. Apple has pretty much been spitting in Adobes face

[dkgshiz]

I agree with Apple that flash is pure trash. I cant wait for HTML5! Which wont be here for a long ass time.

[Raoh]

currently apple is the largest american tech company at $280.9 billion and microsoft is at $219.6 billion if anyone is wondering.

I think apple needs a television partner for its future displays. i expect the future to combine not only network and touch screen into televisions but kinect like motion. it was either sony or apple that patented technology for putting a small camera in each corner of the screen for motion commands. sony also makes many other things besides tv's and playstations. one patent i'm interested in its future is a sony patent that has your internal devices communicate without wires. so your hard drive lets say communicates with the motherboard wirelessly without any physical connection. outside of whats soldered in every internal part is running wirelessly inside on its own channels independent of consumer wireless technology.

disney is a no brainer as to why. although would there be legal issues that the itunes store owners also owns a media company like disney? comcast bought universal so its not out of reach of possibility.

adobe? only thing i can think of is that apple would want to make their own suite for doing tasks like incopy, indesign etc..

facebook makes sense. although i could see apple getting resistance from other companies and then they start to make bids.

but then again.. who knows where this rumor came from.

[AlienFodder]

Sony or Walt Disney?! Oh, c'mon. That's just preposterous... And Adobe Systems? That would be extremely ironic considering how much Mr. Jobs loathes Adobe Flash. :)

[dkgshiz]

Thats next to impossible. Buying Walt Disney would cost Apple every penny they have ever made since apple started.

[jasonpugh]

I would say this is highly unlikely. The one thing I do believe is Apple will create Skynet and take over the world. You heard it here first.

[pr0digyZA]

Lol they are evil ;P that's why they have the whole apple thats been bitten, its like Adam and eve, they are Satan saying "come take a bite of my apple":D

[JustOne]

"Ummm....Sony is worth more than Apple so this is hogwash. Sony is the 5th largest/most profitable corporation in the world. They cleared $77.2 Billion in revenue last fiscal year. So the rumour should be...is Sony buying Apple? Also, Disney is a huge company to purchase as well. Disney games might be available, but not the entire corporation. Steve Jobs is on the board for Disney Movies. Not Disney Corporation. These are multinational conglomerates. Disney has Games, Merchandise, Movies, Music, TV, and at the bottom Amusement Parks. Sony has games, movies, TV, music, electronics, then they own patents on most electronic components. So next time you buy a DSLR camera, remember it doesn't matter what brand you buy because the CCD chip inside is made by Sony. They run the show. Apple is a mere starting act in comparison. "

[SSKILLZ]

Lol not gonna happen , Sony is worth more than what apple can handle , but if it was to happen microsoft is done ! And we are talking a whole new ball game.

[Fatal Blow]

Apple should just buy sega and get a new console out with shenmue 3 that will be amazing to see

[limewax]

lol not possible, sony are richer. If anything sony could buy out apple. Sony as an entire company is way beyond apple

[MWH]

i'll sum it up to an old saying: "don't hunt what you can't kill."

[ktchong]

All the Sony fanboys in here keep saying it's impossible for Apple to acquire Sony but it's more likely for Apple to acquire Disney because Sony is too "big" or costs too much money.

Hello? Disney is bigger and more expensive than Sony. Disney's market cap is $66.88 billion. Sony's market cap is $33.55 billion. Disney is worth TWICE as much as Sony.

[JustOne]

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sony

Sonny 2010 revenue : $77.205 billion .

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apple_I nc

Apple 2009 revenue : $42.91 billion .

[Optical_Matrix]

Pwned.

[Baka-akaB]

hello roundpeg ...

you also need to account for assets and ventures ..

How would disney be bigger than sony ? they both have similar interest and investments in movies and every media ... while disney got no hardware and very little software .

[guzman]

Apple buying Sony out aint happening. For starters, Sony is too large and important to Japanese interests. If Apple makes a move, the Japanese government will take action. Furthermore, Sony's stock hasn't budged since this announcement. It's a bullshit rumor, nothing more.

[Optical_Matrix]

Lol Sony is the 5th largest conglomerate on the planet with influence in area's Apple could only ever dream to be part of. No way would Apple be able to buy Sony nor any division within it.

