Reply to this post Signs that Alibaba is moving to make the most of its ecosystem. Alibaba reported another excellent set of results which was marred by the normalisation of the tax rate following the ending of a tax break gained by investing in its distribution partner Suning. Alibaba has also begun to demonstrate the...
Reply to this post Superior brains being used to make its services the best. Google held the first day of its annual developer conference and in its keynote, it highlighted the features and improvements that it is making to its ecosystem to keep users engaged while gathering and categorising as much data as it can....
Reply to this post Yellow brick road that leads to a fully proprietary Android OS. The launch of Project Treble sees Google finally moving to address the Android updating problem but it also quietly paves the way for Google to take full control of the Android software. It could also cost the handset makers more...
Reply to this post Tinkering with Android for cars is a dangerous game. Ahead of its developer conference, Google i/o, Google has demonstrated another version of Android that will be able of running many more aspects of the car beyond infotainment. While Android Auto is limited in terms of what it can do and the...
Reply to this post Uber is now even more on the back foot. The partnership between Waymo and Lyft puts Lyft streets ahead of Uber when it comes to developing autonomous cars but is likely to cost it heavily in the coinage of data. Uber has described autonomous autos as “existential” to its long-term future...
Reply to this post Enterprise remains the focus. At Microsoft’s developer conference, it continued to emphasise its move away from being a platform for the consumption of content to one that is primarily for the creation of content. At the same time it cemented its move away from mobile with the migration of its strategy...
Reply to this post Twitter is in a better position. A poor set of maiden results highlights that Twitter is actually in a better position because although it is stuck in a niche, it remains unopposed in that niche. Management even had the temerity to laugh off the threat from its much larger and far...
Reply to this post Screens help to alleviate digital assistants’ stupidity. I think that the Echo Show is more about addressing the shortcomings of voice interaction with machines than it is about launching a series of new and exciting Digital Life services. Amazon has launched an ugly looking device called Echo Show that is effectively...
Reply to this post Deal with First Data changes the US game. Alipay has struck a deal with First Data Corp. that I think prepares the ground for Alibaba to re-enter Amazon’s home market, the US. Alibaba has already made an attempt to enter the US with 11 Main which was sold less than 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.
SoftBank Vision Fund – UB40
Reply to this post Pressure to employ capital is the biggest risk. SoftBank has announced that the first round of its $100bn Vision fund has closed with $93bn in committed capital but the problem now is going to be how to quickly put this huge amount of money to work. At $93bn, the SoftBank Vision...