Why Apple Could and Should Buy Nuance- August 1, 2012 (Benzinga)
Will Apple buy Nuance the company that makes the voice for Siri?
Apple could (and probably should) buy Nuance Communications (NASDAQ: NUAN) with part of its $117 billion cash stash. Acquiring Nuance would help it keep an interface technology lead over its smartphone and tablet rivals.
"Nuance's market value is $6.3 billion: Even if Apple paid twice as much, it would be a worthwhile investment," said Dealbook columnist Andrew Ross Sorkin in his latest column. He added that Nuance would be a “no brainer" purchase for Apple.
Regardless of what it had to pay, Apple can use Nuance to give it a technology edge well into the future. Apple now holds a slight lead with its Nuance-powered, Siri voice-based interface for the iPhone 4S. Yet, Samsung is catching up and making inroads with its own voice-controlled Galaxy phones, also with help from Nuance.
Samsung is already threatening to overtake Apple's lead in the global smartphone market later this year, as consumers snatch up Samsung models with their relatively larger screens. Apple cannot afford to let Samsung also beat it in voice technology.
Buying Nuance would nip that threat, helping Apple keep the best voice-recognition technology for its own hardware going forward – a competitive edge it can also leverage versus Google (NASDAQ: GOOG), Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN) and Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT).
Still, Apple can certainly afford it. The company is raking in about $1 billion a day.
With the advantages Nuance could provide, and the ever-increasing competition, there's an argument to be made that what Apple cannot afford is to do nothing.
