Netflix – Risky business pt. II

Netflix faces increasing risk for a more uncertain return. The collapse of Netflix’s movie library is continuing apace meaning that more than ever Netflix will have to depend on the hit and miss content creation business for its future growth. This basically changes Netflix from being a distributor of content into a creator of content and it is on that...

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Faraday Future – Skin deep.

Uncertainty is still the name of the game. Faraday Future has managed to recreate a veneer of credibility, but its plans look as unbelievable as ever making wonder whether this recovery is just skin deep. For such a young company, Faraday Future (founded in 2014) already has a long and chequered history meaning that anything it does from here will...

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Xiaomi Q3 19 – Approaching reality

Xiaomi finds a bottom. Xiaomi has weathered Huawei’s market share gains in its home market extremely well which combined with growth in its ecosystem leads me to think that the shares have pretty much found the bottom. Q3 19 results were encouraging with weakness in smartphones being offset by strength in its other consumer electronics products. Smartphone shipments fell by...

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Cybertruck – The numbers game

Pay same. Get less.   The Tesla Model 3 is a no brainer as it is almost as quick as a BMW M5 but costs the same as a mid-range 3 series but the same cannot be said for the Cybertruck. The $100 refundable deposit has ensured that the pre-order numbers are big, but as a utility vehicle, I don’t...

Virtual Reality – Stalled at the start.

Microsoft and Sony go in different directions. Microsoft will not be pushing VR in its next-generation console in contrast to Sony which is likely to build on the relative success that it had with PSVR on PS4. For once both of these strategies make sense and relate to their specific circumstances. Microsoft: has had no presence in VR and did...

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Google Fitbit – Moot point.

The fuss around Fitbit data is moot. The inevitable (see here) acquisition of Fitbit by Google is creating a fuss around user wellness data but the reality is that Google, to all intents and purposes, already had it. The news is full of users abandoning their Fitbit devices and deleting their accounts as they do not want their wellness data...

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Quantum computing – No trick pony

A superbrain that cant play Pong. There is no doubt that quantum computing has the potential to completely change the IT industry, but Google’s demonstration has really only moved it just ahead of nuclear fusion in terms of practical reality. 2 months ago (see here) Google made the bold claim that it had reached quantum supremacy which to the layman...

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5G – Wide open spaces

Coverage map lays bare the reality of millimetre waves. Verizon’s 5G coverage map in the USA (see here) shows that the only time users are going to get reception is when they are outdoors with line of sight to the basetstation and, most likely, stationary. Verizon’s 5G coverage map in the 18 US cities that it covers reveals extremely patchy...

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Ford – Wild horses

Mustang Mach-E is a ray of hope. Ford may be mistaken about what electric and autonomous vehicles will do to demand for its products (see here), but the Mustang Mach-E gives me some hope that it is at last getting to grips with the some of the most serious challenges that it faces. Ford has launched its first proper attempt...

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Sony AI – 2 from 3

2 of Sony’s AI proposals make sense. While Sony appears to be late to the game in AI, it has been working on this for quite some time which has led to 2 out of three of its proposed focus areas making a lot of sense. Sony is bringing its AI efforts together into a single organisation which will have...

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