Facebook tried to buy Twitter, but was rejected. Google didn’t buy Twitter, but acquisition plans were rumored. Will Apple be the winner in the Twitter acquisition game?
Speculation is building about Apple acquiring the micro-blogging service. News reports suggest Apple is in the final stages of Twitter acquisition talks that could see the Mac maker cough up $700 million for the company. That would be about $200 million more than Facebook reportedly offered.
Why so much ado about Twitter? It has emerged as the Web 2.0’s latest phenomenon and Twitter members are growing by the millions. In fact, according to comScore Media Metrix, Twitter got 9.3 million visitors in March, a five million increase from February — and that was before Oprah Winfrey started tweeting.
An ‘Extremely Unlikely’ Rumor
Twitter is seemingly rising faster than its social-media counterparts, thanks, in part, to media attention. News organizations like CNN and The New York Times are jumping on the Twitter bandwagon. Companies like Salesforce.com are putting Twitter into their service offerings, and tech giants like Dell are generating hundreds of thousands of dollars tweeting special deals to followers.
The rumors about Google acquiring Twitter started after Google opened an account in February. In less than three days, Google attracted 28,000 followers and has nearly 600,000 now. Analysts said it would make sense for Google to acquire Twitter for its real-time search capabilities that have allowed citizen journalists to break new stories and report them on the micro-blogging service. But is Apple a probable suitor?
“I suppose while it’s not totally inconceivable that Twitter could fit into Apple’s MobileMe or iLife offerings, it’s extremely unlikely that Apple is a serious potential buyer for Twitter,” said Greg Sterling, principal analyst at Sterling Market Intelligence. “Twitter falls pretty far from Apple’s product tree. Buying Twitter would take Apple in a very…