Apple is set to acquire Path, the stylish private social network, according to a recent internet report.
Though we're not short of Apple-related news at present (something about a watch and a couple of phones), this little nugget could prove to be an interesting insight into how the company is thinking - if true.
According to Pando, which cites "a single well-placed source inside Apple’s engineering team," Apple has almost sealed a deal for Path. Indeed, the claim is that "it's almost done, if not signed already, but it’s essentially a done deal."
The acquisition would see the Path service as it is remaining virtually intact, and being integrated into Apple's Messages app.
The Path social network was founded on the idea of whittling down the typical social network experience to a smaller, more meaningful group of contacts. You can currently only have 150 friends on the service.
Path operates entirely through a mobile app for iOS, Android, and Windows Phone, with no desktop service, and has attracted plenty of critical praise for its attractive design and intuitive UI. Indeed, the ability to cross-post to Facebook and Twitter has led to some using it as their preferred tool for those social network giants.
But despite this, Path has proved relatively unpopular with the general public. It currently has around 25 million users, which is well short of Facebook and Twitter, as well as messaging apps such as WhatsApp.
As such, the acquisition isn't expected to fetch the eye-watering figures of other similar services, such as WhatsApp's $19 billion purchase by Facebook.
Apple, for its part, has no social network presence of its own at present. Remember Ping? We had to be reminded ourselves, despite the fact it was only discontinued two years ago.
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