Apple surpasses 100 M&A transaction
Key Takeaways:
Apple spent over $6B on its top 10 deals,
Almost 50% of $6B went to its $3B acquisition of Beats Electronics.
Many of Apple’s top acquisitions have been aimed at building and improving iPhone
For chip performance Apple acquired PA Semi and Anobit Technologies, and later Dialog Semiconductor as well.Overall,
Above deals reflect Apple’s strategy evolution, from a focus on the Mac platform (NeXT Computer) to a focus on mobile (PA Semi, Anobit Technologies) and services like Apple Music (Beats, Shazam) more recently.
Other well-known features of the iPhone that have been impacted by Apple’s top acquisitions include Maps, with C3 Technologies, and fingerprint-enabled payment solution Apple Pay, with AuthenTec.
Top acquisitions visualisation and description below:
1. Beats Electronics ($3B, 2014) is Apple’s largest acquisition to date. This transaction saw Apple acquire both Beats Music, the subscription streaming music service, and Beats Electronics, which makes headphones, speakers, and audio software. It has been reported that this acquisition aimed to boost Apple’s music services by bringing in Beats Electronics executives.
2. Dialog Semiconductor ($600M, 2018) is the most recent acquisition on Apple’s top 10 list. Apple expanded its chip operations in Europe by acquiring the England-based chip supplier’s PMIC business, taking on an engineering team that already had many years of experience working on chips for Apple devices.
3. Anobit Technologies ($500M, 2011), an Israel-based semiconductor startup, was acquired by Apple for its flash memory components, a key part of many of Apple’s products, as well as for its large team of chip engineers.
4. Shazam ($400M, 2017), the popular song identification app, was seen by Apple as a “natural fit” with the Apple Music streaming service.
4. NeXT Computer ($400M, 1996), a software development company, is the earliest of Apple’s top acquisitions and was used to bring Steve Jobs back into the company he co-founded.
6. PrimeSense ($360M, 2013) is an Israeli 3D sensing company that was used to power Microsoft’s Kinect. It is now also behind Apple’s facial recognition technology included in the iPhone X.
7. AuthenTec ($356M, 2012), a Florida-based listed fingerprint sensors company, was used by Apple to develop its payment solution Apple Pay.
8. PA Semi ($278M, 2008) was Apple’s first acquisition of a semiconductor company. Reportedly, one of the reasons for acquiring the California-based chip designer was Apple’s interest in low-power processors, especially for mobile devices.
9. Quattro Wireless ($275M, 2010) is a mobile ad network operator that was acquired by Apple after the tech giant was outbid by rival Google for an AdMob acquisition, right before the launch of the iPad. Mobile advertising is one way for Apple to further monetize its mobile platform.
10. C3 Technologies ($273M, 2011) was acquired by Apple to boost its mapping feature. The Swedish startup was Apple’s third acquisition in the mapping space, following Placebase in 2009 and Poly9 in 2010.