Apple Eyeing EA?

yerktoader writes "There are rumors that Apple might buy EA, but some interesting counterpoints abound. File this one firmly under 'unconfirmed,' but it's nevertheless a tantalizing rumor. According to Fast Money's Guy Adami, Apple is 'eyeing Electronic Arts as a takeover target.' EA is currently the second-largest games publisher in the world and owner of the smash hit NFL-licensed series of football games. Could we be facing the possibility of an iMadden? Well, probably not. Apple has indeed been bolstering its games know-how, hiring a major Xbox strategist away from Microsoft in recent weeks. And EA is no stranger to Apple platforms: in the last year it's brought several of its major franchises to the iPhone (with more on the way), including Sim City, Tiger Woods, and Spore, with considerable success. But it's a far cry from there to a takeover, and that's putting it mildly. Video games analyst Michael Pachter seems to agree. Speaking to Gamasutra, he pointed out that if Apple was looking to make some entertainment acquisitions, it could buy Warner Music — which controls 20% of the music industry — for roughly half of EA's estimated price."

Comments

Re:What do you get combining Apple + gaming compan

[earlymon]

Jacked up the price and sampling bitrate for higher fidelity (insofar as that's even possible with digital music).

Yes, they are about the money. But who isn't?

Everyone's Apple-DRM anger would make more sense if they had pioneered the per-song deal without DRM, then added a "gotcha" lower-price, lower-quality, DRM-laden product. But they did the opposite.

As for point #1, replacing your DRM-laden songs. Now that is typical Apple - typical American corporate beast. They didn't even offer the option, trade up to DRM free (with higher sampling bitrate) for 30 cents. I or anyone could argue the problems with ensuring the old copy was gone, etc, etc, and how poor Apple would have pay again for the license because that's how the music guys would look at it.

But that part is just the way-sucky part of American business ethics. Is it Apple's fault you can't convert your DRM songs? The record companies'? Both? The end result is the consumer has a moving target, accepts (in general) that the market has moved on to newer/better, and bites the bullet. To be clear - I'm not saying it's ok because it's understandable, I'm saying it's less ok because it's understandable.

Meanwhile - can't you burn your DRM-laden music to CD, then import it DRM-free? I thought you could do this, I don't know. I know the quality **may** take a hit - not sure. But you might try it - CDs are way cheap, hold a lot of songs, it's worth a try.

http://www.jakeludington.com/itunes/20060513_unlock_itunes_music_store_files.html

And for a bit of Apple-DRM background, from a few years ago, check out:
http://www.apple.com/hotnews/thoughtsonmusic/

Hope this helps you have a better day!