Reply to this post Progression, but little excitement. While Facebook’s announcements at its developer conference were not exactly ground-breaking, it is clear that Facebook remains extremely commercial and is very focused on fixing its weaknesses. Highlights from F8 include: First augmented reality: Facebook has decided to re-focus on AR in what looks like a pre-emptive...
Reply to this post Google escapes to fight another day. Google has settled its dispute with the Russian regulator but I suspect that Google has managed to avoid having to give away its crown jewel: Google Play. According to the FAS Russia (see here), Google has agreed to: First: Google will no longer prevent the...
Radio Free Mobile has taken a few days to go camel racing and will return on Tuesday 18th April.
Reply to this post Bixby falls even before its first hurdle. Samsung’s delay in the roll-out of Bixby is a strong indication of just how far behind Samsung is when it comes to artificial intelligence reinforcing my view that the investment case still lives and dies with hardware. Despite much fanfare at the launch of...
Reply to this post Crunch time appears to be fast approaching. The LeEco proposition seems to be quickly unraveling as a flurry of bad news reinforces my view that this company only really has a chance if it dumps automotive. New blows upon the already bruised company include: Vizio: LeEco and Vizio have called off...
Reply to this post Flipkart for Snapdeal looks increasingly likely. The probability of consolidation in Indian e-commerce is creeping ever closer as Softbank, is pushing for the sale of Snapdeal to Flipkart at a valuation considerably less than the $6.5bn at which the company last raised money. I think this move makes complete sense as...
Reply to this post Spotify keeps the crown jewels to itself. In striking a deal with Universal, Spotify has traded much better than I thought it would giving the label two concessions that I think will end up being pretty worthless. Spotify has signed a licence with Universal that has three main aspects: First: Universal...
Reply to this post The loss of the NFL is a disaster. Twitter has lost its deal to stream certain NFL games which I think punches a potentially fatal hole in its strategy to break out of its niche of microblogging. Amazon has reportedly paid $50m for the rights to stream 10 Thursday night NFL...
Reply to this post Xiaomi’s ecosystem remains its biggest weakness. Comparing itself to Costco helps Xiaomi’s valuation somewhat but does no favours when it comes to its business model. In a recent interview, Xiaomi founder said that he sees his company more like Costco than Apple which does make some sense. Xiaomi has pursued 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.
Mobile Payments – Trouble in paradise
Reply to this post Mobile Payments are going the wrong way. It appears that the usage of Apple Pay on the iPhone is now declining compared to where it was in June 2016, sending a worrying signal for the outlook for mobile payments in general. The most recent data from PYMNTS.com (see here) shows that...