An Alliance Could Answer The Growin

An Alliance Could Answer The Growing
Threat from
Google and Facebook
By Evelyn M. RuIsi and Nick Bilton
Apple, which has stumbled in its
efforts to get into social media, has
talked with Twitter in recent months
about making a strategic investment
in it , according to people briefed on
the matter .
Although apple has been hugely
successful in selling phones and
tablets , it has little traction in social
networking , which has become a
major engine of activity on the Web
and on mobile devices. Social media
are increasingly influencing the ways
people spend their time and money —
important consideration for Apple,
which also sells application , games ,
music and movies .
Apple has considered an investment in
the hundreds of millions of dollars ,
one that could value Twitter at more
than $ 10 billion , up from an $8 .4
billion valuation last year , these
people said. They declined to be
identified because the discussions
were private .
There is no guarantee that the two
companies , which are not in
negotiations at the moment, will come
to an agreement . But the earlier talks
are a sign that they may form a
stronger partnership amid intensifying
competition from companies like
Google and Facebook.
Apple has not made many friends in
social media. Its relationship with
Facebook, for example , has been
strained since a deal to build
Facebook featured into Ping, Apple's
music -centric social network, fell
apart . Facebook is also aligned with
Microsoft, which owns a small stake
in it. And Google, an Apple rival in the
phone market , has been pushing its
own social network , Google Plus .