Only users can save Libra. The loss of Vodafone is another nail in the coffin of Facebook’s digital currency Libra meaning that the only thing that can save it now will be wide-reaching engagement from Facebook users. I think that Libra has a lot going for it. Tencent has shown that a payment system inside a chat app can be...
A vehicle with no launch date. GM Cruise has launched its first autonomous vehicle which has no launch date and about which I think questionable statements were made. The vehicle is named Origin and is a people mover with no driver controls and can comfortably seat 4 people. However, no details of its range, launch date or even cost were...
Tencent has a real problem on its hands. The market for Digital Life services has clearly switched from one of growth to one of competition as the growing fight between Tencent and ByteDance for the engagement of users shows. To date, the digital ecosystem in China has been dominated by three big players (BATMen) who have occupied the Digital Life...
Xnor.ai will not fix the fragmentation issue. Apple’s acquisition of Xnor.ai increases my concerns with regards to Apple’s approach to AI and may make it fall further behind. Apple is reportedly paying $200m to acquire Xnor.ai whose speciality is the ability to efficiently run large machine learning models on edge devices. There are obvious advantages in being able to do...
Advertising is not the way to monetise Instant Messaging. Facebook has abandoned its plans to monetise WhatsApp through advertising which if its peers are anything to go by was always going to fail. Facebook and Google are the kings of digital advertising in developed markets and as their portfolios have expanded, so has the requirement to monetise them. So far,...
Trade war may end but tech rivalry is just beginning. Despite an easing of tensions on the trade front, it is clear that while the two are happy to trade, the fierce rivalry over technology standards has already begun as is evidenced by what is happening in Europe. The USA and China have signed a new trade agreement that formalises...
OYO is another blackeye in waiting. SoftBank’s flagging reputation may be about to take another hit as another of its flagship investments has hit difficulties and is struggling to overcome them. This is a knock-on effect from the WeWork disaster which has pushed SoftBank to demand that its portfolio companies start making money almost immediately which is causing a lot...
Choice of search engine makes little if any difference. Google choose an opportune time to publish what could have been seen as bad news but in reality, I don’t think it will make any meaningful difference. Right in the thick of CES (Jan 9th), Google sneaked out the news that it will be giving European users a choice of search...
Reality was the real theme at CES 2020 Back to reality The week started with its usual bunch of glitzy press conferences from the big players but their lack of substance meant that the real story was to be found elsewhere. I haven’t seen the official attendance numbers, but it felt like footfall was down in the big halls which...
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.
Google vs. Amazon – End game.
Assistants are too stupid for mass adoption. While growth in the digital assistant space is slowing, the battle looks like it is almost over although Google still has one or two tricks up its sleeve. The latest report from Voicebot.ai (see here and here) echoes the theme from CES 2020 which clearly pointed to a maturation of the digital assistant...