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Sat, Nov 21, 2009 - 09:24 AM EST  —  AAPL: 199.92 (-0.59, -0.29%)  |  NASDAQ: 2146.04 (-10.78, -0.5%)

Apple to make rival bid for Yahoo?
Monday, February 04, 2008 - 01:53 PM EST

"Global giants including Apple and Rupert Murdoch's News Corp are believed to be considering rival bids for the internet company Yahoo, which has received a $44.6bn (£22.6bn) offer from Microsoft," Nathalie Thomas reports for The Scotsman.

"The conglomerate InterActiveCorp was another company named as a potential bidder for Yahoo, which is said to be unwilling to give in to Microsoft without a fight," Thomas reports.

"After Microsoft's chief executive Steve Ballmer made the offer in a letter on Thursday, it emerged that Yahoo had rejected a similar takeover attempt by Ballmer's organisation a year before," Thomas reports.

"Yahoo chief executive and co-founder Jerry Yang is understood not to be Microsoft's greatest fan, and would be prepared to line up another 'white knight' rather than concede to Ballmer," Thomas reports.

"It is believed he would be particularly open to a rescue bid from Steve Jobs' Apple Corp, having openly expressed his admiration for the firm in the past," Thomas reports. "Yang last year invited Jobs to Yahoo's headquarters in Sunnyvale to give a motivational talk to staff."

Thomas reports, "Recent figures show that Google dominates 66% of the global web search market. Yahoo and Microsoft are leagues behind with just 13% and 4% of the market respectively."

Full article here.

[Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader "Judge Bork" for the heads up.]


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Feb 04, 08 - 01:58 pm Comment from: Spark

Other than thwarting Ballmer I don't see this as a good investment for Apple.

Feb 04, 08 - 02:00 pm Comment from: mr_matalino

Why would Apple buy Yahoo? It would ruin their relationship with Google.

Feb 04, 08 - 02:01 pm Comment from: deepdish

BUY ADOBE INSTEAD

Feb 04, 08 - 02:03 pm Comment from: Ampar

Ridiculous. There's no Yin for this Yang.

Feb 04, 08 - 02:05 pm Comment from: Hentercenter

I agree with spark, I cannot see anything good come from this. If anyone else sees something I do not, please let me know.

Feb 04, 08 - 02:16 pm Comment from: Mittens Romney

I don't think Apple has any use for Yahoo.

MDN word: dead
i.e.: Yahoo is dead.

Feb 04, 08 - 02:17 pm Comment from: Tom V

I could have sworn Google already owned Yahoo. Didn't they buy them last year?

Feb 04, 08 - 02:18 pm Comment from: anthony007

Why?????!!! They should go for Adobe instead.

Feb 04, 08 - 02:24 pm Comment from: C.O.B. w/B.B.\'s

Yahoo HASN\'T BEEN a Mac users friend!

For instance, they don\'t want to support Safari with their online email.

For a long time their games were \"IE\" only even when M$ discontinued IE for the Mac.

So Yahoo is very \"Microsoftic\" with their web sites.

However they have been getting better slightly.

Still, they need to support Safari and quit trying to get us to download some crap browser.

And their games to to be Javascript so it works in all browsers instead of only Microsoft\'s crap.

Feb 04, 08 - 02:26 pm Comment from: macromancer

BUY ME A FOOTBALL TEAM!!!

Feb 04, 08 - 02:27 pm Comment from: Fatty Arbuckle

Sure thing, right after buying Adobe and Sony.

Feb 04, 08 - 02:28 pm Comment from: COB w/BB\'s

Anyway Apple doesn\'t have that much cash on hand anyway.

But Google does, but this M$ offer only has to do with Google bidding on the 700Mhz spectrum from the Feds.

So it\'s big boy games and if M$ buys Yahoo, guaranteed people will RUN AWAY!!

Feb 04, 08 - 02:29 pm Comment from: mike_in_helsinki

This is utter bullshit.

Apple will NEVER, EVER buy Yahoo! These tech journalists are total asshats.

Feb 04, 08 - 02:32 pm Comment from: Go Giants!

"Yapple" / "Appoo" ?

