Analyst rabble-rousing: ‘Chatter’ suggests Apple eyeing EA takeover
Let’s take this one super slow, okay? There is analyst talk that Apple — that iPhone company — may be considering a takeover of Electronic Arts. Investor Guy Adami notes there is ‘chatter’ about the move, according to The Street. Meanwhile, TechNewsWorld reports Parks Associates VP Kurt Scherf sees Apple looking for ‘low-hanging revenue’ in the game space. It appears that much of this talk is related to Apple hiring some game-related folks, like ex-Xbox strategy honcho, Richard Teversham, and a few tech-related guys.
Gamasutra spoke to Michael Pachter, the pope of game industry analysts, who finds the whole conversation ‘retarded.’ He points out that Apple could buy Warner Music for $3 billion — thereby controlling 20 percent of the recording industry for its iTunes service — instead of purchasing EA for twice that (EA’s market cap is currently about $6.9 billion). He also notes that Apple owns no entertainment content, meaning that the company would be entering a brave new world if it got into EA’s jammies.
For our part, we are staying way the hell away from this highly flammable situation until someone slaps some evidence down on the table.