[btk]

Apple just bought the Moon!!!!

Come on. Market Capitalization is not cash in the bank. Apple does not have the money to buy Sony. And I don't think Sony is for sale, or that Apple is interested in Sony.

Would be interesting though. PS3 would suddenly become an American console - which would take the XBox home advantage away in that market.

[DisgaeFanJason]

what does apple want Sony for i could see Disney but Sony and why would Sony sell Sony

[Bounkass]

iPlayStation 4?

[LordGamer]

Apple owning ABC TV would just be ludicrous. It would be a major conflict of interest.

[Lex Luthor]

iStation 4 ftw.

[TronEOL]

I don't believe this.

Although a partnership between Apple and Sony would be phenomenal and would really help boost Sony's sales since Apple is on fire right now. iTunes on PS3? Do want. You could even use Bing as your PSN, or another "Bing-style" profile for PS3 that can be linked to Bing on iTunes.

Also, I'm pretty sure if they made iTunes playable in the background, that would solve the "lack of in-game soundtracks" issue the PS3 has right now.

[supremacy]

Sony found someway and merged with Google, that would at least in my opinion get Sony into different markets Google likewise.

[Sarobi]

The only company mentioned that could do this is DISNEY, it would cost you 7 million living souls just to get close to wanting to acquire anything disney related, eh.. apple fanboys will never learn

[zero_gamer]

Apple should take over Money$oft. Ah, one can hope.

[Karum]

Yeah, no chance of any of these being true at all.

[alb1899]

Been a 54 billions company the biggest in the capital of the world (USA)........yes i think they could but they wont.

[morkendo23]

I normally come here to say a few words.. but damn dude you hit it on the head about goverment and businesses. how they use loophole to escape paying taxes. and as you said only a handful is able to do so, say like THE SECRET SOCIETY group THAT REALLY control and run U.S. J.P. MORGAN is one of them. that runs the goverment and part of that group "secret society" members control france economics as well so there is a tie-end between U.S. and france are the 2 main power house controling EVERYTHING. dont know if you guys heard of william cooper he has a book call "ride pale white horse" in it he discribe who's behind all organizations behind anything political coruptions, who killed the kennedy's malcom x, martin l. king and why real reason vietnam war started so forth. in the end CIA had him killed 9/11 2001 for revealing the secret society members, revealing military secrets sad thing about it they (CIA) men shot mr. cooper twice in the head in front of his door step allow his body to lay on the ground for 15 hours before anyone could pick him up.

[wedgie]

I thought that secret society was the Patriots...

And I hope that you are joking

[badkolo]

oh this is gonna be good, time to get my popcorn, cause if they buy out sony , oh its gonna get crazy in here.

[writersblock]

Are they dumb?
How the hell is applse going to get enough money to buy out Sony?
You DO realise sony doesnt just sell playstations, they're one of the worlds largest electronic hardware and software manufacturers

[GamingNtek]

stay away apple.

[silvacrest]

the only one thats realistic is adobe

even if they had the cash to buy sony/disney shares, how much money would apple have left? i imagine not much

i also doubt sony would be willing to sell any of their divisions

[N4OGs]

put iphones on every cell phone carrier like a smart buisness would do and until they stop being mac lovers and show pc love to. Apple limits its audience like a bunch of retards. you will never beat M$ if you want to be an idiot like apple. to beat M$ you have to do what they do.

apple should take google, release there phones and tech to be compatible with everything, and start making ipods and pads better. they limit themselves to that same old design in everything they do.

[moogle84]

I think Disney is the only way that this truly makes sense. The other two are still trying to claw back into reclaiming its full market share from the past.

[Kluv]

they might be able to get disney to sponsor a ipod launch party, but good luck acquiring them. They are the biggest media conglomerate in the world.

[Soldierone]

Lets ee

Apple acquires Sony. "PS4 700 bucks and makes slight improvement from PS3, but we hammer home marketing to make you think its alot better. Sorry we ruined the best console on the market for you."

Apple acquires Disney "Disney ticket prices are triple, why because of quality and advertising! Dont expect to see anything original for years to come!"

