企業跨領域併購的研究—以蘋果公司併購Beats公司為例

在當前經濟全球化背景下，企業併購案時有所聞，其中有成功有失敗，成功寥寥可數，更多的是失敗沈淪而消失於市場。 2014年，蘋果公司斥資30億美元收購不同於其原有主營領域的企業——Beats，也是近十幾年來蘋果最大的一次併購案。蘋果為何併購Beats？這次併購對蘋果帶來的風險和機遇各是多少？對於蘋果的這次的併購外界看法褒貶不一，有人認為蘋果是從舊報紙堆裡發現了黃金，但卻也有人認為蘋果花了30億美元併購Beats是一項不明智的交易，是一次極為任性的冒險，有可能只是為了圓蘋果高層的一個音樂夢。若單純從技術角度而言，Beats的耳機質量並不是業界內最好的，非常不符合蘋果追求消費者極致體驗的形象; 而且Beats付費用戶量數不多，用戶基礎遠遠比不上它主要競爭對手Spotify 和 Pandora，同時這有可能會給蘋果日後的產品營銷開發帶來不利的基因，持這種論調的人對蘋果的未來更是滿懷憂慮。本論文首先歸納了市場上各種併購種類及闡述併購史上五個併購浪潮, 其後簡要地介紹蘋果公司和Beats 二家公司，敍述蘋果公司歷年的併購案例、分析彙整各件併購案的背後動機、判斷其屬性, 然後再針對蘋果併購Beats 加以判斷是何種性質。其次, 分析更早之前宏達電(HTC) 併購Beats 之背後合併動機、過程、及結果；再詳細比較這二件併購案背後的動機以及可能存在的風險, 是否都各自產生協同效應, 各有何異同之處。最後, 為驗證蘋果公司此次併購Beats 的成功與否, 本論文廣泛蓃集市場資料, 說明蘋果由原有音樂下載服務轉變至串流音樂服務的歷程。也詳述近年蘋果在串流音樂的表現, 包括用戶數的增減以及音樂服務方面的營收變化。全文以辯證方式看待蘋果的此次收購，希望能為跨國企業未來進行大型收購提供參考借鑒。

關鍵字

全球化企業；跨領域併購；風險管理；協同效應

並列摘要

Under the circumstances of globalization, the cases of mergers and acquisitions (M&A) happen all the time; some of them succeeded but some didn’t. The failed cases account for the majority in M&A; the failure became the key reason for these corporations being phased out from the market. In 2014, Apple Inc. spent 3 billion in merging Beats, whose product lines were so different from Apple’s. This M&A deal is the biggest one in Apple in terms of acquisition spending. Why Apple needed Beats? What risks and opportunities Apple would encounter? Would Apple be able to overcome the upcoming risks? People thought about these differently from positive and negative ends. Some thought Apple found golds from pebbles and some thought it’s a risky and wayward adventure just to fulfill the dream of Apple top management as a band player. Why people think so negatively; it is because from technical point of view, Beats was not the best player in headphones and speakers; Beats quality didn’t align with Apple’s brand image in the market pursing top-tier quality and best user experience. They worried Beats would drag down Apple’s brand name. Another worry was the customer base of Beats was much smaller than her key competitor, Spotify, and Beats didn’t deserve 3 billion. This thesis firstly introduces the type of M&A from different perspective as well as 5 waves of M&A migration. Secondly, going with brief introduction of Apple Inc. and Beats, the earlier M&A cases in Apple and the types, the root reasons and incentives behind this acquisition. Moreover, the thesis highlights the detailed analysis about the history that Beats had even been merged by HTC, another smart phone manufacturer in Taiwan. What would be the similarities and differences of these 2 M&A cases from background incentives, potential risks, opportunities, and the outcomes of synergy effects. To figure out if the M&A with Beats is a successful deal, this thesis collects lots of market information of Apple’s performance shifting from music download service to on-line streaming music services that includes the analysis of user numbers and the increase of services revenue. The purpose of this thesis is to provide a case study for multi-national corporations’ future reference in merges and acquisitions.