Picture credit score — Laurenz Heymann on Unsplash
As TikTok’s future within the U.S. hangs within the steadiness, hypothesis round potential patrons has reached new ranges — however don’t anticipate Apple to leap into the fray. Regardless of the social media large’s huge person base and cultural affect, Apple just isn’t contemplating any type of funding or acquisition, based on Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman.The query got here up through the Q&A portion of Gurman’s newest Energy On e-newsletter, following President Donald Trump’s determination to increase the pause on a TikTok ban by one other 75 days. With U.S. lawmakers debating laws that would drive a sale of TikTok’s American operations, there’s been renewed curiosity in who, if anybody, would possibly have the ability to — or keen to — tackle such a politically charged acquisition.Whereas corporations like Microsoft and Oracle have explored TikTok offers prior to now, Apple’s title sometimes floats round due to its immense money reserves and deep tech ecosystem. However Gurman is evident: Apple has “no apparent state of affairs” during which it could purchase or put money into TikTok. The explanations? They transcend cash.
Apple could be very unlikely to have an curiosity in shopping for TikTok, says Mark Gurman. | Picture credit score — PhoneArena
Apple and social media simply don’t combine
In contrast to Meta, Google, and even Amazon, Apple has largely stayed away from the social media enterprise. It’s by no means launched a profitable platform of its personal (keep in mind Ping?), and it hasn’t proven a lot curiosity in being a serious participant in user-generated content material.
Apple’s focus stays squarely on {hardware}, providers like iCloud and Apple Music, and more and more, on-device AI. A big-scale social platform like TikTok doesn’t align with that technique and would elevate a bunch of challenges, from moderation insurance policies to privateness considerations, that Apple sometimes steers away from.
After which there’s the model. Attaching Apple’s title to a politically contentious app accused of posing nationwide safety dangers could possibly be seen as dangerous, not simply by regulators, however by Apple’s loyal base of privacy-conscious customers.
It’s true that buying TikTok might appeal to a youthful demographic extra deeply into Apple’s ecosystem. However the trade-offs may not be price it for Cupertino. As Gurman notes, even a strategic transfer to attain factors with the Trump administration seemingly wouldn’t be sufficient to justify the acquisition.
This could possibly be a type of “what ifs” that hold making headlines, particularly with how briskly issues transfer and alter as of late. However except Apple makes a dramatic shift in technique, it’s extremely unlikely that TikTok could be becoming a member of the Apple household.
