Shane Cole
The latest target of Apple's recently-busy mergers and acquisitions staff is Silicon Beach company Burstly, a deal that could bolster both the iAd platform and the Xcode development suite.
Santa Monica, Calif.-based Burstly says they provide "solutions for the app lifecycle," supporting developers with app testing platform TestFlight and in-app ad management tool SkyRocket. News of the acquisition was first reported by TechCrunch.
Apple confirmed the deal to Re/code with the now-standard statement that "Apple buys smaller technology companies from time to time, and we generally do not discuss our purpose or plans."
Burstly has taken a number of steps to tighten its offerings in recent weeks, terminating TestFlight's Android support and deprecating access to its software development kit. Those actions now look to have been the result of the Apple agreement.
No financial terms were disclosed, and it is unclear whether Apple is interested in Burstly's technology, team, or both. So-called "acquihires," in which larger tech companies buy startups simply to assimilate their employees, have become increasingly common as competition for engineering and design talent heats up.
This is Apple's second known acquisition this year after the company bought photography app developer SnappyLabs early in January.
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36 Comments
Wish apple would purchase foursquare (so Google or Microsoft doesn't)
Wish apple would purchase foursquare (so Google or Microsoft doesn't)
I don't want Apple buying companies for the sake of buying them. Many people also wish Apple would buy Twitter and Pebble, but if they don't have a use for them, then its wasteful to and hurtful to buy a company without a purpose.
"AppleInsider reports on Apple's acquisition of smaller technology companies from time to time, and we generally speculate about their purpose and plans." :)
[quote name="macxpress" url="/t/162140/apple-acquires-app-testing-and-advertising-company-burstly#post_2475591"] I don't want Apple buying companies for the sake of buying them. Many people also wish Apple would buy Twitter and Pebble, but if they don't have a use for them, then its wasteful to and hurtful to buy a company without a purpose. [/quote] Absolutely on the main point. Twitter isn't going to sell more iPhones. Square might though. Apple might have their own solution.
wouldn't the opposite be true? If they bought twitter and made it iOS only, it would sell more iPhones than Square would as more people use twitter than Square...
(yes i know you mean payment services, but the fact I would need an extra device to take a payment isn't too appealing)
P.S. I don't really want apple buying either company.