Apple is poised to announce an acquisition of the
Path social network, says a source claimed to be within Apple's engineering team. "It's almost done, if not signed already, but it's essentially a done deal," the person claims. The source adds that Apple is
interested in more than just talent, and wants Path to be incorporated partly or wholly into its Messages app.
The man behind Path, Dave Morin, was spotted sitting front-row at yesterday's Apple press event, something normally reserved for people already within the company. Apple has also regularly featured Path during keynotes and ad campaigns, even though the network hasn't achieved much traction. On the iOS App Store, Path is 177th in the Social Networking category. In January, the company was given a valuation under the $400 million mark when management was seeking something over $500 million. At the time, it had around 25 million users.
If Apple does integrate Path into its software, it will presumably be as a second attempt at social networking. Its first attempt, Ping, was tied to iTunes and was never popular. It launched in 2010, and was shuttered just two years later.
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