Good morning, I hope you’ll forgive a longer update today: as you can see from the title, I’ve written something of a young-adult fiction trilogy. On to the update: Microsoft Earnings and Surface’s Alleged Success Microsoft reported its earnings yesterday and they were on balance very good. From Bloomberg: Microsoft Corp.’s quarterly sales topped estimatesSubscribe […]
Daily Update: More Amazon Bear Signals; Dropbox Hacked, Sort of…; Snapchat Too
Good morning, To the update! More Amazon Bear Signals Earlier this year I detailed why I’ve become an Amazon bear in Losing my Amazon Religion. With regards to Amazon’s convoluted plan to drive e-commerce through original video and the Fire phone I questioned: So what exactly is going on? Why is Amazon building vertical devicesSubscribe […]
Daily Update: Amazon’s New Devices, Sony Gets Crushed, Apple Takes Aim on Google
2014-09-18 Good morning, From my email, it seems like my post yesterday about Apple Watch surprised a few of you (please check out the full piece on Stratechery, as it differed from yesterday’s email in a few key areas). I don’t like changing my mind, but I hate being wrong more, and I changed mySubscribe […]
Daily Update: Another (Inevitable) Uber Controversy, Why Instagram’s Hyperlapse Damns Windows Phone, Pouring Water on Fire Phone
Good morning, I wrote a brief piece on Stratechery about Amazon buying Twitch; my takeaway was in the title: Amazon: Not an E-Commerce Company. One could argue that makes the upside in their stock even greater, but were I an investor, I think I’d be out. I buy the e-commerce story; Amazon ruling the world,Subscribe […]
Amazon: Not an E-commerce Company
Let’s start with the premise that Twitch, the video-game watching network, is the next ESPN – you know, the jewel in Disney’s crown that, by itself, is worth $50.8 billion. Like ESPN, Twitch is about live competition, and, like ESPN, Twitch does exceptionally well in the highly desirable young male demographic.1 Obviously this is the […]
Daily Update: Amazon Buys Twitch, Amazon’s Ad Program, Facebook Taking on DoubleClick
Good morning, If you’ll forgive a bit of braggadocio, I’ve certainly been getting lucky on Stratechery when it comes to acquisitions: I wrote about hardware-based business models the day before Google bought Nest, and how messaging was mobile’s killer app the day before Facebook bought WhatsApp. I can’t claim to be quite as spot-on whenSubscribe […]
Daily Update: The New Structure of Mobile Gaming, The Hidden Cost of Microsoft’s Devices, Amazon Affiliate Links in the Washington Post
Note: I put the wrong link in the Daily Email for Tuesday, September 2, 2014. The daily update for that day can be found here. Good morning, I’m really glad to be back in Taiwan and look forward to being back on a regular schedule – you’ll note how much earlier this update is arriving!Subscribe […]
Daily Update: Amazon Local Register, Messaging Apps Are Extremely Profitable, Samsung v HTC
Good morning. Hello from somewhere between Madison and Chicago. I’m in the car on the way to the airport, heading back to Taiwan. As I noted yesterday, updates for the rest of the week will come at odd hours, including, obviously, today’s. Thanks for your patience. Yesterday on the main site I asked Is BuzzFeedSubscribe […]
Daily Update: In Denise Kote’s World, Everyone Loses; Defending Samsung; Xiaomi Apologize for Data Collection
Good morning, Today’s update is quite substantial. I feel I owe it to you all as the rest of the week is going to be a little lighter; I’m leaving very early tomorrow morning to return to Taiwan with two kids in tow, so the next three days are going to be challenging as farSubscribe […]
How Technology is Changing the World (P&G Edition)
P&G is cutting product lines, the plethora of which made far more sense in the retail world than online. More change is coming.