Brute force is not the answer. NVIDIA reported excellent results as it is the main supplier to an industry where difficulties in evolving its technology have forced it to rely on ever-increasing compute power for progress. This is not a sustainable position as RFM research (see here) indicates that many of the new techniques being explored to advance AI use...
The US Department of Commerce gets serious. The US Department of Commerce has announced a tightening of sanctions on Huawei which at face value effectively mean that no one can sell silicon to Huawei without a license. The practical upshot of this is that the US can put Huawei out of business by failing to grant licenses thereby rendering Huawei...
Epic is spoiling for a fight. Epic Games clearly thinks it has a winning case against Apple as the events of last week were clearly orchestrated by Epic to result in a big legal fight that risks damaging much more than just Fortnite if it loses. Epic Games has filed lawsuits against both Apple and Google alleging that they “impose...
RFM has gone camel racing but will return to active duty on Aug 17th.
The tech war heats up. The White House has ratcheted up the pressure on China with the issuance of two executive orders that in Tencent’s case makes far more noise than the effect it will have. The White House issued two orders one related to TikTok and the other related to WeChat (not Tencent itself) that bans “ any transaction...
Z fold 2 looks like Z Flip. Samsung released a good slate of new products but potential shortcomings with the new Fold and pricing marred what was generally a good event. Note 20 / Note 20 Ultra The Note 20 Ultra goes all out with a 6.9” 120Hz screen, a huge camera bump with 50x zoom as well as a...
Has Samsung seen the light? Google and Samsung are in discussions that could see Google take over more of the core software functionality on Samsung devices making them more attractive to users and potentially more profitable for Samsung. Should this deal come to fruition (and to the degree that I have long advocated (see here and here)), this would mean...
Google has an opportunity that I don’t think it will take. Google has opened up a new front in the battle with Amazon by forming a partnership with ADT in order to deliver smart home security to ADT’s 6m US-based customers. Google is buying a 6.6% stake in ADT for $450m which is already worth $670m thanks to a bounce...
This looks like an opportunistic investment for Microsoft. Microsoft is in talks to acquire TikTok that I suspect is more about an investment opportunity than a sudden newfound desire to have yet another go at building a consumer digital ecosystem. Microsoft is negotiating on two fronts to acquire the USA, Canada, Australia and New Zealand operations of TikTok in a...
Richard is founder, owner of research company, Radio Free Mobile. He has 16 years of experience working in sell side equity research. During his 11 year tenure at Nomura Securities, he focused on the equity coverage of the Global Technology sector.
Alibaba FQ1 2021 – Poor man’s Amazon
No FOMO here. Alibaba reported good results as it continued to benefit from the same trends that have driven Amazon during the pandemic. Alibaba sells far more stuff than Amazon but it is little known outside of China which combined with increasing hostility means that it is unlikely to grow outside China foreseeable future. However, investors are being asked to...