Submitted by Neo2199 t3_zr7pe2 in television
Comments
Silverlight42 t1_j126ci1 wrote
Why would Microsoft want to buy TikTok?
They tried.
Stranger things could do and might happen. There's a lot of consolidation happening everywhere. They're going after Activision/Blizzard now, I thought?
But yeah, I wouldn't really hold my breath or count on it.
ijakinov t1_j12ymsv wrote
They’ve always wanted social media. They’ve always kind of had a toe in it too with MSN/WL they’ve acquired other social networking sites and tried to others other than Tik tok. Spent a lot of money to own a small part of Facebook. My guess is that they like the prospects of additional subscription and ads based businesses that they can converge. Maybe also because of the scale of social media companies has led to a lot of tech innovation.
Microsoft had a TV division for a brief period of time. The current CEO shut it down shortly after he joined. Netflix is super expensive to buy. But they also at the same time they don’t like their money sitting in the bank.
Kaiser_Allen t1_j142ks3 wrote
Microsoft bought LinkedIn, Yammer and GitHub, so their appetite is there. They also tried to buy Facebook and Pinterest.
vitorgrs t1_j12nv8h wrote
The point is xcloud. Which the article says if you read it.
[deleted] t1_j12rqaq wrote
[removed]
Radulno t1_j12tbc6 wrote
Microsoft is expanding into other businesses than those core ones (where they dominate anyway, they don't have much more to do). You could say the same of Activision Blizzard acquisition, why they go into games (though they already are)? It's obvious they want to go into entertainment.
Though if they do want to buy a streamer, I doubt it'll be Netflix. My guess is Warner Bros Discovery, wait more for the crisis to get a cheaper price (though you still have the debt so it's expensive but Microsoft can afford it and they feel like spending it seems at the moment, they overpaid for Activision) and get it.
They get very strong IP (DC notably but also Game of Thrones and tons of stuff from Warner over the years), prestige TV with HBO, reality TV stuff with Discovery (we can not like it here, it's popular), video game studios with strong IP in DC (might counter the Marvel focus of Sony) and Harry Potter (the new upcoming game seems destined for success and probably sequels). Sure they don't get as much subscribers at once but still there's more than Netflix here IMO and it's cheaper.
QuintoBlanco t1_j136399 wrote
I can definitely think of a reason.
Direct access to all Netflix subscribers.
That database is extremely valuable.
The number of subscriptions isn't very high (for companies like Microsoft, Apple, and Google), but these are paying households, 220 million of them.
And people in those households interact with Netflix daily, or at least a few times a week.
Business users are also consumers. Plus Microsoft has a long history of targeting students. Get them when they are young.
I would offer a bundle with Netflix and an MS product and use that MS product to try to convince customers to upgrade to an MS Office subscription or an Xbox pass.
I can see a low-res, one screen only subscription, very cheap, with MS adds for emerging markets being very effective.
OmryR t1_j132ubi wrote
- clippy appears on screen “I see you are endlessly browsing the content, can I suggest you a new korean drama?”
ReformedPC t1_j12dsay wrote
Microsoft buys companies that benefits their gaming service (game pass). Netflix isn't helping them
Radulno t1_j12tmv9 wrote
No they buy other companies too. They bought LinkedIn too, nothing to do with gaming
Kaiser_Allen t1_j142xqj wrote
LinkedIn does make sense because Microsoft has a stronghold in the enterprise market. It’s the same reason they acquired Yammer and GitHub. They want to maintain their muscle in that crowd.
Attorney2257 t1_j13duke wrote
You don't see how combining Netflix and 'Netflix of Gaming' that they've been trying to build might work?
Substantial_Berry_14 t1_j12y6v8 wrote
@127 billion market cap , apple or Google be the better choice . Apple 🍎 would gain the best outta. A merger or Disney be possible to
Pokerhobo t1_j1352n5 wrote
GOOGL is "only" worth 1.1T while MSFT is worth 1.8T. The FTC would definitely not allow NFLX to merge with DIS.
