AI chickens come home to roost. The chickens have finally come home to roost as Facebook has guided very badly for medium term as its weaknesses in AI are forcing to keep hiring humans to do the jobs that the machines are incapable of. The response was a 20% decline in the shares in after-hours trading. Outside of guidance, Facebook’s...
Bixby is a reason not to choose a Samsung device While all eyes will be on the Galaxy Note 9 at Samsung’s next launch event, Bixby 2.0 is likely to debut in a smart speaker which may actually damage its sales potential. Bixby is Samsung’s attempt to compete against Google Assistant and Amazon Alexa and so far, it has been...
EU issues brushed aside. Alphabet contemptuously brushed aside the regulatory gadfly when it reported excellent Q2 18 results where mobile maturity is having margin benefits. Q2 18 revenues-ex TAC / Adj-EPS were $26.24bn / $11.75 well ahead of consensus estimates at $25.55bn / $9.54. The main reason for the strong performance on profitability was a big improvement in gross margins...
Misleading rebuttal that Google did not need to make. Google has responded with dismay to the EU’s decision announced on the 8th of July but I suspect that behind closed doors, it is perfectly happy with the decision with the exception of $5.03bn fine. Google has made a statement that rebuts the EU’s assertion that it has abused its position...
There is no real return to the consumer. Microsoft reported a great finish to its 2018 fiscal year as its enterprise business went from strength to strength and I think it is clear that there is no return to the consumer on the cards. FQ4 18 revenues / EPS were $30.1bn / $1.14, comfortably ahead of expectations of $29.2bn /...
EU fails to demand the one remedy that could make a difference. The EU has fined Google a record €4.34 ($5.03bn) for three practices that it considers illegal when it comes to how Google ensures that its ecosystem is the dominant ecosystem on Android. I think the EU has completely missed the point. The bundling of Google Play with the...
Yet another signal that the end is nigh. Its Amazon Prime day and one of the biggest discounts that are available is on the Essential Phone in Halo Gray coming in at $250 (see here) just 35% of what it was selling for just one year ago. Adding this deeply discounted product to the news that the company Essential Products...
Networking industry is collateral damage. Amazon’s potential move into the networking space has very little to do with addressing a $14bn market and everything to do with increasing the appeal of AWS. Shares of Cisco, Juniper et al. all had a wobble on Friday as the possibility that Amazon will enter the market for network switches was floated by The...
Emmy Nominations again signal the death of cable TV. The 2018 Emmy nominations (see here) are out and for the first time, it is one of the streaming services that tops the table knocking HBO into second place. Netflix has earned 112 nominations, followed by HBO on 108 with NBC a distant third on 78. The other streaming services did...
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.
Amazon Q2 18 – Profitability streak
Hopefully, the indication of profits can become reality. Amazon produced good results making up for a revenue shortfall with profitability, raising hopes yet again that at last Amazon is at last beginning to make money for its owners. Q2 18 revenues / EPS were $52.9bn / $5.07 slightly adrift of revenue expectations of $57.6bn but well ahead of consensus EPS...