Tech giant Apple has been in discussions with social media company Twitter on the possibility of investing in the popular micro-blogging site, The New York Times reported on Friday, July 27.

Citing "unnamed people briefed on the matter," the Times said Apple was interested in investing hundreds of millions of dollars in Twitter, which would increase the social media company's valuation from $8.4 billion to more than $10 billion.

Apple has been very successful in selling its popular smartphones and tablets, but its position in social networking is not very strong. Social media are significant engines of online activity and on-mobile devices and are increasingly playing an integral role in how people spend their time and money. Considering that Apple also sells applications, music, games, and movies, social media is an essential consideration.

The New York Times report noted that the two companies are not currently in negotiations and there is no guarantee that they will come to an agreement. The earlier discussions, however, indicate that they may forge a strong partnership and give competition from powerful rivals such as Facebook and Google a run for their money.

While Apple is a hugely successful company, its mark is social media is rather limited. Apple's relationship with Facebook, for instance, has been on slippery slope since the agreement to integrate Facebook features into Ping, Apple's music-focused social network, fell apart. The social networking giant has also tied up with Microsoft, which owns a small stake in it. Meanwhile, Google has been ramping up its own social networking efforts with Google+.

"Apple doesn't have to own a social network," Apple CEO Tim Cook said at a recent tech conference. "But does Apple need to be social? Yes."

Twitter and Apple have already been collaborating for a while now. Apple has recently added tighter integration of Twitter features into its software for smartphones, tablets, and computers. Twitter has also quietly dedicated more resources to managing its relationship with the Cupertino-based iPhone maker.

An investment in the micro-blogging site would not be a big financial effort for Apple, which has $117 billion in liquid investments and has made a hush-hush deal on Friday to buy a mobile security company for $356 million. It would, however, be a rather uncommon approach for Apple, which generally acquires smaller start-ups and absorbs them entirely. On the other hand, such an agreement would grant Apple more access to Twitter's deep involvement in the social media,and make room for even tighter Twitter integration into Apple products.

Six-year-old twitter started out as a small service for short messages, but has now reached more than 140 million monthly active users who generate a great stream of 140-character bursts of information about their lives, current news, events, and everything else. An Apple investment would bolster Twitter's valuation and would also give it a more impressive position on the market. Moreover, news of the talks comes at a time when many are questioning the potential of social media and shares of big companies such as Facebook and Zynga have slumped.

Twitter CEO Dick Costolo said earlier this year that his company had "truckloads of money in the bank," so Twitter doesn't really need Apple's money to piggyback on. According to "people familiar with the matter", the New York Times reported that Twitter's "truckloads" amount to more than $600 million in cash on hand. Whether or not it signs deals with investors such as Apple, the social media biggie is expected to go public within the next couple of years.

According to The Times, Costolo declined to discuss any potential investments or anything related to Twitter's relationship with Apple, but such a partnership would make sense.

While Facebook and Google are rivals, Twitter has no intention of competing with Apple in the phone business or elsewhere. Apple on its part has no plans to build its own social network. However, it is uncertain at this juncture whether a partnership between Apple and Twitter will indeed ensue. Spokespeople for both companies said they do not comment on rumors and speculation.