Apple Buys Topsy Labs To Access Twitter Analytics

Apple has recently been spending some of its massive $137 billion cash pile in some corporate acquisitions.  We reported recently that they have purchased Primesense at an estimated cost of $345 million.

We ascertained this acquisition was probably bought for the rumoured Apple iTV product, as Primesense was the innovative company behind Microsoft’s Xbox Kinect sensor. Apple’s new innovation allegedly will launch to the masses in 2015, (I can’t wait to see what that’s all about). Meanwhile, Apple also has bought a mapping company called Embark to further their hold on the navigation side of things.

Following trend with these recent company purchases, the Cupertino firm has now purchased Topsy Labs Inc, a social media analytics firm, for more than $200 million, according to The Wall Street Journal.

Topsy is a company based in California and they are a certified partner with social media giant, Twitter.  The company’s role for Twitter is to provide and maintain a complete index of tweets. Topsy’s products include the ability to analyse, search and draw insight from trends and conversations on the social networking platform.

It is not immediately clear what the guys over at Apple plan to do with this acquisition, but we hazard a guess that they may use the analytics firm to enhance target its advertising within iAd and iTunes Radio. Apple may also use Topsy for research into customers’ data for product targeting to be used in the Apple retail model.

Apple confirmed the deal using their typical statement that it releases when buying comparatively small companies such as these. The company did not go into specifics regarding the sale and likewise, Topsy has not provided any additional information at all.

Is Apple trying to take over the world? Or are they just a tad better at company acquisition, marketing, product placement and product design than most? I think the ability to dive into $137 billion speaks volumes, don’t you?

[Image via cyberparse]

SOURCE: http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702304854804579234450633315742