Twitter – Exit strategy.

Reply to this post           Bid frenzy offers a great exit point.  Without big success in media consumption, Twitter offers very poor value to potential acquirers at $23 per share (EV $14bn) giving holders every excuse to get out. Interest around Twitter is increasing with Alphabet now also seeming to take a look at Twitter adding...

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AI Partnership – Fluff and stuff

Reply to this post           How society will benefit is very unclear.    The ecosystem leaders have announced an artificial intelligence (AI) partnership aimed at benefiting society but the fact these players are also fierce competitors will ensure that real trust and co-operation will be difficult to achieve. Google, Facebook, Amazon, Microsoft and IBM have jointly...

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BlackBerry – Cold turkey

Reply to this post           BlackBerry finally breaks its addiction to hardware.  BlackBerry reported poor Q2 17A results, but the decision to stop internal handset development buoyed sentiment allowing the shares to rise 5%. Q2 17A revenues / adj-EPS were US$352m / US$0.00 compared to consensus at US$390m / LOSS US$0.05. Within this, mobile device sales...

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GoPro vs. DJI – Autonomous gambit

Reply to this post           DJI is making a big gamble with the Mavic Pro.  Hot on the heels of GoPro’s Karma launch (see here), DJI has launched a similar drone but I see it taking a big risk by using autonomous features as a major selling point. The Mavic Pro is both lighter and smaller...

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HERE – Data odyssey.

Reply to this post           Car makers sharing data is the real story.  HERE has begun its strategy to increasingly automate and imrpove transport but the most impressive feature so far is the fact that the 3 owners of HERE are sharing their data with each other. Far more data than has been historically available is...

Snap (chat) – Spectacular experiment.

Reply to this post           Snap’s new product is a mere toe in the water.  Snapchat (now rebranded Snap) has launched spectacles that work in a similar way to Google Glass but try to deal with the many shortcomings of their predecessor. The new glasses are aimed to be fashionable, can capture and upload 10-30 seconds...

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Verizon / Yahoo – Irrelevant challenge.

Reply to this post           With Verizon, Yahoo likely to become irrelevant.  Verizon is embarking on building an ecosystem but second rate assets are unlikely to get Verizon very far without inspirational management to make these assets shine. On top of the $3bn it is paying for Yahoo’s core business, Verizon also appears to be in...

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Chinese Autos – Handsets on wheels.

Reply to this post           Chinese automakers give away a crown jewel.  The willingness of the Chinese automakers to give away digital differentiation to the BATmen (see here) clearly indicates they do not understand how important digital will probably become. SAIC was the first to move (see here) in launching a car with the entire head...

GoPro – Almost a hero

Reply to this post           GoPro almost gets it right.  GoPro’s launch of its Karma drone and the update to its camera line with the Hero 5 Black and the Hero 5 Session are strong launches but once again GoPro falls over when it comes to software and service. First: Karma Drone This is now clearly...

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Twitter – Video star?

Reply to this post           Only video can keep Twitter from $10.  Twitter’s first attempt at streaming video has won some good feedback but the numbers need to be bigger to really move the needle against YouTube or Facebook. The first of ten broadcasts of NFL games aired on 15th September and reached 2.5m users with...

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