Radio Free Mobile has taken a trip to the Empty Quarter (Rub’ al Khali) to race falcons. Service will resume on August 28th. Radio Free Mobile wishes its readers a pleasant summer break.
Mate 30 Pro won’t sell without Google. Commentators are getting excited about the leaked specifications of Huawei’s next big launch (Mate 30 Pro) but the only thing that matters is Google as, without Google Services, no one will buy the device no matter how good the camera is. The Mate 30 Pro is the first major device launch by Huawei...
A test of ByteDance’s AI. By moving into search, ByteDance is throwing down the gauntlet to Baidu where the contest will be decided by the quality of the algorithms that each company uses. My money is on Baidu but there is no doubt that ByteDance represents a threat to Baidu’s long-term search business. ByteDance is a new entrant into the...
Brute force only benefits Microsoft. Open AI is making a big bet on compute power being the answer to the limitations of AI in a move that I think will fail but completely explains why Microsoft was willing to throw $1bn at this project. Since Microsoft’s purchase of the most expensive lottery ticket in history (see here), Open AI has...
One runner left It has been clear for several years now that the only 3D visual entertainment system that is going to work in the home environment is one without glasses. Even taking the successful 3D system in the cinema that uses cheap disposable glasses and using that in the home has failed to produce any traction at all. Going...
Uber has lost its soul The news of layoffs at Uber comes at a difficult time for the company which is now hostage to the whims of the fickle stock market. About 400 employees are to go from its marketing department in a sign that its Q2 18 results on the 8th August are not going to be pretty. Long...
Still a one-product company. Apple reported good results as iPhone growth declines slowed and services continued to chug along nicely. However, I still think that ending its dependence on the iPhone is a very distant dream meaning Apple will continue to live and die with the success of this product. FQ3 19 revenues / EPS were $53.81bn / $2.18 beating...
GM Cruise accepts reality Autonomous Cruise vehicles are no longer expected to be on the streets of San Francisco this year as Cruise has finally accepted that this task is far more difficult than it thought to crack. This is exactly in line with RFM’s expectations where it’s AI research (see here) clearly indicated that Cruise’s 2019 expectations were unrealistic....
The notion that Android can be privacy-focused is absurd Google promised that Android would become more privacy-friendly in its latest release, but the notion that it will ever be as private as iOS is absurd because turkeys do not vote for Christmas. Android Q is the latest version of Android and it is currently in beta testing for general availability...
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.
Lyft Q2 19 – Wheel reinvention.
Lyft and Uber are becoming taxi companies. Lyft reported what was received as good Q2 19 results, but I really don’t see much progress as the company is currently less profitable now (-77% EBIT margin) than it was 12 months ago (-61%). Looking at its commentary it is clear that the gulf between ride-hailing and the taxi companies is...