It doesn’t take a genius to figure out that Ping puttered out quickly for Apple.
Ping – the social media service launched and operated by the tech giant – is definitely on the short list of Apple inventions that simply didn’t resonate with the masses.
As a result, sources close to the iPhone maker say that Apple will effectively kill the entire Ping platform in a subsequent iTunes update before 2012 comes to a close.
According to well-placed sources speaking with The New York Times, Twitter may be tapped by Apple to serve as Ping’s replacement.
Apple, which has stumbled in its efforts to get into social media, has talked with Twitter in recent months about making a strategic investment in it, according to people briefed on the matter.
“There is no guarantee that the two companies, which are not in negotiations at the moment, will come to an agreement,” the report reads. “But the earlier talks are a sign that they may form a stronger partnership amid intensifying competition from the likes of Google and Facebook.”
For now, it isn’t clear exactly how Twitter integration with iTunes would be structured, but Apple clearly wants to stay in the social game.
“Apple doesn’t have to own a social network,” Apple CEO Tim Cook recently stated. “But does Apple need to be social? Yes.”
