Apple Acquisitions: How Does Apple’s Latest Purchase Stack Up Against Google, Baidu.com, Rest of the Tech World?

Apple Acquisitions: Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) is always on the move when it comes to acquisitions. Sometimes the Cupertino-based company makes a purchase for the product or service itself. Other times, it does so for the talent behind the organization. Either way, Apple is not shy about making a purchase when the deal is right.

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) may be the smart money’s second favorite publicly traded company but hedge funds have started dumping the Cupertino-based company in favor of a surprising financial stock (see which stock hedge funds are buying like crazy).

This time around, Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) has acquired indoor-GPS company WifiSLAM. While the name may sound silly, there are many reasons to believe that this purchase is a good deal for the company.

Before we get into the specifics of how Apple may be able to take advantage of the technology, as compared to the rest of the tech world, let’s take a closer look at the sale price.

The Wall Street Journal is reporting the following:

“Apple paid around $20 million for the Silicon Valley-based company, according to a person familiar with the matter who said the deal closed recently.”

At this point, the Wall Street Journal has been able to confirm the deal. A company spokesperson said the company “buys smaller technology companies from time to time.” However, he also added that Apple has no plans to discuss what it will do with WifiSLAM.

All in all, the company has developed a way for “mobile apps to detect a phone user’s location in a building using Wi-Fi signals.”

Interestingly enough, the WifiSLAM was founded by former Google software engineering intern Joseph Huang.

Why is this interesting? Well, Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG) is rumored to be diving even further into the same industry. For example, its Google Glass technology is said to be able to provide an “indoor GPS” experience for obtaining directions instead shopping malls, parking garages, etc.

The same Wall Street Journal article goes on to add:

“Google already offers indoor mapping in certain locations like airports, shopping centers and sports venues.”

While the tech war between Apple and Google is nothing new, this acquisition also throws Baidu.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:BIDU) into the mix. After all, this company is known for being one of the major players in the “indoor map arena.”

Baidu, headed by CEO Robin Li, and its indoor maps features is available in more than 500 shopping malls. Although it has yet to spread throughout the majority of the world, there is no doubt that the company is among the major players in the industry right now.

All in all, Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) has a lot of catching up to do. That being said, its latest purchase of WifiSLAM is a great place to start.

Check back here for more updates on Apple Acquisitions.

DISCLOSURE: I have no positions in any stock mentioned.

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