Apple – The Jack

Reply to this post           Removing the headphone jack could hurt replacement sales. I am pretty certain that Apple is considering whether or not to remove the headphone jack but actually taking this drastic step is far more dangerous than one would think. The headphone jack is a 3.5mm wide hole on every smartphone and tablet...

Samsung – Steady succession

Reply to this post           JK Shin can leave with his head held high. Samsung has reshuffled management at its handset business in a move that I think has nothing to do with performance and everything to do with an orderly transfer of power. When one looks at Samsung’s financials on an annualised basis it is...

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Sony – Rite of passage pt. II.

Reply to this post           Reactive and defensive needs to become proactive and offensive. Sony has made a move in the right direction but the next steps will be bigger and much harder. Sony has responded to the news that a remote play app. will be available from developer Twisted for PCs (see here) by announcing...

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Mobile Ecosystems – One hit wonders vs. Jack of all trades

Reply to this post           Monetisation is hard. Expansion is even harder With growth in the smartphone shipments slowing fast and tablets in negative territory all eyes are turning from user acquisition to monetisation and expansion into other areas of Digital Life. I believe that there are three stages for a Digital Life start-up: One. Get as...

Xiaomi – Reality check pt. III

Reply to this post           Stagnation puts an 87% hole in the valuation. In 2014, Xiaomi was growing very rapidly, had a valuation of $45bn and there was talk of an IPO being done at $100bn. Consequently, it could afford to splash-out on the best components as no one cared whether Xiaomi was making any money...

Sony – Rite of passage.

Reply to this post           Sony needs to embrace the hackers not shut them out. How Sony reacts to software developed to allow remote play of games on the PS4 will give a good indication of how well Sony really understands the market that it is trying to address. A software developer known as Twisted (see...

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BlackBerry – High jump.

Reply to this post           BlackBerry’s target of 5m devices looks much too high. The new BlackBerry Priv and its rumoured successors are aimed at such a narrow niche that I doubt that they will ever make money. Once this realisation has sunk in, I think that BlackBerry will abandon its hardware business and focus on...

Jolla – Rogue wave.

Reply to this post           The sailors at Jolla may be better off selling their boat. Jolla, the creator of the Sailfish OS for mobile devices has filed to restructure its debts as it has been unable to close its latest $10.6m financing round. This has resulted in 50% of its staff being temporarily laid off...

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Yahoo! – Purple rain

Reply to this post           Yahoo!’s assets and its few remaining loyal employees are bleeding purple. Yahoo! is still profitable but it seems to be slowly bleeding to death as the falling appeal of its assets has caused traffic to fall which can only mean further revenue declines. This comes on top of some of the...

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IPO Window – Unicorns and donkeys Pt II

Reply to this post           The best thing for Square would be to pull its IPO. The news that Square has again cut the price of its IPO serves as a severe warning that the IPO window is about to slam shut. Square, the US payments company and competitor to iZettle, is looking now to price...

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