Rumor: Apple Looks at Roxio Acquisition


As Apple seeks support from indie record labels, potential rival in the internet music services business, Roxio, may be in Cupertino's line of sight, claims Looprumors.

Roxio already owns Napster's assets and is now actively developing its own rival music service. Roxio also not only develops Toast and Jam for Mac, but also EasyCD Creator and DirectCD for Windows. Roxio is also corporate spin-off of parent Adaptec, the maker of a range of hardware for both the Intel and Mac platforms.

Roxio recently acquired Pressplay, a music service formerly operated by Sony Music, which sank millions into the venture without significant revenue returns.

Analysis: Would an acquisition of Roxio make sense? Yes. We agree with the Register's analysis that it presents a ready-made suite of Windows applications to launch music services and other 'iLife'-type apps. Previously, Apple's acquisitions, such as Emagic or the lead programmer from SoundJam, have resulted in new Mac software incorporating existing apps. Would Roxio remain like Filemaker, a spin-off? Or would it be drawn directly into Apple with rebranded Apple software? There are those in the x86 world who abhor everything Apple, so Roxio branding wouldn't hurt in that respect.

And it looks like IGM's speculation that Apple's looking to become a hybrid Mac/Windows, hardware/software company might not be too far from the truth.