Recently Forbes ran an article putting forth reasons why Apple should buy Yahoo. They make a couple of good points, but others are less compelling. For example, while I agree that Apple has a lot of work to do when it comes to mobile advertising I don't see the attraction of buying a company to get it's admittedly "demoralized" (Forbes' term, not mine) sales people. These guys have been getting their clocks cleaned by Google for years now. You could argue that it's not really their fault (Yahoo lost it's way, took it's eye off the ball, etc) but if they're that good they'd either be tearing it up for Yahoo or working somewhere else.
The article goes on to say "all the big mobile players in the future will need a core stable of amazing mobile apps to differentiate" and that Apple for some reason needs to own these apps, and therefore Yahoo! Finance, maps, etc. could fill these gaps. Apparently Apple won't be able to differentiate themselves from Android if they're still using Google Maps. Or maybe the implication is that Google will stop letting Apple use these services? Either way I don't see it. Google Maps is on iOS and Android but everyone seems to know which is which, and as long as Apple sells a buttload of iOS devices, Google et al will want to be on them. After all, Google created Android mostly to save it's ad revenue. Just as Microsoft keeps making Office for the Mac, Google and others will continue on iOS because it makes them money. And let's not forget all the iOS developers out there, coming up with who knows what.
Next is search engines, and why Apple needs something like Yahoo! as another back-end to Siri (in addition to Wolfram Alpha). But does Apple really need to buy Yahoo! to do this? As long as Google Search and Bing stay around, Apple will always be able to make a deal with one or the other. The iOS market is just too much to pass up. And again, Yahoo! has been getting it's clock cleaned in search by Google for a long time now.
The article starts to make more sense when it gets around to patents and payments. Yahoo! apparently has 1000 patents that could be used against Facebook, Android, and Microsoft. I don't know the details of these patents or how useful they may be, but Apple did just shell out billions for a part of Nortel's patent portfolio. As for payments, Apple is obviously going to get into mobile payments and while (as the article admits) "Yahoo! isn't a force in payments today," the CEO had stints at PayPal and Visa. And Apple has been known to buy companies for their talent.
But we're talking about an approximately $18 billion buyout here. If the CEO is that great, Apple could quite possibly lure him away for the right pay package, especially if Yahoo! continues its downward slide. And there would have to be some real humdingers in that patent portfolio to justify the price tag.
Ultimately though, Apple won't buy Yahoo! because Apple, when it buys a company, buys up-and-comers, not has beens. If you look at their acquisitions, most are companies that almost no one had ever heard of before Apple bought them. So Apple might buy a search company, or a company that makes a particular app, or a payment processor, but it will be a relatively small concern with great talent and/or a new twist on the way they go about it. And in all likelihood no one will have heard of them before.
Up-and-comers, not has beens (or maybe I should say down-and-outers, though that seems a little harsh). So, Applehoo!? Not going to happen.
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