Feb 04, 08 - 02:32 pm Comment from: krquet

Am I the only one here who thinks this has serious potentials. Adobe is a software company that already makes products (willingly or not) for Apple (being that about 90+% of professional photographers are mac based, and then there are graphics designers, publishers etc.), besides which, Apple already makes a few products that can thwart Adobe should Adobe pull a stunt like they did in the early migration days of OSX. Besides, it is foreseeable, that Apple can actually one day start developing Adobe C$3 and M$ Office like programs for its platform by buying out unknown international companies that develop something similar (i.e. openOffice like).
But Adobe as it stands, is overpriced for what it offers. Why inherit a company that can offer a buggy interface for a bloated price (just because of a perceived user base) where you can replace it with better and tighter Applesque solutions?
'Partnering' with Yahoo, however, opens up a completely different dimension for Apple. An instant foothold into the lucrative market of Web, Portals, Search, Auctions, and millions of email customers. Apple can then integrate their future mobile experience with this, where Google's Android will not be able to compete such a tighter integration of uniformity between the next-gen handhelds and portal servers.
Long story short, Apple should move aggressively on this.
"MDN Magic Word" - move.

Feb 04, 08 - 02:35 pm Comment from: Apple Cider

@ deepdish: "BUY ADOBE INSTEAD"

How 'bout Adobe AND Sony, both talked about for purchase on MDN previously?

Feb 04, 08 - 02:36 pm Comment from: ken1w

There's no way Apple would buy Yahoo. Let Microsoft buy Yahoo. I don't think having Yahoo will help Microsoft significantly. I don't use any Yahoo services, so it won't affect me in any way. Microsoft apparently needs something new (another Zune) to distract its corporate mind from the mounting Windows fiasco. In ten years, if Microsoft does not focus on its cash cow Windows, it won't have the financial resources to do stuff like spending 44 billion on buying Yahoo.

Feb 04, 08 - 02:36 pm Comment from: Nonsense

This is silly. Apple's future depends on making better computers, better OS to run them, and better software to make them productive. If Apple bought Yahoo, it would become an internet company handing over the tiny remnant of it's personal computer market share to Ballmer and Co. - something even a Steve Jobs size ego should resist.

Feb 04, 08 - 02:43 pm Comment from: Reclaimer

It would make more sense for News Corp. to buy Yahoo than Apple.

Feb 04, 08 - 02:48 pm Comment from: Sixvodkas

Buy me a pony!

Feb 04, 08 - 02:50 pm Comment from: Mr. Peabody

Ah yes, rumors are beautiful things.

But it isn't going to happen for Apple - Too much cash for an investment that won't do much for Apple. I hope MS does not get it, but if they do who cares, it'll just spur on the potential of Google and Apple starting to spend the night together rather than just going out on dates, and if that happens I don't think there will be much real competition in the online-search world for quite some time.

I'd believe Apple getting Adobe before I'd believe Apple getting Yahoo, and I don't see either one happening in the foreseeable future.

Feb 04, 08 - 02:50 pm Comment from: Twenty Benson

"Global giants... are believed to be..."
"Yahoo, which is said to be unwilling..."
"it emerged that Yahoo..."
" Jerry Yang is understood not to be Microsoft's greatest fan..."
""It is believed he would be particularly open..."

It has emerged that there is said to be speculation in some circles that this is believed to be a news item.

Feb 04, 08 - 02:51 pm Comment from: bon

4 billion for Yahoo!?
No thanks.

10 billion for bloatware-maker Adobe?
double no thanks.

Feb 04, 08 - 02:52 pm Comment from: Justified

Clearly, this journo is just making stuff up as they shift from "Apple and News Corp are believed to be considering rival bids for Yahoo" to "It is believed Yang would be particularly open to a rescue bid from Apple."

Also, who is Apple Corp.?

Feb 04, 08 - 02:58 pm Comment from: tt

Not gonna happen, would be funny tho... now Google buying Yshoo thast another story....

I dont see the governemnt being willing to let that go thru tho...

now Apple doing it for Google to spite MS... that I can see...

Feb 04, 08 - 02:59 pm Comment from: kirkgray

"Also, who is Apple Corp.?"

Apple Corp. is the Beatles record company.

Feb 04, 08 - 03:02 pm Comment from: Dialtone

Let all that Seattle cash flow into the California economy. Whatever...

