Key signal for a wearable launch still missing. The market has worked itself into a fever pitch with regards to the imminent launch of the iWatch. The latest device is supposed to have a curved rectangular screen, wireless charging and is possibly will get some of its power from solar cells. Apple has compounded speculation...
Fire phone’s draw looks to have already faded. Some observers are wondering why anyone outside the US would want to buy Amazon’s smartphone but I am struggling to see why anyone inside the US would want to buy it. The phone is being made available on July 25th but demand for the device seems to...
Google buying Songza is bad for Samsung not Spotify. Google has decided to acquire the music streaming service Songza which effectively means that Samsung will now have to shut down its similar service called Milk Radio. . Google is paying somewhere between $15m-$40m for the fledgling service whose specialisation is in the accurate curation of...
Google Android is becoming just like iOS or Windows Phone. Everywhere one looks it is become increasingly clear that Google aims to take complete control of Android. This will leave Android devices as vessels for Google’s ecosystem just as PCs are vessels for Intel and Microsoft. Google is not limiting its ambitions to phones but...
Amazing success keeps Google blind to its weaknesses. Every step that Google takes to move its ecosystem forward is a step backwards for Samsung and the other hardware makers. The announcements at Google I/O (developer conference) are not ground breaking, but it is increasingly clear that Google is bent on domination of the digital world....
Google’s days as a developer of open source software are numbered. With its future in Android now secure, Google has turned its attention to mitigating the biggest risk to its long term growth: Apple. Apple used its developer conference to refer to Android as a “toxic hellstew” that is both chaotic and very insecure. I...
Finally, some positive signs from mobile. I have been concerned for some time about the lack of progress at Yahoo! (see here and here) but there have been some positive signs. Yahoo! acquired Aviate, a home screen curation app., last October and it is finally being made available to users. Now known as Yahoo! Aviate,...
Developer conferences are where the ecosystem evolves. Developer conferences are becoming increasingly important as the relevance of the device continues to decline. Google will host its 2014 I/O conference this week and it is here that a glimpse of what is really planned for the Google Ecosystem over the next 12 months will be given....
Key to wearables still missing The wearables space is on fire today with talk of new devices from Fitbit as well as yet another potential iWatch. Fitbit has applied for trademarks for a Fitbit Surge, a Fitbit Charge and PurePulse. The most significant of the three is the PurePulse which will be a wrist mounted...
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.
HTC Q2 – The spiral
One quarter does not make a recovery. HTC reported good Q2 results as cuts to marketing expenses allowed profitability to make up for weak sales. Q2A revenues / net income were NT$65.1bn / NT$2.26bn compared to consensus at NT$66.9bn / NT$2.06bn. This was well adrift of the company’s own forecast of revenues at NT$65bn-NT$70bn. This...