The Board of Apple Inc has been very involved in discussions about what to do with its very, very large cash reserves and securities. On Tuesday, Tim Cook, the CEO of Apple said he has received a lot of inquiries into what should be done, and confirmed they are actively looking to acquire companies.
According to public records, Apple currently has almost $100 Billion (yes, billion) in reserves right now, and many people are calling for Apple to use this cash to make investments, or to give to shareholders via dividends or buy-backs of stock.
However, it seems to me that Apple needs to start buying companies that are focused in the Performance Marketing sector. Despite having the largest music and video store on the planet, through ITUNES, Apple has absolutely no marketing companies that push performance and affiliate marketing under its umbrella.
Even Tim Cook admits that Amazon’s technology platforms, mainly the Kindle, are going to pose fierce competition. However, he never mentioned that Amazon is its size mainly through its network of affiliates that for over a decade pushed Amazon out there to the public through revenue sharing.
Apple needs to focus on buying performance marketing companies and integrating those solutions into its platforms. While it has its own mobile advertising platforms, it needs to look at other opportunities. Google embraced Affiliate advertising recently, realizing that it’s one of the fastest growing areas of online advertising. Even with economic issues plaguing the economy, performance marketing continues to grow at record paces.
It’s a simple match: Apple has a huge audience of users, through their ipods, ipads, itunes and other platforms they own. By allowing anyone to sell products via these stores via performance marketing, they will be allowing other businesses to also benefit from their success. This not only creates additional income for them, but also gives them the opportunity to find what companies are succeeding, who are making new products that are innovate, and perhaps even buy those companies and integrate them. Performance marketing is a win-win solution for everyone, and Apple can become a part of it.
Performance marketing would be a perfect match for apples $100 Billion reserves.
