Microsoft – Holding pattern.

Reply to this post           Phones effectively paused while ecosystem is fixed. Microsoft is reducing the scale of its mobile phone business into line with the other hardware businesses with the exception of the Xbox. A thumping $7.6bn write down will be taken against the acquired assets of Nokia reducing them to close to zero and...

  • Comments Off on Microsoft – Holding pattern.
  • 69

Apple Watch – Bean counting

Reply to this post           Apple Watch EBIT margins likely to have suffered from low volume. If the latest reports are to be believed, sales of the Apple Watch have been far worse than even RFM’s bearish predictions. This has meaningful repercussions for the profitability of the device as it clearly lacks the scale to earn...

  • Comments Off on Apple Watch – Bean counting
  • 88

Samsung Q2 15A – Over the hump

Reply to this post           This will be the last quarter of hard comparisons. Samsung guided to weaker than expected Q2 15A results as the Galaxy s6 appears to have been unable to make much of a dent in the iPhone 6’s appeal. Q2 15A revenues and EBIT are expected to be KRW48tn / KRW6.9tn compared...

  • Comments Off on Samsung Q2 15A – Over the hump
  • 109

Indian ecosystems – Virgin territory.

Reply to this post           Using Google as a stop gap likely to have a disastrous effect. Many players are using Google as a stop gap in India while they get their own ecosystems ready but this sets a dangerous precedent. I believe that there is a rising danger that the Indian market may end up...

  • Comments Off on Indian ecosystems – Virgin territory.
  • 96

Sony vs. Microsoft – Generation gap.

Reply to this post           Sony looks to be at risk in the next generation. Sony is continuing to dominate the current generation of gaming consoles, but the user experience needs so much work that Sony must act now. In Europe the PlayStation 4 is scoring market share of 70%-90% while it trades leadership in the...

  • Comments Off on Sony vs. Microsoft – Generation gap.
  • 74

Xiaomi – Method in the madness.

Reply to this post           Xiaomi needs to squeeze as much from the Internet as it can. Xiaomi’s move to enter more markets looks like a move to generate as much volume as possible through online sales before it has to move into the traditional channels. In addition to India, Xiaomi is now making a splash...

Samsung Tizen – Policy expired.

Reply to this post           Tizen is an expensive and expired insurance policy. Samsung has announced that it will continue its Tizen program at a variety of price points even though the Z1 appears to have only shipped around 1m units in India. Tizen is an open source platform, which is effectively controlled by Samsung as...

  • Comments Off on Samsung Tizen – Policy expired.
  • 114

Google vs. Microsoft – Away game.

Reply to this post           Winning the away game is always the hardest. Google has responded to Microsoft making its Office apps freely available on Android by re-enforcing its branding and style inside its in house Office competitors. I suspect that this is just another step in Google’s long-term strategy to control and brand the experience...

  • Comments Off on Google vs. Microsoft – Away game.
  • 112

Microsoft – MS Phone home.

Reply to this post           There are signs that Microsoft may be backing away from phones. Following the executive re-organisation last week, Microsoft’s new mission statement contains enough ambiguities to make me think that it is contemplating getting out of phone hardware. The new mission is to “empower every person and organisation on the planet to...

Spotify – Data Differentiation.

Reply to this post           Music is now incidental to Spotify. Spotify is moving beyond the simple delivery of streaming music in order to keep ahead of its competition. It has added Seed Scientific to its portfolio of data analysis assets that already includes The Echo Nest that Spotify acquired in 2014. Both of these companies...

  • Comments Off on Spotify – Data Differentiation.
  • 117