Xbox vs. PS4 – The shifting sands

Reply to this post           User experience likely to aid Microsoft in the next generation. Sony has crushed Microsoft when it comes to hardware volumes in the current generation, but it is so far behind on the user experience that the next generation might be quite another story. Microsoft has announced the new user experience coming...

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Yahoo! – Shopping trip.

Reply to this post           Yahoo! needs to tidy its house before it can successfully expand. Yahoo! is going to spend $230m on Polyvore which is a website that has created a community around discovering and buying fashion. The value in this company is the community of style conscious consumers that it has created. On Polyvore,...

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Nokia / German Auto – HERE today, gone tomorrow.

Reply to this post           Sale of HERE is a reasonable deal for shareholders. Nokia has agreed to sell its mapping business, HERE, to a consortium of German auto manufacturers for USD3.1bn. This is 50% more than was rumoured (US$2.2bn – see here) but 22% less (US4bn) than I think could have been achieved if Nokia...

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Samsung Q2 15A – Mixed bag.

Reply to this post           Product mix saves the day. Samsung reported another difficult set of results and the prospect of price cuts on the Galaxy s6 was met with some alarm. That being said despite losing a substantial amount of scale in its handset business, the fact that Samsung managed to keep handset profits and...

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Facebook Q2 15A – Farewell to short termers.

Reply to this post           Facebook is making long-term ecosystem investments. Facebook reported good Q2 15A results but slowing growth in its core business and heavy investments caused short term investors to pause for thought. Q2 15A revenues / EPS were $4.04bn / $0.50m compared to consensus at $3.99bn / $0.47 despite a currency headwind that...

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Twitter Q2 15A – Dance around the edge.

Reply to this post           Twitter must broaden its product offering to grow again. A reasonable set of results was marred by the frank admission that the company has a lot to do before growth comes back. Q2 15A Revenues / Adjusted-EPS was $502.4m / $0.07 compared to consensus estimates at $481.9m / $0.04. However these...

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Baidu Q2 15A – Chinese rocket

Reply to this post           Baidu is looking to create a Rocket Internet of China. Baidu is investing heavily in its e-commerce services and the platform that powers them to augment the slowing growth that is coming from its core businesses. Baidu reported difficult results and guidance as the slowdown in the Chinese economy and signs...

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Microsoft – Eagles and turkeys.

Reply to this post           The signs are good for Windows 10. Some of the first in-depth reviews of Windows 10 are in and while there are still some problems, Windows 10 looks to be the most promising release since Windows XP. The fact that the upgrade is free, the new start menu, Cortana, search and...

Special Edition – Q2 15 Results – AMZN / GOOG / MSFT / AAPL / YHOO

Reply to this post           Amazon and Google star while Yahoo! fails to understudy. Amazon – Profits can be us Amazon reported results that surprised the market as the company has finally started showing some profits. Q2 15A revenues / EPS was $23.2bn / $0.19 which was significantly ahead of consensus at $22.4bn / LOSS $0.14....

Radio Free Mobile – Short Pause

          Short trip to Scotland. Returning Monday 27th July.     

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