According to Bloomberg, Apple is taking a long hard look at acquiring TV streaming service Hulu. Bloomberg cites a source with knowledge of the situation and says talks are at an early stage.
It has long been touted that Apple will soon enter the HDTV market with their own TV product. Apple already has the might of iTunes movies and Apple TV in their pocket and an acquisition of Hulu would add more arsenal to their media offerings and provide them with a massive platform to enter the streaming TV market.
The most attractive aspect of Hulu is their license agreements with media companies that allow them stream content to their growing user base.
Hulu was launched in March 2008 and features News Corp & Disney as stakeholders. Disney own a 27% stake in Hulu, a company that features Steve Jobs as a member of their board ever since his Pixar days. In August 2010, it was revealed that Hulu is considering an IPO in 2012 that that is expected to value the company in and around the $2 billion mark.
It seems a bit odd that Apple might consider acquiring Hulu in order to add more steel to their TV offering. They already have established relationships with media content producers, they have a state of the art infrastructure to deliver streaming content, and they have the hype to enter almost any market. What does Hulu offer that Apple can’t develop themselves?
What do you think?
