Mediaboss Marketing

Apple Chief Executive Timothy Cook recently appeared to acknowledge the company needs to take part in social networking.

Twitter could have been the answer.

Sources tell The New York Times that Apple has chatted with Twitter in recent months about making a strategic investment in the social networking site in a deal that would have valued it at more than $10 billion. Apple has considered an investment in the hundreds of milliosn of dollars, according to the Times.

However, two sources told Bloomberg that Apple isn't in talks with Twitter. While the companies were in discussions more than a year ago, the talks ended without an agreement, the news agency reported, citing a person familiar with the matter. Reuters also separately reported that Apple and Twitter are not currently in talks.

That Apple would eye a stake in a social networking platform like Twitter seems to be a logical move. Consumers increasingly are turning to mobile devices including the iPhone to access Facebook, Twitter and other social networking sites. Of course, Facebook has encountered challenges capitalizing monetarily on the hundreds of millions of active users who use its mobile products.

Still, Apple hasn't brushed off the importance of social media. Apple doesnt have to own a social network," the Times quoted Cook as saying at a recent technology conference. But does Apple need to be social? Yes."

Purchasing a stake in Twitter wouldn't have busted Apple's bank; the consumer electronics giant lists nearly $8 billion in cash and equivalents as of June 30, and that excludes a whopping $109.28 billion in short-term and long-term marketable securities.

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Apple To Buy Piece of Twitter? Not So Fast