Apple acquires Adobe "We are gonna screw over PC and make Adobe no longer capable of innovation! 99 cent Flash updates FTW!"

[Demarco156]

Sony Disney and Adobe are company that buy other company, nobody can buy that

[BlazerManZQ8]

Hope to God Sony's independence isn't threatened, they're the only good console maker...........

[Incipio]

All these rumors are bullshit

[CombineElite]

Apple buying....

Sony
HELL NO. Sony's Movie and Camera division is a huge risk that Apple know's ZERO about. Apple isn't known for innovative tech but only packing current tech in a cool way so Sony's R & D and media division would suffer from a Stale Apple. If Apple bought Sony Japan or China would never buy another Sony product again PERIOD. PLUS SONY has a huge friend by the name of MICROSOFT that would never let this happen. Sure they are rivals in the console war but they are best friends against a common enemy in the PC war. Sony Vaio is Apples direct competitor

Disney NO way. Sure Disney has it's ups and downs and it's "Cult" way of doing business is similar to Apple but seeing even more Apple junkware plastered all across the GO Network would be bad for business. Once again a media department that an Apple sale would cause to suffer as a family brand being owned by a tech company is not good.

FaceBook
Maybe if the Facebook owner wasn't so passionate about his baby (Watch the Oprah interview and go see the social Network) but it's a maybe cause he may sale it as soon as the next New and improved social network comes around to replace Facebook that replaced Myspace that replaced Friendster that replaced Classmates that replaced SixDegrees.com. It would be cheaper for Apple to just start one from ground up. A Long shot if the Facebook owner wanted even more cash to walk away with.

Adobe Sytems
hell yeh. I can see Apple buying Adobe and then Closing it down. Adobe is seriously in the way of HTML 5 and it needs to be lighter and have more functions. Buying Adobe presents Apple with the perfect way to spread it's cancer causing OSX and gain some ground on M$ in the PC sector as well as business workstation applications.

Apple isn't an innovator. They have made a fortune selling overpriced PC's and making trendy products that someone else released first.

MP3 players were out before ipods
windows phones and blackberries before iphone
Sony Vaio slate and kindle before ipad
you make the product Apple will make it flashy and drive the market unlike SONY and Disney who create the market

[Cueil]

I can almost see Adobe, but why would Steve want to buy Disney when he's on the board of directors and Sony is way to friggen large to purchase...

[cliffyboy21]

apple knows they couldn't get into the gaming business without sony's help cuz their a smart smart company that has the best tech and you know thats what apple wants and sonys not going to give that up. If that ever happend! you think $600 was bad for a ps3! think of what apple would charge?

[skyblue14213]

Maybe apple could buy out adobe or disney, but I highly doubt that they can buy sony. The bottom line: sony is bigger and financially better off than apple, it is sort of like suggesting the little fish could eat the bigger fish in one bite, which wont happen.

[Cherchez La Ghost]

That's how much Apple has in their pockets right now.

[digiaztlan]

The only BIG -STRATEGIC ACQUISITION that makes sense is Nintendo they get a large international fanbase in Gaming, lots of Patents like the best D-PAD, and MASSIVE quantity of Classic IP's like Super Mario, Zelda. Mix it up with Apple TV, Ipod Touch-DS and suddenly overnight Apple becomes a Gaming giant without the Hard Work it took Microsoft. Imagine the gaming innovation that could happen from this marriage.The other acquisition could be Netflix makes sense and already installed variety of products from different manufacturers. The acquisition Disney or Sony does not make sense because they are too huge with a lot on their plates. Facebook could serve as a partnership or percentage acquisition in which Apple would have less to lose and much too gain, we don't want to see another Failed AOL-Time Warner Merger. Adobe acquisition would be good only for Photoshop, illustrator, and Dreamweaver. Apple already has their Premiere in Final Cut Pro.

[biggame901]

The only ones that sound realistic is a purchase of EA, which would be followed by a move into the console business, and Adobe. The others don't even make sense.

Sony? Not a chance. far too costly and far too big to be bought by virtually anyone. They compete with Apple in numerous arenas, and the Japanese government would shut this down immediately. People should remember that Sony is an international conglomerate, and one of the most powerful corporations on the planet.

