A lot goes in to a decision to buy a company vs the alternatives.

Why not just be a customer. That way if something better becomes available the customer can move on. POET has a number of products, which would add to the price premium any buyer would have to pay. Apple doesn't want to exploit products by selling to others, so any products that POET makes that are not needed by Apple would be wasted. 

POET is playing a high-stakes game in a rapidly advancing field. Until it is established as the dominant technology with clearly leading tech and is very difficult to invent around, it is unclear if a buyout is smart.

POET would be foolish to sell now, as they have seen the promised land and laid the seeds in the ground. The growth is all but assured with their marquee partnerships. 

These are not being recognized by the stock market yet, so it would be stupid to sell the company until the obvious potential is priced in. At that point, POET will be too expensive.

Further, POET is agile, has pivoted and invented its way into a leadership role in photonics. If they get bought, it would likely make them more complacent, chilling the rapid innovation that is key in this developing space. So again, why not just buy the products, and wait and see if buying the company is a good path later. Apple has a very large and complex web of suppliers, they don't buy them, they buy from them. 

A few years ago, a supplier with the best glass (sapphire?) screens was having trouble keeping up with several major handset makers' demand. Apple offered an advance payment to set up more production, along with purchase guarantees of product, so that the company could expand more rapidly.

This happened in another way with another supplier in the ASML supply chain, where a supplier received ownership stakes from a few ASML customers to raise more capital rapidly to expand production. I believe it was Zeiss or Leica, a unique lens for ASML who, of course, supplies TSMC who in turn supplies NVIDIA and others.

These things are complex, with many factors going into decisions regarding buyouts vs. supply agreements vs. licensing. It's not the same space as software, where rapid growth in a customer base means Meta or another will buy you out to maintain and extend their dominance.  

There is so much money concentrated in these spaces that anything is possible. The competition is ferocious. My overall take is to agree with Suresh in his statement that POET has is a platform that rapidly adapts to a variety of needs. POET can serve many, many types of circuits with its adaptability and critical IP (waveguides, fiber attach, hermetic seals, heat displacement at laser mounts, pick-and-place manufacturability, small size). With all this, POET's array of partnerships is growing rapidly and is also an asset.