Could Apple Buy Google

Not saying they would. But could they buy a controlling stake? Would the government say no?

Google has a weird rule where insiders have 10x voting power of normal shareholders. So, it’s pretty much impossible for an outside party to buy a controlling stake. I’m not sure if there would be an antitrust case. What category would this be in? Mobile phone operating systems?

Without raising any new money they’re actually really close. They could take around a 45% stake today. That’s pretty amazing to consider.

Not sure what the government would say about it. I’m guessing they’d probably have a problem with it.

It would be very interesting to see. Imagine the synergies. With Jobs dead, I think I’d be very happy with Google’s Founders at the helm vs Cook.

i prefer google over apple…apple is a fad…

Apple is really profitable.

Google is the future, but just not as profitable as selling high margin smartphones. Everything they do is free and low margin.

Put them together and you have a slightly less profitable company (that 100 billion cash ain’t doing much anyway) that owns the future.

yes, but apple is still a fad…they won’t be able to maintain these margins for much much longer…most investors know this…

I’m long google short apple at the moment.

I think the fad might end too. But… ipanel could make keep it going for some time yet.

Google for all their size, has one product - search advertising. If another competitor (Bing+Facebook) starts encroaching upon it, it won’t look nearly as dominant as it does today. People just automatically assume Google will always have a monopoly on search when stuff like that rarely happens.

I think that FB could make a material move into search but only if they can get people to “like” more things. That way, the search results can be tailored even better than google’s.

I think they’ll add twitter’s hashtag concept to wall posts, since most people will “like” and comment on those without thinking. Since people don’t seem to like “liking” web pages, FB won’t know exactly what you like (they know some of that from your profile, but only what you take the time to tell them) but they’ll get correlation info on the types of things you like.

If they do that, my fb page will be peppered with ads for Ron Swanson t shirts and concert tickets, and I’m ok with that.

I know you’re bias MSFT, but Bing isn’t going to do anything…MSFT has essentially failed at every attempt to move its business outside of Windows (a wonderful business it is though)…

No way does AAPL even consider GOOG. Totally different philosophies wrt to management, ‘ecosystems’, etc. And no way would the Fed’s let it happen anyway.

y would the fed stop it?

antitrust. I dont really see it, but maybe.

Agreed. No doubt they’d find something not to like in the creation of a >$700B cap company.

For example: iPhone (iOS) + Android phones + Motorola = unlikely. Consider the scrutiny GOOG had to go through to acquire motorola.

I don’t know how this stuff works, but the industry is a hell of a lot more competitive than things like Telecom. Apple still has a pretty small percentage of laptops, pcs, even smart phones. It’s nowhere close to a monopoly in anything and never will be. It’s got a niche following that loves to overpay and that can only grow so big.

I really like the idea of apple having control or at least influence over Google for Apple as a company. If aapl didn’t already have the cash to do it I wouldn’t suggesting levering up 100 bilion dollars, but that money is just sitting there collecting treasury returns.

AAPL with google under its heel could remain very profitable for a very long time.

Tikka - any idea how Dunkin is doing in India? Personally I wouldnt imagine it would take off but I could well be wrong.

It’s not in Bombay yet.

Indians do love eating sugar and creamy fatty drinks. 1 billion people just aching to get type 2 diabetes will certainly love this franchise.

The problem is that they are late to the party. There are already heaps of people doing the same thing under a different brand. If they got here 5 years ago I think they’d be huge now.

India is a poor market to enter…look at the telcos, mass retailers, autos etc…india is stricken with corruption, competition, savvy consumers…stay out of that market…