UPDATE AS OF TUESDAY, DECEMBER 8 -- As I anticipated in my original post (see below), Apple apparently acquired Lala for much less than the $35 million invested -- it is reported that the purchase price is $17 million.
Lala didn't start out as a music streaming site at all. Its first vision was to be a CD trading site, but morphed into something completely different in 2008. And, apparently Apple is interested in Lala's technology that allows users to stream their songs to their mobile phones from an in-the-cloud music "locker" for $.10. PC World gives a great analysis -- click here -- of the possible ramifications for iTunes.
The interesting thing is that Google just recently partnered with Lala to help power its own music initiatives -- so, you can kiss that partnership good-bye.
Although Apple's purchase price has not been disclosed, you can bet that it's a lot less than what investors have invested in Lala to date. So, although 'tis the season of giving, Apple likely has left some lumps of coal in Lala investors' stockings.
