Apple Tipped To Buy Netflix As Streaming War Gets Serious

It's not exactly a secret that Apple has a lot of cash laying around, and thanks to the GOP's new tax plan, we may see it put some of that money to use. Apple is said to have a decent chance of buying Netflix at some point this year, which would certainly shake up the streaming scene. Such a purchase would mark a rather grand entrance into the packed streaming market for Apple, which it has been trying to break into for quite some time now.

Jim Suva and Asiya Merchant, analysts with Citi Group, have stated a 40% chance that Apple buys Netflix now that President Trump has signed the GOP's sweeping tax bill into law. That comes from Business Insider, which points out that the tax breaks corporations are receiving make such a large deal more attractive for a company like Apple, which has a lot of money to work with.

Not only that, but the opportunity to repatriate money held in offshore accounts without paying a bunch of extra taxes means that Apple can bring the cash necessary for the purchase back into the States. Apple is said to have as much as $250 billion dollars at its disposal, and Suva and Merchant figure that it would need only a third of that hoard to buy up Netflix.

Though Apple has been developing some original content for Apple Music, it's lagging far behind other streaming services. Amazon has its own service in Prime Video, while Netflix and Hulu still dominate many discussions about which streaming services are the best. By purchasing Netflix, Apple could jump start its streaming efforts in a really major way.

Obviously, this is all just speculation, and the 40% chance Citi gives the deal is certainly far from certainty. Still, if Apple makes moves to bring its overseas cash back to the States, this could be one potential outcome of that decision. It'll have money to burn, and spending it to disturb the streaming market seems like a very Apple thing to do.