"CNET" reports that Apple Inc. (Nasdaq: AAPL) has no plans to acquire social navigation app developer Waze Ltd. "CNET", the high-tech new website of CBS, quotes "a source familiar with Apple's thinking" as saying that the reports about an acquisition were completely "fabricated", and added that there were no talks between the companies.
TechCrunch took back its earlier report that there are advanced talks between the companies, in which Waze was asking $750 million, while Apple was offering $400 million plus $100 million in incentives. "TechCrunch" said that the earlier report was based on rumors. "There is no deal is happening. At least not now or anytime soon," it concludes.
That said, "TechCrunch" adds, "Does this mean Apple and Waze have never talked? Of course not. In fact, you can bet that they’ve spoken quite a bit since Waze is a partner that provides data for Apple’s mapping software. And it doesn’t even mean that they haven’t had some low-level conversations about some sort of bigger deal, maybe even an acquisition. But newsflash: big companies and small companies have these types of talks all the time. On a daily basis. And usually the end result is nothing beyond a “thanks for coming in” and sometimes even a “let’s continue talking."
In the first report, "TechCrunch" noted that Waze was one of the hottest startups of the last couple of years, as "everyone woke up, as if from some slumber, about the importance of decent mobile maps." This is especially true after Apple dumped Google Maps in iOS 6 and Apple Maps failure. "Waze is already a data partner for Apple’s Maps app and was the only app to gain meaningful market share after the Apple Maps fail," it says.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on January 6, 2013
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