Apple To Acquire Rival Samsung For an Undisclosed Amount
As the old saying goes, “if you can’t beat them join them.” After the shocking news that Apple Inc. was acquiring popular headphone brand Beats By Dre, Business Today has revealed that the Cupertino based technology company will also be acquiring their biggest rival Samsung.
The details of the acquisition have not been made public, but Forbes estimates the value of the South Korean company to be around $180 billion. Apple has around $150 billion in cash so it is extremely unlikely that the company would deplete its entire stockpile on Samsung. It is still unknown what agreement the two companies reached to satisfy the huge financial ramifications of such a major deal.
Samsung and Apple have continually engaged in patent wars despite working together on some of their products. For years Samsung made the displays that went into iPhones, iPads, and some MacBooks.
Apple was finding it extremely difficult to cut their ties with Samsung, which grew into simply wanting to buy the company out. According to the Wall Street Journal, “Apple, Cupertino, Calif.,has cut back on some purchases. It no longer buys iPhone screens from Samsung and has reduced iPad-screen purchases, suppliers say. And Apple has been buying more flash-memory chips—an essential component for storing data—from other makers, say former Apple executives and officials at another chip supplier.”
Apple was recently awarded $120 million in a patent lawsuit against Samsung. In 2013, Apple was also awarded $1 billion in a lawsuit against the company, but a judge later throughout about half of that.
The merger could see a new line of products for Apple, who have been looking to expand their number of SKUs after sales of the iPad have slumped. Some of Samsung’s technology include curved displays and smart watches.
Apple, who is the world’s most valuable brand, is destined to become even larger with such a monumental acquisition.
http://www.thenewsnerd.com/technolog...rival-samsung/