Neo2199 OP t1_j122ctp wrote
> Satya Nadella keeps thinking bigger. Microsoft’s (MSFT.O) chief executive has been buying new businesses at an impressive clip. Look for him to add Netflix (NFLX.O) to the list in 2023.
> Since his 2014 promotion into the technology titan’s corner office, Nadella has embarked on a pricey shopping spree. It started with the $2.5 billion acquisition of the company behind the hit game Minecraft. Later, Microsoft bought LinkedIn for $26 billion and the speech recognition and artificial intelligence software developer Nuance for $20 billion. Activision Blizzard (ATVI.O) was by far the largest disclosed target, at $69 billion.
> Microsoft is busy fighting U.S. trustbusters for the right to absorb the “Call of Duty” creator. Putting it under the same roof as gaming console Xbox has led to regulatory concerns about market dominance. Even if Nadella loses out on the video-game company for competition reasons, however, owning Netflix would make strategic sense and probably be an easier sell in Washington and Brussels.
> The two companies are already closely aligned. Netflix chose Microsoft as its advertising partner for a new advertising-supported subscription service. Microsoft President Brad Smith also sits on the Netflix board. Part of the rationale for a deal is that Microsoft wants to offer a video-game streaming service over multiple devices.
rc042 t1_j127tri wrote
>Part of the rationale for a deal is that Microsoft wants to offer a video-game streaming service over multiple devices.
This makes no sense for several reasons.
- Microsoft has a game streaming service. It's built into their game pass service.
- Netflix does not have the same skill set as their existing developers / engineers to design games for streaming. Netflix has a few games, but most of them are mobile apps, not streaming games.
IF Microsoft is looking to buy Netflix next year, it would likely be for their video streaming customers / service, and possibly the content production. They could offer discounts If you have both game pass and netflix, but thinking larger, I'd think they would use it to cross promote their upcoming games.
What if the new elder scrolls game also had a twelve episode anime launch on Netflix the week before the game launches. Or a fallout live action show. They own the IP rights to these now, and would be able to expand the brands.
CAM2772 t1_j129adt wrote
Or if they wanted to build off popular Netflix properties such as a Stranger Things video game
ruinersclub t1_j12l5ol wrote
Apple - Apple TV+
Amazon - Prime Video
Microsoft - Netflix / Gamepass
Radulno t1_j12tl18 wrote
> Or a fallout live action show.
That's already happening with Amazon FYI. They don't really need to buy Netflix to make shows, they just need to associate with a production studio and do them, they'll find a distributor (Netflix is very into video games adaptation but others too). They already did for Cuphead and Halo btw
rc042 t1_j15zbtn wrote
Yeah I was aware of the halo and Cuphead. I was not aware of the fallout show. Good to know.
You're right they don't need to, but if they have a platform they don't need to "shop it around" which removes some complexity.
I honestly don't think Microsoft needs to buy Netflix, and I don't see a major gain for them if they do. They could probably make a little more of a profit with Netflix than current Netflix (take all the cloud services in house to Azure and they get the family discount there) but I don't see much sense in them buying Netflix, unlike the author of the article.
Kaiser_Allen t1_j142cz5 wrote
Microsoft already tried their hand at original content (Xbox Originals) and didn’t like the massive amount of commitment needed to make it work, so they bowed out. I don’t think they will buy Netflix at all.
drakesylvan t1_j14yd97 wrote
No it won't. What the hell is this?
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diatho t1_j124azx wrote
Why would Microsoft want to buy Netflix? How does it help its core business of cloud and b2b? It doesn’t.
Activison makes games for game pass which is a subscription that gets Microsoft consistent revenue. Netflix would just be expensive. Apple is doing video to get people to pay into their bundle of news+games +phone. Amazon is trying to make prime more attractive and prime is unique in that it sells channels within it so you can be on prime and watch britbox.