Business

Apple considered expanding into media world: report

So Apple did entertain the thought of getting into the content business.

The tech titan back in December briefly explored a possible get-together with media conglomerate Time Warner, according to a report Thursday.

Eddy Cue, a senior Apple executive who runs iTunes, made the inquiry to Time Warner’s head of strategy Olaf Olafsson, according to the report in the Financial Times.

The talks quickly fizzled — but they confirm an exclusive report in The Post on Jan. 12 that Apple was monitoring Time Warner as activists were agitating for a potential sale.

Apple at the time was mostly interested in Time Warner’s HBO and Warner Bros. units, a source told The Post back then.

Apple didn’t return a call, and Time Warner declined to comment on the FT report.

Apple has a cash pile of upwards of $200 billion and could easily swallow the $59 billion Time Warner — or any big media company. As long ago as 2003, Apple surfaced as a possible buyer of Universal Music. It acquired Beats LLC in a $3 billion deal in 2014.

Still, Apple has been unable to grow its own TV business much beyond iTunes, at a time when many are offering new cable-free bundles via the internet.

Rumors that the tech giant could be on a march for content pushed up the shares of both Time Warner and Netflix.

Time Warner rose 1.5 percent to $74.05, while Netflix was up 2.6 percent to $102.81.

Apple was up 79 cents to $100.41.