Apple figured out how to effectively buy a satellite network without inheriting their pile of debt! What happens to the apple funded satellites if Globalstar goes under, is there some special clause that moves them directly to Apple?
If Apple really does acquire, I hope they ditch the bent pipe architecture, work on sat-to-sat connection, and most importantly for us, allow 2-way messaging on phones from sat, enough to send photos and stuff.
No. The terms seem designed to have the fallback option be for Apple to
purchase the company outright, or possibly to purchase at least a controlling interest.
They have rules requiring the current Executive Chairman to retain majority control for 5 years. They have a right of first offer with him if he wants to sell stock.
With the company they have the right to submit a counteroffer to any sale of assets required to provide the services, or proposed sales of the company itself.
All of this makes me feel that they want to have this company as an independent supplier, but have buying it up as their backup plan.
Globalstar is a terrible asset and has limbered along for 15 years. The fact that they would give up almost all their capacity without even calling for an acquisition speaks to their desperation, perhaps even Apple's
I am actually quite surprised that it hasn't gone fully belly up some time in the past 10-12 years as their product has been eclipsed by much more robust offerings from competitors. How they've limped along with additional funding I truly don't know.
> Global customer segments include oil and gas, government, mining, forestry, commercial fishing, utilities, military, transportation, heavy construction, emergency preparedness, and business continuity as well as individual recreational users.
From wikipedia.
Their customers seem to be pretty phone-call heavy industries, they aren't competitive on the data front, but aren't they cheaper than Iridium for phone calls?
Their satellite phones are absolutely ancient and look like 90s era Nokia. If voice was their competitive advantage you would assume they would invest heavily in keeping the equipment current. Looking at their service plans[0] I don't see anything compelling that matches Iridium or Inmarsat.
If one looks at the past 10 years of revenue and company size as a whole of Globalstar, it's absolutely minuscule as a corporate entity, apple could buy them on a casual whim.
If Apple really does acquire, I hope they ditch the bent pipe architecture, work on sat-to-sat connection, and most importantly for us, allow 2-way messaging on phones from sat, enough to send photos and stuff.