Apple Eyes Tivo?

[Kent Pribbernow]

<div class='os_post_top_link'><a href='http://yahoo.reuters.com/financeQuoteCompanyNewsArticle.jhtml?duid=mtfh60398_2005-02-23_20-25-41_n23627852_newsml' target='_blank'>http://yahoo.reuters.com/financeQuoteCompanyNewsArticle.jhtml?duid=mtfh60398_2005-02-23_20-25-41_n23627852_newsml</a><br /><br /></div><i>"TiVo Inc. shares jumped more than 17 percent on Wednesday, fueled by speculation that Apple Computer Inc. might make a try to buy the digital video recorder maker, analysts said. "What we hear on the street is that Apple is interested in their business and that they are a takeout target," said analyst Steven Kroll Jr. of Monness, Crespi, Hardt &amp; Co. Representatives for Apple and TiVo both declined comment."</i><br /><br />This must be Apple rumor week. But this one sounds intriguing, as it has often been the subject of speculation that Apple wants to go after Microsoft's Media Center platform by putting its own Mac-based product in the living room of every home. Some even wondered aloud if the Mac mini is perhaps the first such step in that direction. Could rumors turn out to be true? Is Apple getting into the PVR space?

[Felix Torres]

Only problem is, last I heard, Time-Warner owned a chunk of TiVO stock and options for more as a remnant of the AOL merger. (I don't recall hearing that they divested; if they haven't...)

Besides, Apple is too proud to buy anything that wasn't invented there.
:wink:
Now, Sony, that might be an option...

[Jason Eaton]

Besides, Apple is too proud to buy anything that wasn't invented there.
:wink:


You do know that the iPod was designed in multiple parts, and each part was done by an outside company, right?

[Felix Torres]

Yup!
That's one reason for the winkie.
(The only thing Apple put into the pod is Steve Job's sense of aesthethics.)

But I was referring to full products that had a life outside cupertino, not components. After all, modern Macs rely on ATI and NVidia cards and USB and DVI techs that came from outside. So Apple is no longer as inbred as it used to be during Job's first tenure.
But, that said, Apple has never bought a company or product before, so why start now with something with as much downside and risk as TiVO?

Cyberlink might make more sense if they were really serious about media center boxes since they make good PVR software and DVD-playback software that actually works.

[jmulder]

I'm not a real Apple fan, but if they keep the price down I think this would be a great match.

Not to mention, it's a good way for Apple to bring in recurring income in the form of monthly fees. A Mac is a one-time purchase, iTunes gets people purchasing more often but the revenue isn't guaranteed. Tivo, on the other hand, gets you subscription fees every month (unless customers purchase the lifetime subscription, which makes Tivo much more like a Mac purchase...with Mac prices :wink: )

[treo007]

According to Bear Stearns, they've spoken with Apple management and the rumor is just that (of course, they'd say this if they were looking at it as well).

Regardless, here's a "Memo to Steve Jobs" from Forrester advocating just such a purchase (you have to register, it's free). To sum it up, the reasoning is that both companies have a fanatical customer base and that, at roughly $300 million, Tivo is a bargain right now for Apple.

http://www.forrester.com/Research/Document/Excerpt/0,7211,36454,00.html

[Michael Knutson]

Yup!
That's one reason for the winkie.
(The only thing Apple put into the pod is Steve Job's sense of aesthethics.)

But I was referring to full products that had a life outside cupertino, not components. After all, modern Macs rely on ATI and NVidia cards and USB and DVI techs that came from outside. So Apple is no longer as inbred as it used to be during Job's first tenure.
But, that said, Apple has never bought a company or product before, so why start now with something with as much downside and risk as TiVO?

Cyberlink might make more sense if they were really serious about media center boxes since they make good PVR software and DVD-playback software that actually works.

Apple bought Claris, didn't they? A successful company in their own right at the time.

[Felix Torres]

Apple bought Claris, didn't they? A successful company in their own right at the time.

Claris was *never* an independent company.
It was an Apple spin-off *slated* for full independence that was reabsorbed *before* the divestiture took full effect.
At best you could say it operated as a wholly-owned subsidiary for a few months before Apple management got cold feet and decided to reassert control, precisely because it was starting to look successful.

So, nope, it wasn't independent and it hasn't happened.
Of the various possible buyers for TiVo discussed in the press, Apple is the least likely, as far as I can tell. I can more easily see MS doing it than Apple (and TiVo has nothing to offer MS). More likely are Sony or Motorola or Time-Warner.
Or Maybe Gemstar/TVGuide.
But Apple?

It would be a big departure for Jobs...