Apple Inc: Pandora stock hurt by acquisition talk

Apple studying launch of streaming music service which could be pre-installed on its popular iphone and ipad devices.

NEW YORK: Pandora Media shares plunged after reports said Apple is in talks to license music to create a rival online radio service. Shares of Pandora – the largest internet radio operator – slid 16.8% to close at $10.46.

The Wall Street Journal and The New York Times reported that Apple was studying the launch of a streaming music service which could be pre-installed on its popular iphone and ipad devices. Analyst Nat Schindler at Bank of America Merrill Lynch said Apple’s move could shake up the sector. “Apple is currently the largest music retailer in the world and the move is likely being made to unseat rapidly growing streaming competitors like Pandora and Spotify,” he said in a note to clients, but adding that the technology giant appears to be “going after Spotify and not Pandora.”

Published in The Express Tribune, September 9^th, 2012.