Apple's music business has been slowly growing, and it is also looking at expanding into augmented reality. So a new report that claims the company is close to purchasing app company Shazam may not be that far out of the realm of possibility.
The report from TechCrunch cites the ever elusive "sources," which claim that a deal could be signed as early as Monday for an estimated £300 million, or about $401 million USD. Not too much else is known about the deal for Shazam, which made a name for itself as an app that could identify music, TV shows, or other media just by providing an audio clip. The company later expanded the app to include identifying images through an AR capability.
Shazam's last reported number of app downloads had it surpassing one billion back in September 2016, so that number has likely grown. The company, founded back in 1999, has been reportedly operating at or near profitability, making it a likely acquisition target.
How Shazam could be good for Apple, though, possibly lies in its integration with other apps. It sends lots of traffic to sites like Spotify, and is in turn paid for the referrals that make a purchase. It's recently launched AR initiative also folds in well with what Apple is trying to build out with its recently launched ARKit, and integration of AR technology into its high-end mobile devices.
Again, everything is speculation at this point, and if those sources are accurate, we should know more next week.
Source: TechCrunch
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