????似乎可以保險地假設，蘋果（Apple）現在屬意Hulu，主要是為了看看這家可能被其競爭對手收購的公司的賬目。蘋果最終恐怕不會收購這家視頻流媒體公司。

????不過這是一個很有趣的想法。蘋果想在網絡視頻領域占據一席之地，它之前曾試圖復制在音樂領域的成功，不過其努力基本白費。此外，Hulu還能使蘋果順利躋身另一個它表現不佳的領域：在線廣告。

????彭博新聞（Bloomberg News）上周四晚間報道稱，蘋果正在“考慮”出價競購Hulu，后者已引起雅虎（Yahoo）、亞馬遜（Amazon）、美國電話電報公司（AT&T）等公司的興趣。

????科技商業新聞網站GigaOM的萊恩?羅勒列舉了數條充分的理由，論證蘋果似乎不可能收購Hulu。他表示，蘋果“可能難以接受一個以自有品牌運營、無法與公司其它產品緊密融合的獨立子公司”。他說的沒錯，唯一的例外是蘋果最終放棄以自身形象重塑Hulu品牌，不過蘋果肯定會這樣做。

????不過，羅勒指出，主要問題在于“Hulu什么都想做”，而“蘋果想要控制自己的生態系統”。那么，比如說蘋果是否會允許Hulu在谷歌（Google）Android設備上使用？這對蘋果而言肯定是非常之舉，但這并非不可能。一旦它成為蘋果的一部分，Hulu“想要”什么將無關緊要。不過，要使Hulu與蘋果大相徑庭的戰略相互調和將是項大工程。

????不過蘋果但試無妨。畢竟此舉風險不大。報道所稱Hulu的最高估價不過20億美元（盡管彭博報道稱，Hulu的價格“可能超過”這個數字），如此看來，此項收購的價格尚不足蘋果高達760億美元的現金儲備的3%。

????而且一旦收購Hulu，蘋果將立即在在線視頻領域占據一席之地，有權在兩年時間里獨家播放一些世界上最大媒體公司提供的內容。

????譯者：項航

????It seems safe to assume that Apple is kicking Hulu's tires mainly so it can get a look at the books of a company that will likely be purchased by a competitor. Apple (AAPL) will probably not

????It's an intriguing notion, however. Apple wants to be a major player in Internet video, where most of its efforts to replicate its success with music have fallen short. Hulu would also enable Apple to put itself squarely into another where it has faltered: online advertising.

????Bloomberg News reported late Thursday that Apple is "considering" making a bid for Hulu, which has already attracted interest from Yahoo (YHOO), Amazon (AMZN), AT&T (T) and others.

????GigaOM's Ryan Lawler lists several good reasons that an acquisition seems unlikely. Apple "might have a problem with an independent subsidiary that operates under its own brand name and isn't tightly integrated with the rest of its products," he says. Which is true, but only if Apple doesn't eventually rebrand Hulu in its own image, which it eventually would.

????But the main thing, Lawler points out, is that "Hulu wants to be everywhere" while "Apple wants to control its own ecosystem." So, would Apple make Hulu available for Android (GOOG) devices, for example? That would certainly be an unusual move for Apple, but it's not out of the question. What Hulu "wants" would be irrelevant once it's part of Apple. Still, reconciling Hulu's and Apple's disparate strategies would be a pretty big undertaking.

????It might be worth it for Apple just to try. There's not much risk involved, after all. At $2 billion, Hulu's highest reported valuation (though Bloomberg reports that Hulu's price "could exceed" that figure), an acquisition would deplete Apple's enormous cash reserve of $76 billion by less than 3%.

????And for that, Apple would instantly become a force in online video, with rights to stream content – for two years, exclusively -- from some of the biggest media companies in the world.