Citing an unnamed source who’s “plugged into the Valley’s deal scene and has been recruited by Apple for a senior position,” Owen Thomas of Valleywag is speculating that Apple is close to sealing a deal for Twitter, possibly in the range of $700 million. Thomas’ source speculates that the two sides have a goal of wrapping up a deal by June 8th, in time for Apple’s annual Worldwide Developers Conference in San Jose.
Seven hundred million is certainly a lofty price to pay for buzz, which is all the business value Twitter brings to the table at this point. But it’s certainly a sum that Apple could offer up—unlike Facebook, which unsuccessfully wooed Twitter for $500 million in cash and stock.
However, Thomas opines that an Apple-Twitter deal makes sense, especially for Apple, a company perceived by some as secretive, paranoid, and resistant to the Wild West openness of the internet in general. Twitter, on the other hand, opines Thomas, embodies openness. Where else on the internet except for Twitter do people share, quite openly, the most mundane aspects of their daily lives—in 140 characters or less? By purchasing Twitter, declares Thomas, Apple will signal to the world its willingness to open up a bit more on the internet.
Or rather, by purchasing Twitter, Apple will get its hands on the technology behind an interesting internet fad that may or may not be transient, and may or may not prove to be a way to get things done—and make money—on the web. After all, if anyone can monetize Twitter—if anyone can wring a buck from it—it’s Apple. Look what they did for the lowly cell phone: by transforming it into a smart phone, they all but ignited a new era in mobile computing.