Tech titans deemed unlikely to spend on film and music
TECHNOLOGY giants are likely to defy market speculation that they will spend their vast reserves on buying up media rights, according to specialists at professional services firm Deloitte.
The likes of Apple and Google, which have plenty of cash at their disposal, have long been expected to use it to snap up content or media companies for their own platforms.
This could mean certain films or music appearing exclusively in iTunes, for example. However, Deloitte predicts that relatively little money will be spent in this way, with less than 10 per cent of an estimated $250bn (£153bn) of technology M&A spending going on content assets.
The company’s influential Technology, Media, and Telecommunications predictions report for 2013 highlights the difficulties tech companies would face in trying to buy up media rights. These problems include the tax payments that would come with buying content in many countries, and the fact that more technology giants are having to pay dividends for the first time in years. Another reason is that the process would “be considered too difficult or distracting”.