Articles
-
The Cord-Cutting Fantasy
Predictably, television was one of the first topics Tim Cook was asked about at yesterday’s interview at AllThingsD. This followed the rumors of Yahoo acquiring Hulu, and Microsoft’s entertainment-centric Xbox One launch last week. It’s all about TV and the imminent age of cord-cutting. On this the blogosphere is certain. Except for one little problem: the…
-
Yahoo, Tumblr, and the Signal-to-ads Cycle
Tumblr is worth far more to Yahoo than $1.1 billion, and worth far less as a standalone company. That makes this acquisition a win-win; Yahoo is buying three important parts of the signal-to-ads cycle, and Tumblr’s investors are getting a nice exit. There are three ways to improve advertising revenue: Sell more ads Sell more effective…
-
The Android Detour
Google is at its best when its product focus follows its business model; for too long Android was a detour.
-
Adobe’s Subscription Model & Why Platform Owners Should Care
It’s difficult to overstate the significance of Adobe’s announcement that all of their products will be solely available through Creative Cloud. No longer can you buy packaged version of Photoshop, for example, that are yours forever. Instead you can subscribe to different individual apps or suites. What makes this so interesting is that while companies come…
-
The Intel Opportunity
A new CEO has taken over Intel. Their core business, upon which the company has been built, is floundering. Does the new CEO, who is not really new at all (he’s the current COO), have the vision to ensure Intel’s continued success? I’m not talking about Brian Krzanich, who today was promoted from COO to CEO…
-
The Truth About Windows Versus the Mac
Ben Evans wrote the article I’ve been wanting to write about why the phone market is fundamentally different than the PC market. I’m glad he did; his version is even better that what I had outlined. A quick taste: In the 1990s, the PC market was mostly a corporate market (roughly 75% of volume). Corporate buyers…
-
Two Bears
There are two Apple bear cases; only one applies to Apple, though, and the other applies to Samsung.
-
Why Do Carriers Subsidize the iPhone?
Horace Dediu at Asymco used the data I compiled1 in “The Case for the Low-Cost iPhone” to further elucidate why carriers tolerate the iPhone’s industry-leading subsidies. The presumption behind smartphone usage is that it leads to more browsing which leads to more network usage which in turn, leads to more network revenues and, finally, more network…
-
Observations on the App Annie Index
App Annie posted their quarterly app report this week, and there were three big-picture trends that jumped out at me. 1. Google Play is getting over the monetization hump, and it’s likely due to in-app purchase From the report: Over the past quarter, Google Play has achieved higher growth rates than the iOS App Store for…