Buying Nintendo

So I was listening to the podcast tonight, and as I'm listening about Disney buying up God and everything, it made me wonder:

Who really would benefit the most from buying Nintendo?

The two companies they brought up were Apple and Disney, which made me think: that would not be a terrible move on Apple's part if they swiped up Nintendo. Given, Apple already has a quasi-gaming console in both the iPhone and iPad, but with the Nintendo purchase, they'd have an easy in for the actual consoles. Also, it'd be a short step for them to create their major at-home media device like they wanted to do with Apple TV and such. And Nintendo uses touch screen controls pretty liberally, which Apple has proven to be an expert with. I don't feel like it'd be too far out of mind for Apple to make that kind of jump in order to compete more directly in all aspects with Microsoft. Plus, the syncing of the Nintendo consoles with all of your apple gear? that's a serious network in one house, for sure.

Now I'm no business expert, and I'm well aware of the dangers of major company purchases. But it does seem like a viable strategy for a major company. Any thoughts or insight would be greatly appreciated!

So I was listening to the podcast tonight, and as I'm listening about Disney buying up God and everything, it made me wonder:

Who really would benefit the most from buying Nintendo?

The two companies they brought up were Apple and Disney, which made me think: that would not be a terrible move on Apple's part if they swiped up Nintendo. Given, Apple already has a quasi-gaming console in both the iPhone and iPad, but with the Nintendo purchase, they'd have an easy in for the actual consoles. Also, it'd be a short step for them to create their major at-home media device like they wanted to do with Apple TV and such. And Nintendo uses touch screen controls pretty liberally, which Apple has proven to be an expert with. I don't feel like it'd be too far out of mind for Apple to make that kind of jump in order to compete more directly in all aspects with Microsoft. Plus, the syncing of the Nintendo consoles with all of your apple gear? that's a serious network in one house, for sure.

Now I'm no business expert, and I'm well aware of the dangers of major company purchases. But it does seem like a viable strategy for a major company. Any thoughts or insight would be greatly appreciated!

http://ca.finance.yahoo.com/q?s=NTDOY&ql=1

Nintendo's market cap is 16.3 BILLION dollars, that would be the bare minimum someone would have to spend to buy Nintendo and the moment anyone even tries to make a move in these sort of things, the price spikes up hard.

To put thinks in perspective, THQ's market cap is currently 7.62 million and analysts expect it would cost someone 200 million to acquire those shares Interesting article on THQ's situation from a financial perspective

It's highly unlikely that anyone would buy Nintendo anytime soon, nor would Nintendo need to seek any such arrangement. Nintendo isn't in any financial trouble and they would have to bomb hard for a very very very long time before there would be any worry of them falling apart.

I think there would be a number of issues with this. One of the biggest things Nintendo has going for it is its brand. Apple is the same way, putting their name on something lends value to the product. By buying Nintendo, they'd be faced with two uncomfortable choices. They could continue selling its under the Nintendo brand, which brings little value to their main brand (and could actually harm it), or sell it under the Apple brand which negated most of the value from what would be a very large purchase.

Technology-wise, I'm not sure what they'd really get from Nintendo. As you pointed out, both are in the touch-screen market now, but I'd imagine Apple is ahead of Nintendo in that area. I doubt it would be a huge leap for them to leverage their hardware knowledge into a console either should they choose to do so. It would be expensive for sure, but considering they'd have to buy Nintendo's brand to get access to their hardware tech, I would guess it'd actually be a better deal for Apple to make something themselves.

What that really leaves are Nintendo's IPs, which are undoubtedly valuable, but I just don't see Apple being interested in them. They aren't (at present) a media company, so making new Mario and Zelda games seems like something that would lie outside of their current business model.

I feel is Apple was going to do something in the gaming sphere, they'd focus on the mobile market. It plays to their strength, would enhance their brand, and deals with an ever-expanding market. Maybe we might see a game oriented iPhone at some point (oh god, that's basically an nGage isn't it...)

If Nintendo was willing to sell I could see Apple putting in a bid. They have 100 billion of clean cash. Apple would expand their reach from mobile gaming to console. Their Game Center app catalog would be unbelievable, especially in the Asian markets where Nintendo is king. Microsoft can't tap into that. Imagine Super Mario Bros or Zelda on iOS devices. Apple TV would be an even better deal. With the cult like following Apple has it would put Microsoft and Sony on their heels. Microsoft more than any because they can't breakthrough in Japan.

My major problem is Apple has a tendency of releasing new hardware every 6 months and charging the same if not more. No one wants to purchase a newer version of an Apple Gaming Device twice a year. This move would also push the limits of cloud gaming as I'm sure Apple will not allow any external hard drives or user upgrades to the current hard drives. The gaming market would go into a state of shock with all the flooding of new hardware. Developers would have a hard time making games since Apple changes the hardware so quickly. On the upside I think the barrier to entry would be lower for developers. They would take more risk in trying new things in games and force Microsoft and Sony to change their certification rules in order to slow down Apple.

With all the iOS devices worldwide and millions being sold each month, this gives developers many more paths to take.

@Silvergun: Don't forget about Apple TV. They already have a "console" like device. All it needs is view hardware and firmware updates, more cloud storage, and it's good to go.

The problem with any of these companies buying Nintendo is that Nintendo is just too large to be interesting to the buyer. Except Apple, and Apple doesn't need a game developer. Their relative free market with walled garden approach is just fine up tell now. Disney could use a game developer, but at their size, Nintendo isn't appealing. Especially when their are quality devs about to be on the chopping block for pennies.

@thabigred said:

The problem with any of these companies buying Nintendo is that Nintendo is just too large to be interesting to the buyer. Except Apple, and Apple doesn't need a game developer. Their relative free market with walled garden approach is just fine up tell now. Disney could use a game developer, but at their size, Nintendo isn't appealing. Especially when their are quality devs about to be on the chopping block for pennies.

Disney would buy out Sega or Square Enix first. I always assumed Kingdom Hearts was Disney getting one foot in the door for a buyout.

Well, as stated, there's a possibility that the Wii U completely tanks, and then you're looking at a fiscal crisis for Nintendo. If their main investment fails to garner market attention, it would painfully hinder the pockets of Nintendo. Sure, they're sitting pretty with the 16.8 Billion, but after a major failure, it would cast huge doubt on their future. That could leave the door open for someone to move in on the company.

As for Disney, I completely agree that they may shoot for Square Enix far before they consider Nintendo. The major series' of Square just perfectly fit with the Disney Philosophy. I don't know all that much about Sega, but I really hope not. I'd rather see a Final Fantasy-themed leg of Disney World...not Sonic