Feb 04, 08 - 03:13 pm Comment from: Mac+

Apple revenue model don't rely on advertising. Otherwise you would have seen ads everywhere on iTunes and .Mac.

Their goal today is to build a free from ads & ubiquitous ecosystem (software + hardware). They want to be everywhere in the life of everyone who's willing to pay for the high standard they provide. They don't consider the rest of the crowd. Plain and simple.

They are extremely focussed in achieving this goal, and Yahoo fits nowhere in it.

Feb 04, 08 - 03:15 pm Comment from: jotaeh

$44B for a company that had earnings of $660M? Where did these guys go to business school? Yahoo's got a healthy balance sheet, but it sure doesn't look like it's worth $44B. Apple or Microsoft could spend a fraction of that to get a big toehold into Yahoo's markets. First and foremost, Yahoo is an advertising company; not exactly Apple's core business. Didn't anyone at Microsoft look at the AOL/Time Warner deal?

Feb 04, 08 - 03:16 pm Comment from: zenmac

why not pour their cash into dominating the fields apple is already doing well in? i understand the need to make investors happy, but apple's success is ultimately about pleasing their loyal consumers who i doubt care about a better yahoo.

Feb 04, 08 - 03:19 pm Comment from: Goople

could work. Apple buy the Yahoo brand, and outsource ad infrastructure to Google...that would be a massive kick in the cojones.

remember Google once powered Yahoo Search...

News corp probably a better fit though.

Feb 04, 08 - 03:55 pm Comment from: Raymond from DC

A dumber idea than buying Adobe. As a stockholder I would oppose either move. Apple should, and I'm confident will, "stick to its knitting". Its focus is computers, consumer electronics, and digital distribution. It's not in the search business, and it's definitely not in the advertising business. Check Apple's financials, look at the ROI figures. There's simply no way either Adobe or Yahoo could provide the kind of cash flow Apple would expect to justify such investments.

Feb 04, 08 - 04:03 pm Comment from: krquet

Yahoo resisted floodgates of ads on its portal for the longest time, going against the shareholders' demands. It conceded on the my.yahoo, but yahoo.com offered minimal ad presence.
Apple will and does place ads on the iTunes, primarily Apple's own products but tastefully (carefully) subtle. Apple may and does advertise 3rd parties as promotional offerings. Again, thinly veiled.
With yahoo.com, I therefore, don't see it a big stretch for Apple. They can just run all their web ads on various yahoo sites without alienating a lot of folks who are already exposed/accustomed to banner ads.
But what is serious for apple is that it lacks and desperately needs a social network for the users (or the screaming teenage girls, MDN Magic word: she) who'll sustain it's iTunes/iPod echosystem. Cut B$44 in 1/3 and forget a partnership with yahoo will give Apple a long existing shadow into the future where google may one day may not be so intimidating.

Feb 04, 08 - 04:14 pm Comment from: Demon

Don't think so, Apple doesn't waste money on tossers, and Apple can't afford Goggle.
Microsoft buying Yahoo would be good for Apple as it would keep Baldmer busy, with a new toy for awhile. But, a truck load of new office furniture would do the same thing. A few dozen strippers/hookers and case booze and he might not leave his office for a week or two. Open a strip club next to MS HQ in Redmond and he might not show up at his office for months at a time.

Feb 04, 08 - 04:21 pm Comment from: ripper

"Microsoft buying Yahoo would be good for Apple as it would keep Baldmer busy, with a new toy for awhile. But, a truck load of new office furniture would do the same thing. A few dozen strippers/hookers and case booze and he might not leave his office for a week or two. Open a strip club next to MS HQ in Redmond and he might not show up at his office for months at a time.


Yeah that's true, but I think we want Balmer showing up at the office, since he's completely incompetent. If he's out of the office, the rest of the folks at MS might actually do something right...

Feb 04, 08 - 04:28 pm Comment from: Hg Wells

I have seen different numbers for Google and Yahoo than the percents here. From what source are these?

Feb 04, 08 - 04:38 pm Comment from: macUnited

Apple to buy out Yahoo? that would go against their revenue model and be a way overpriced purchase. If they wanted to venture into the search field they'd be better off buying out a small outfit like ask.com and tying in the search engine with all of their products such as the iphone. And besides they're in bed with Google and they wouldn't want to ruin that.

