Talks crumble between Apple and Twitter

The excitement surrounding this story has been clearly evident after it was first published in the New York Times. Now the dust has settled, it has become apparent that Apple will not be investing in the micro-blogging site Twitter- now valued at around $10 billion.

It has been well reported that the two companies have been in lengthy discussions spanning back at least a year ago, according to Bloomberg. The New York Times picked up on further talks occurring in recent months but it now appears that these talks have become inactive. 

Whilst nothing has come out of this yet, it highlights Apple’s desire to fully grace the social media world. Viewed as one of Apple’s fatal flaws, the social media realm is dominated by Google and Facebook, amongst others. However, steps have been taken by Apple with their latest operating system (Mountain Lion) integrating Twitter, allowing users ‘to share their comments and content directly’. The pair are believed to be content with this current system but that is not to say further talks may open in the future. Any later investment may add another string to Apple’s bow and could help overlook their deemed failure with the music social networking service Ping.  

With discussions centring on Apple’s incapacity in the social media world, perhaps, if the move were to go ahead, Twitter would emerge as the party with most to gain. In comparison to giants Google and Facebook, Twitter has struggled to generate the profits possible from their site, which boasts around 500 million users worldwide- a figure which can be deceptive with only 34% of these active. Recent steps to advance their advertising services have aided the site but a deal with Apple could potentially see profits and influence soar. Subsequently, this potential alliance could propel Twitter ahead of current frontrunners Google and Facebook.

Authentec

Most probably one of the reasons behind the disagreement in the deal is reports of Apple’s investment in Authentec, a biometric security company. In a deal worth $356m, this will soon see the possible introduction of ‘smart sensors, identity management softwareand hardware, and embedded security devices such as fingerprint readers’ to the iOS. Furthermore, it will allow Apple to build upon the Passbook facility.  In what is seen as a smart move from Apple, this underlines their priorities at present. Having arguably recently fallen behind to Samsung in the smart-phone field, Apple is keen to regain their advantage and most desirable tag.

Patent Case

Amidst the Samsung vs. Apple patent trial this would put Apple clearly in the driving seat. This case, which is likely to last at least four weeks, is still in the pre-trial stages with the 10 member jury in the selection process. The case essentially boils down to design patents, with Apple contesting that Samsung tablet and smart phone products are too similar to the Apple models, and Samsung countering this with their own cases. As Rowinski has noted here, the case could become overwhelmingly large if each tiny detail were to be contested, thus there has been limits put in place to prevent this. At present, it is looking good for Apple on this front, with Judge Lucy Koh already halting the US sales of the Galaxy Tab 10.1. Combine these early successes with the Authentec deal and Apple could soon be combating their slowest paced sales growth since mid-2009.

What are your thoughts on Apple’s pursuit of social media?  Is the patent case with Samsung a step too far?

Josh Bennett, Content Writer

@JoshAtSMF