Reply to this post Infotainment makes more sense than a car. Apple has money to burn, but I think that success has not gone to the collective head of the management team. If the chatter is correct, there is a project inside Apple taking up the time of 1,000 employees that is looking at the...
Reply to this post Pedometer going the way of the digital camera. A recent study by the University of Pennsylvania under scientific conditions has shown that smartphones are just as accurate at tracking steps as dedicated pedometer devices. 14 participants each conducted 4 walking exercises carrying two smartphones and 6 pedometers comprising 3 Fitbits, 1...
Reply to this post Baidu pays the price for its mobile ambitions. Baidu reported disappointing Q4 14A results the cost of building out mobile hurt the figures. Q4 14A revenues / net profit were CNY14.1bn (US$2.23bn) / CNY3.23bn (US$517m) which missed estimates of CNY14.1bn / CNY3.52bn. Mobile is causing Baidu two main problems. First: Like...
Reply to this post Blunders reveal just how much Samsung has to learn. Samsung is making elementary blunders with the user experience on its devices that show that it still has a long way to go to realise any of its ambitions to differentiate itself using software. In the last two days Samsung has twice...
Reply to this post A concept device for those looking to create an ecosystem. Canonical and BQ (a Spanish handset maker) have joined forces and launched the first (long delayed) mobile device based on Ubuntu. Ubuntu is a free open source OS based on Linux that exists on computers. The device is basically a version...
Reply to this post Alibaba and Meizu set the scene for Chinese ecosystems. Alibaba has agreed to invest $590m in Meizu, a small Chinese manufacturer of smartphones. Alibaba has stated that it will have a minority stake but given the size and probable lack of profitability, I believe that it will own very close to...
Reply to this post Ecosystem is now a real focus for Twitter. Twitter reported very solid results as monetisation of its users continues to go from strength to strength. However, management entered into dangerous territory when discussing the softness in user numbers. Q4 14A revenues / Adj. EPS were $479m / $0.12 ahead of consensus...
Reply to this post Selfie craze and PS4 underpin first signs of progress. Sony reported much better Q3 14A results than expected, driven by camera modules, PS4 as well as better results from smartphones. Q3 14A Revenues / EBIT were JPY2,557.8bn / JPY178.3bn compared to forecasts of JPY2,340bn / JPY96.3bn. The biggest surprise was the...
Reply to this post Market share gains only tell half the story. Huawei’s consumer business has had an excellent Q4 14A as far as market share goes but like almost every other Android vendor it is barely making money. During 2014A, 75m smartphones where shipped meaning that 24.3m where shipped during Q4 14A. This represents...
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.
Samsung – The final nail
Reply to this post Using Microsoft apps is the final nail in the ecosystem coffin. It looks very much like Samsung has discarded all of its in house software on the Samsung Galaxy S6 in favour of productivity apps from Microsoft and the ecosystem from Google. Removing all the usual pre-installed apps. should make the...