The rumor mill is starting to churn on another takeover bid, and this one comes from a fairly reputable source. Financial Web site The Street reports that on a recent episode of CNBC's Fast Money, one panelist suggested that Apple may be looking into a takeover of games giant EA. Guy Adami claimed there has been "chatter" for the move recently on Wall Street, but unfortunately didn't offer any details beyond that. Chatter could mean speculation, or actual interest from the company, but there's no telling.
Apple has been gaining ground in videogames since the launch of the iPhone and its ubiquitous AppStore, and it has plenty of money to spend on ventures like this one. On the other hand, EA is a juggernaut publisher and hasn't been suffering as much as smaller game houses in this poor economy, so a buyout would be costly. For now chalk it up as only rumor based on a vague reference to "chatter," and we'll keep an eye out for more details.