Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) CEO Tim Cook said the company will become more aggressive in its acquisitions efforts. It may need that strategy to prop up the trouble with sales of its core products. Apple has $231 billion in cash, marketable short-term investments and long-term marketable securities, along with the ability to raise billions more at extremely low interest rates. That leaves Cook in a position to buy all but the most valuable tech companies in the world. Obviously, he has to choose carefully to make an acquisition that will fit closely with Apple’s current businesses, or take it into an entirely new area of tech.

One of the most ready fits to Apple’s core business is GoPro Inc. (NASDAQ: GPRO) in the market of portable video devices. Its products could become part of Apple’s video products, particularly the iPhone. GoPro’s market cap is $2 billion. The demand for its video cameras has cooled. The Apple brand might reverse that.

Fitbit Inc. (NYSE: FIT) has many of the features, and a level of success, that the Apple Watch lacks. Its market cap is $3.7 billion. Its success is threatened by other smartwatch products, but Apple has the brand and marketing muscle to possibly change that.

Apple’s foray into video streaming, branded Apple TV, faces tremendous competition from Netflix Inc. (NASDAQ: NFLX) and Amazon.com Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN). Apple could dominate the sector with a purchase of Netflix, with its market cap of $39 billion. Apple would pick up the dominate movie streaming company, with its huge subscriber base, which has 82  million “members” worldwide, a count that Apple will never reach with its TV product.

Apple could buy any of these — or all three.

Thank you for reading! Have some feedback for us?
Contact the 24/7 Wall St. editorial team.