The Department of Justice antitrust chief gave a speech yesterday that should make tech nervous, particularly Google and Facebook. Then, why Google and Facebook’s scale defense is not sufficient.
Tech and Antitrust
A review of the potential antitrust cases against Google, Apple, Facebook, and Amazon suggests that only Google is vulnerable.
U.S. Department of Justice Preparing Investigation of Google?; The DoJ, Google, and Politics; The Antitrust Indicator
Google is potentially facing antitrust action in the U.S., and both Democrats and Republicans appear to be on board. Then, why antitrust action, even if justified, is usually an indicator of decline, not a cause.
AMD Launches 7nm Chips, Sony Partners with Microsoft, Apple and AWS
AMD leapfrogs Intel thanks to modularity, Sony partners with Microsoft thanks to scale, and Apple balances both.
Apple’s Earnings, Google’s Earnings, Amazon Earnings
Apple, Google, and Amazon’s earnings all showed fundamental weaknesses in the consumer market; perhaps these companies are not all-powerful.
Apple-Qualcomm Follow-up, The PS5, Jeff Bezos’ Letter to Shareholders
More on Apple-Qualcomm, then Sony releases details about their next-generation console, and Jeff Bezos’ annual letter to shareholders has a decidedly different tone.
Alexa’s Human Listeners, New Questions, Disney’s Presentation
Why Bloomberg’s article about Alexa was both scare-mongering and a missed opportunity, plus why Disney’s 2015 plummet in the stock market was a blessing in disguise.
Google Cloud Next, Anthos, Google Cloud and Open Source
The Google Cloud Next keynote was a big improvement: Google Cloud is focusing on its go-to-market strategy, and building products that make tactical sense relative to AWS.
Spotify Files Antitrust Complaint Against Apple, Spotify and Warren, More Amazon Marketplace Changes
Spotify has filed an antitrust complaint against Apple in Europe, and their complaint shows how Senator Warren’s proposal misses the mark. Then, Amazon doesn’t appear to have market power.
Where Warren’s Wrong Follow-up, Amazon’s Price Parity Provision, The Amazon Marketplace Question
More on Senator Warren’s tech antitrust proposal, why regulatory focus should be on contracts, and why 3rd-parties benefit from Amazon Marketplace.