Disney? Absolutely not. A total media conglomerate just as powerful as Sony, and one of the most known brands on the planet, they would also prove too costly, too big, and impractical.

All in all, nothing more than rumors to improve stock. That's all.

[troncoparati]

They forgot they are trying to buy heaven and hell...

[Neko_Mega]

If they can buy those things, wouldn't that mean they could just buy out Microsoft?

Yeah so this is got to be fake, Disney isn't saying much because they haven't been doing as good as they use to and FaceBook would be kind of hard but not as hard as Sony.

Sony works with a lot of other company's, Microsoft to name one of the company's (For Sony computers). So in less they can buy out Microsoft. I don't think any of this is true.

[void]

Boy are some of you stupid. Keep talking this business stuff and have no idea what you're speaking about. 1st off market cap is not how much money a company is worth. Just because a company has a hig market cap does not mean it has that much money or can be purchased for that much money. 2nd sony is a multinational conglomarate corporation apple is a primarily technolgy and software company. It isn't involved in as many things as sony and its shares can go for a higher price because it isn't as large and in turn doesn't face as many risk. 3rd profit and revnue is ALL that matters in the business world and sony ses both much more then apple. Sony cleared 70+ billion dollars in revnue while apple had 40+ million. The most recent fortune list which is the top tier ranking system for companies worldwide is the indicator. On a fortune 500 list apple will be at the top for the sole reason it only applies to american companies. The fortune global 500 accounts for all companies and its based on revnue, profit and actual net worth as well as size.

Sony in the most current is the 83rd largest company in the world and in the top 10 conglomorates and top 5 tech. Apple is the 232 largest company in the world. Apple couldn't buy sony even if they wanted to. A merger would be possible and sony would still be the majority owner. Its like with nintendo. In japan nintendo is ranked higher on their stock exchange but nintendo makes 15 billion a year and sony still makes 70+ billion. Nintendo like apple have a hgher market value but are not and I repeat now more valuable then sony. If apple and sony became private corporations and didn't trade stock today then the whole market cap equation wouldn't be valid.

[Fel08]

Oh God, I soo hope not.

[jneul]

GTFO Apple you will wreck Sony

[Raptura]

Apple's spare cash to use in anyway is expected to be nearly 100 billion in less than 2 years, so don't be surprised if this happens later.

[skyblue14213]

I doubt even if apple had 1-10 trillion or more to spare with out even selling any of their assets beforehand they still would not be able to buy out sony. And besides even if apple some how had enough money to buy out sony, sony would rather sell their company to a japanese firm, since that is where they originated and where their main base of operations are, even though they are an international company. If their was ever even a theoretical possibility(which is very slim to none) of sony selling their business, they would probably break their company up and sell their subsidaries separately, that way they would make more money.

Also sony makes enough money where it would not be worth selling their company. They might downsize or sell some of their assets in foreign countries if worse came to worse, but that is a BIG IF in theory. No company is invincible but the way things are going and have gone for sony I highly doubt that they would even consider the idea of selling any part of their company. I mean look at the loss that they were taking when they first started to sell the ps3, they probably considered the loss that was incurred initially by selling the ps3 at a loss a drop in the bucket, and even then companies like sony have ways of recouping the money lost, for example they could write the loss off on their taxes etc... Imo I think the other aim in selling the ps3 console was to get the blue-ray format into homes all across the board because the profits on blue-ray are huge and will get bigger as time goes on. I would not be surprised if they already more than recouped the loss incurred initially by the ps3 due to the blue-ray format.

[d3nworth1]

Apple buy Adobe maybe Disney hell no, Sony not a chance in hell. Sony by themself is a huge corporation and Disney is no push over they got a bunch of companies too. I doubt apple can by them both.

[AnchorMan]

this is worse than the time my baby's momma said she couldn't get pregnant if we do it in a jacuzzi. Thank god for abortions

[Asher6ix]

IIf u retards r dumb enough to give this site hits than more power to them.

[wissam]

What the....

[xcroptic]

imagine ipad/iphone + PSP!

[GoldPS3]

How can Apple buy Sony when Sony have more money than them. Disney is just as rich as Apple so they can't buy them either. I can seem them buying Adobe and Facebook.

[zeeshan810]

NO WAY!