Tinkering with Apple’s DNA

[Bloomberg] [Fully Charged]( From [Bloomberg](   [FOLLOW US [Facebook Share]]( [Twitter Share]( [SUBSCRIBE [Subscribe]](  Hi, everyone, it's [Shira](mailto:sovide@bloomberg.net). Even in the ever-changing technology industry, there are some constants. One of those is match makers suggesting Apple Inc. buy Netflix Inc. or [insert a hot internet/media company of the moment]. I've tended to dismiss these ideas, including the Netflix (and other) [acquisition suggestions]( this week from a JPMorgan stock analyst. Apple typically builds everything on its own, although it occasionally buys small companies to plug in technologies it believes are important. Apple's largest ever purchase -- [Beats]( for about $3 billion -- was the exception that proved the rule. The 2014 deal was the foundation for what became Apple Music. Apple had [resisted]( streaming music that people don't own, and it may have needed outside expertise and technology to nudge itself in a different direction. Now, Apple is undergoing [a dramatic corporate remodeling](, and its approach to build vs. buy may again need to change. Apple wants to rely less on selling devices and more on getting its built-in audience to spend more on apps and subscriptions to digital music, online video and news. Future Apple digital offerings must [work well on multiple computing devices](, not just the ones that Apple makes. That is not a skill Apple has honed in-house. The company has been [hiring Hollywood experts]( for its expected Netflix-like web video service, but some observers believe they could use more help. Dan Ives of Wedbush Securities recently[ suggested]( that Apple buy Sony Corp.'s U.S. television-and-film production division or another entertainment machine to push along Apple's wannabe Netflix service. Netflix itself may be out of reach, even for Apple. But Netflix has shown that a savvy company doesn't need to buy an entertainment company to become an entertainment empire. Again, though, different times for Apple may call for different and unusual measures. And while we're talking about rethinking Apple's approach to mergers-and-acquisitions, there's also an opportunity for Apple to think different with its retail stores. Apple started to open its own shops in 2001, just before the debut of the iPod that became Apple's first truly large-volume product. It was helpful for people to see, try and get help with the unfamiliar Apple music player -- and later the iPhone -- in stores that the company controlled. (Awkward flash back: BusinessWeek magazine, now Bloomberg Businessweek, published a 2001 [column]( with this headline: "Sorry, Steve. Here's Why Apple Stores Won't Work.) More recently under Angela Ahrendts, the retail store boss who is [leaving her post]( after about five years, Apple opened fewer stores but created larger and more dramatic retail outposts. Should Apple move instead to more and smaller stores to maximize opportunities to interact in-person with more of its customers? Could the stores be even more aggressive about coaching people to get the most from Apple's growing lineup of apps and services? Apple may be more than happy to stick with its strategy on stores and with its corporate takeovers. But those of us on the outside can't stop wondering what Apple could do differently to make its desired reformation real. -- [Shira Ovide](  Here’s what else you need to know in global technology news: Big promises. Few results: Foxconn pledged to bring manufacturing jobs to Wisconsin. Insiders [describe a chaotic environment]( with ever-changing goals, far different from the story sold by the company, the White House and local officials.  Casualties: Oracle Corp. has been quietly [cutting the workforce]( in the advertising-software division it spent five years and billions of dollars to build. Why? Facebook changed the rules.  The robots have come for our board games: Artificial intelligence researchers have been teaching computers to [play a Pictionary-like drawing game]( to hone computers' common sense.  The world is messy: Stripe Inc. acknowledged its[ expansion is trickier]( because of a more fractured global economy and other barriers between countries.   Sponsored Content by [Acquia]( Acquia is the open source digital experience company that empowers the world’s most ambitious brands to embrace innovation and create customer moments that matter. At Acquia, we believe in the power of community - giving our customers the freedom to build tomorrow on their terms. Learn more [here](.   You received this message because you are subscribed to the Bloomberg Technology newsletter Fully Charged. You can tell your friends to [sign up here](.  [Unsubscribe]( | [Bloomberg.com]( | [Contact Us]( Bloomberg L.P. 731 Lexington, New York, NY, 10022