Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) is continuing its shopping spree, as the company is close to buying talk radio app Swell for $30 million, according to Re/code, cited by CNBC. The acquisition, if pulled off, will mark the Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)’s third consecutive purchase of a content app, after it bought book recommendation service BookLamp and Beats.
Swell acquisition may be regarded as a move by Apple to get a head-start in the fast expanding market of in-car listening. Pandora-for-talk-radio app, called that way because of its similarities to the successful Pandora music streaming service, has had trouble finding lots of users. With Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL), however, the app’s popularity may gather steam.
Lately, many talk-oriented apps have been increasingly popular with customers. However, not all of them. Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)’s own in-house podcast app has been a bitter disappointment, as it is rated 1.5 out of 5 stars in the Apple’s App Store. Swell’s rating, on the other hand, is 4.5 stars.
Sitting on a mountain of cash, Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) is trying to fill-in for the failed in-house attempts to build new content business by buying already established companies. The $3 billion acquisition of Beats had been made not as much for its high-end headphones, as for its music streaming service. The company is trying to catch-up in a business where it was caught wrong-footed, as customers prefer more and more to listen to music in streaming than buying it on iTunes. With Swell acquisition, Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) is trying to avoid making the same mistake twice by attempting to lead the new changes in customer’s tastes. Also, it is bid to appeal to a different mass of customers that prefer talk radio instead of music radio.
So far this year, Apple Inc.(NASDAQ:AAPL) has acquired 29 companies, the company’s CEO Tim Cook said last week.
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