Josh Ong
Cook told journalist Walt Mossberg at All Things D's D10 conference in Ranchos Palos Verdes, Calif., that he thinks Apple's relationship with social networking service Facebook is "very solid."
“We have great respect for them. I think we can do more with them," he reportedly said.
When questioned whether he thought that Facebook was "onerous," a reference to late Apple co-founder Steve Jobs' opinion about Facebook's terms for his company's Ping music service, Cook replied that they have "their way of doing things."
Cook went on to note that some people would say the same thing about Apple. He added that just because two companies have strong points of view doesn't mean they can't work together. "Stay tuned," he said.
One possible avenue for further cooperation between Apple and Facebook is deeper integration of Facebook into iOS. Last year, Apple built rival social service Twitter into the system level of iOS 5. Hints of similar integration for Facebook were reportedly spotted within beta builds of iOS earlier this year.
In 2010, Apple and Facebook were said to have negotiated for 18 months over the Ping service before talks finally broke down. After Ping launched, Jobs reportedly invited Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg over for dinner to discuss the service.
Facebook raised $16 billion in its IPO earlier this month, but the company's stock has since fallen sharply.
Though Apple and Facebook maintain a "solid" relationship at the moment, the two companies could become competitors if rumors of an in-development Facebook phone are to be believed. Facebook has reportedly been hiring former Apple iPhone engineers to work on an in-house phone project that could end up challenging Apple and Google.
Visit AppleInsider's D10 archive for more of Cook's comments and ongoing coverage of the conference.
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21 Comments
Cook was cagey about every answer and he was right to be cagey. I did not take his answer regarding Facebook to mean that there was actually any plan to do something, only that things "could be done". Frankly, with the beating FB's stock has been taking, they are soon going to be in a weaker position and they should be much more amenable to doing a deal with Apple.
[quote name="SpamSandwich" url="/t/150361/tim-cook-hints-at-closer-cooperation-between-apple-facebook#post_2117854"]Cook was cagey about every answer and he was right to be cagey. I did not take his answer regarding Facebook to mean that there was actually any plan to do something, only that things "could be done". Frankly, with the beating FB's stock has been taking, they are soon going to be in a weaker position and they should be much more amenable to doing a deal with Apple. [/quote] I worry that they want to be the new Android, but instead of stealing the tech they seem to be buying it.
Cook was cagey about every answer and he was right to be cagey. I did not take his answer regarding Facebook to mean that there was actually any plan to do something, only that things "could be done". Frankly, with the beating FB's stock has been taking, they are soon going to be in a weaker position and they should be much more amenable to doing a deal with Apple.
I agree with you. AI's headline is a bit of a stretch from what Tim said. Tim basically said that no doors were closed to Apple and FB from doing things to integrate social media into the iOS or the OSX.
I don't worry because I have no invested money to lose with Facebook.
If it comes down to buying companies (and Facebook clearly has no idea what it is doing as evidenced by their Instagram acquisition) then let the games begin. Facebook will overpay for everything because they are basically run by one person whose company was at the right place at the right time, Mark Zuckerberg. They would be smart if they underpaid for nimble, rapidly growing startups instead, overpaying is a sign of desperation and their stock plummet is showing signs that the market won't stand for underperformance and overpaying for companies.