Is Google and Amazon in a price war?

Last night, I decided to check Amazon for their monthly $5 album deals. Amazon is very notorious for offering books and music at lower-than-normal prices for the sake of gaining sales. While I saw an album or two I might get, something caught my eye - an album for $0.25. That's right 25 cents. Considering the album, "Tha Carter IV", is by Lil Wayne a popular artist, I decided to search the reason Amazon would sell an album so cheap. I think the cheapest they sold an album was for $3.99 and that was a week promotion for a new release. Well, I found the reason.

This week Google changed Android Market into Google Play. To promote the brand name change, Google is offering an album a day for $0.25. They (as of last night when I wrote this) were also offering the same album for $0.25. It seems Google and Amazon are in a price war. Well, the deal has clearly worked for Amazon. According to Amazon stats (as of 2:32am), "Tha Carter IV" with digital booklet has jumped to #1 with a 122,890% increase. 

With such deep discounts throughout the week, I guess Amazon and Google are willing to risk lots of profit for the sake of customers. Or this is their way of showing they have so much money they can actually offer products for less a dollar. With all this money to throw around, what else can we look forward to?

Time Warner Dispute with MSG Media Could Leave to No NY Sports Media

Time Warner Cable is battling it out with with MSG Media. MSG Media is the media division of Madison Square Garden Company.  According to “MSG and Time Warner Face Off” by Richard Sandomir of NYtimes.com, “MSG Media accused Time Warner Cable on Friday of threatening to remove its networks, MSG and MSG Plus, from its systems in the New York and Buffalo markets on Dec. 31… that could deprive viewers of Knicks, Rangers, Islanders, Devils and Sabres games”.

MSG Media’s position is their networks are worth more now than the price listed in the 2005 contract. Michael Bair, president of MSG Media is asking for Time Warner to “pay fair and reasonable rates consistent with what others pay” and the current price offered is “way below what is currently market rate for our product”.

Time Warner is claiming MSG media wants a 53% increase, which they consider unreasonable.

The Madison Square Garden Company’s website lists MSG Network, MSG Plus, and Fuse as their networks. The contract negotiations/dispute with between the two entities have been going on for two years. If Time Warner Cable’s threats are valid,  on New Year’s day,  New York Sports fans might wake up to no access to local sports media.

Oracle Insults Autonomy's Price Tag and HP Purchase

Hewlett-Packard (HP) thought their troubles were beginning to fade away as the company ousted their CEO and hired Meg Whitman. A public verbal spat between Oracle and Autonomy is bringing to light criticism about HP’s purchase of the latter company. “Oracle-Autonomy battle rages with HP in the wings” by Paul Sandle of Reuters.com reports HP’s decision to buy Autonomy for $12 billion sparked a debate about the price tag.

The Autonomy purchase was one of the last big moves of former CEO Leo Apotheker. The article reports the purchase “has alienated Wall Street because of its steep price tag”.  HP’s new CEO Meg Whitman has stood by the purchase. But last week, CEO of Oracle Larry Ellison announced to investors that “Oracle had been pitched a sale during an April meeting but walked away because the company, with a $6 billion market value at the time, was priced ‘absurdly high’.”

Autonomy CEO Mike Lynch has admitted the two met but it wasn’t a sales pitch. Ellison is claiming he has proof of the sales pitch. The proof: a PowerPoint presentation by Lynch, and Frank Quattrone, a dealmaker who Ellison claims was present at the pitch. Ellison has gone a step further by posting the slides online at Oracle.com/PleaseBuyAutonomy.

While this verbal dispute between Oracle and Autonomy is entertaining, the actual matter is whether HP paid too much money for the latter. The matter has gone from inquisitive to insulting. While Autonomy feels the need to respond (which I believe they shouldn’t have responded), this is HP’s problem. Meg Whitman needs to clarify the purpose of Autonomy’s purchase and the value of the $12 billion price tag.