And enough talk about apple buying Adobe, it's not going to happen. Apple would be better off developing their own graphics software or even buying out a dying business like corel and re-branding their products.

Feb 04, 08 - 05:36 pm Comment from: iDon't

Yahoo should sell to M$ while they can. Take the money and run!!!

Feb 04, 08 - 06:04 pm Comment from: Road Warrior

I must be experiencing a funny mood today but it would be fun every time MS buys a software company to start a rumour of Apple buying a hardware company. Maybe Apple should buy out IBM or Dell, no wait, not Dell, they should just close up their phone support network and give the money back to the stockholders.

Feb 04, 08 - 06:21 pm Comment from: dallas

This just doesn't make sense. Apple doesn't have $44B in the bank to blow like MS. The last I heard their Resources were only in the 20's. I doubt they doubled their piles of cash last Quarter. And even if they did, they would invest it in new hardware, not some washed out Website from the 90's.


Magic Word: "did" as in Yahoo! did have a chance. in 1997.

Feb 04, 08 - 06:26 pm Comment from: dddddd

stupid if APPLE buys YAHOO

Feb 04, 08 - 06:32 pm Comment from: Macaday

Amazed you bother reporting this crazy piece of writing which is a complete fabrication.

She heard someone say Apple should buy it down in a boozer in Edinburgh...

Stuff and nonsense.

Feb 04, 08 - 07:31 pm Comment from: Paul

I don't think Apple has a spare 50billion lying around. I heard Google was considering a partnership with Yahoo. Apple + Google + Yahoo, that would be way sweet. No one has to buy anything, just team up.
But think about the obscene amount of money bing thrown around these days, 44-50 BILLION not million, BILLION for a frigin website I could have pumped out of Dreamweaver. Has anyone actually seen a Google ad? I know they're there, but I subconciously don't see them.

Feb 04, 08 - 07:47 pm Comment from: KenC

This is a totally rubbish rumor based upon the writer's recollection that Steve Jobs spoke to Yahoo! employees last year. It's NONSENSE. In the UK, they write shockingly rubbish stories.

Feb 04, 08 - 07:58 pm Comment from: Tony

I heard Teac was gonna buy AltaVista.

Feb 04, 08 - 08:02 pm Comment from: KenC

While this is totally rubbish, just because Apple doesn't have $45B in cash laying around, NEITHER does Google or Microsloth. Microsoft is offering half cash, half stock. I think when Acer bought Gateway, they offered all stock. When Disney bought Pixar, they offered all stock, that's why Steve's Pixar shares turned him into Disney's largest shareholder. It was an all-stock offer. So, you don't need cash to buy another company. Apple could do it, but it's NOT going to happen. It's way too stupid. It's almost as dumb as buying Palm or Motorola.

Feb 04, 08 - 09:04 pm Comment from: @Apple Cider

"How 'bout Adobe AND Sony, both talked about for purchase on MDN previously?"

I think that was before Apple lost a1/3rd of its value.

Feb 04, 08 - 09:09 pm Comment from: @Paul

"44-50 BILLION not million, BILLION for a frigin website I could have pumped out of Dreamweaver"

You should do that then and sell it to Microsoft for $ 45 billion.

Feb 04, 08 - 10:20 pm Comment from: MacSheikh

Don't buy the whole damn company. Just give them enough cash to help them give MS the finger. Then "encourage" them to start using Xserves and "suggest" they make all their products more Mac friendly. And .Mac could sure use more features, right? wink

Feb 04, 08 - 10:25 pm Comment from: Waste AAPL money

MSFT could just be doing this to waste cash at its rivals

Feb 04, 08 - 11:35 pm Comment from: Bart

Waste...
Yeah like that Zune thing. I'm sure they did it just to rock the Apple cart.
I see they're discounting xbox to compete with Nintendo & Sony.
Are Micosoft in trouble.
I know nothing of stocks but how come Apple with a small user base is worth 130 a share (everyone took a dive, not just AAPL) and MS is worth only 30 a share, and has hovered around that for years?
Like I said I'm ignorant of shares, economics and math.

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