If Apple Inc. (Nasdaq: AAPL) acquires Waze Ltd., its free navigation app will presumably reach the end of the road as an independent app. This assessment is based on the strategic conduct of big technology companies that have acquired Israeli companies in the past few years.
The strategic acquisitions of giants like Apple, Google Inc. (Nasdaq: GOOG), and Facebook Inc. (Nasdaq: FB) focus on what is known acq-hire: a combination of acquisition of companies and the hiring of employees. The term means that start-ups are not acquired for the products they developed, but to hire the start-ups' brains.
There is no shortage of examples; in fact most acquisitions by Apple, Google, Facebook, and even Microsoft Corporation (Nasdaq: MSFT) in recent years resulted in the closing of the companies acquired and the integration of their founders and top employees into the technology giant.
This is clearly seen in Israeli industry. Google acquired LabPixies and Quiksee, which have vanished from the map; Facebook acquired Snaptu and Face.com, which ceased to exist as independent companies; and Apple acquired Anobit, which was quickly integrated into the US company and its homepage closed.
Similar conduct is also seen in the acquisition of US, European, and other companies. However, it is important to note the exceptions: Facebook has so far maintained the independence of Instagram as a separate application; Google is keeping Motorola Mobility, Android, and the mobile advertising network AdMob; and Microsoft has kept Skype and the enterprise social network Yammer as separate entities.
Therefore, the question of the independent future of the Waze application under Apple is not yet clear. But statistics weigh against Android users, who may have to find alternatives to make their way home without traffic congestion en route. If Apple acquires Waze, it will want to integrate Waze's staff and technology with Apple Maps, and will probably shut down the Israeli app as an independent product, which will result in the shutting down of the app in competing operating systems, beginning with Google's Android.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on January 3, 2013
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