It matters that Qualcomm is a U.S. company. Then, why Twitter is struggling with advertising, and what a subscription product might look like.
Microsoft and TikTok, The Microsoft Angle, The TikTok Angle
Understanding what is happening with Microsoft’s bid for TikTok, why the enterprise company would do the deal, and the implications for TikTok, Facebook, and others.
Xi Jinping Thought, Facebook’s Blindspot, The Moat Map Revisited
A follow-up to The TikTok War, including Xi Jinping’s ideology, Facebook’s blindspot, and why TikTok should be compared to YouTube.
The TikTok War
How TikTok exposed Facebook’s blindspot, thanks to its Chinese roots, and why those Chinese roots make TikTok a genuine concern.
Snap Partner Summit, Snapchat’s OS, Facebook Versus Australia
Snap is building its own operating system in its own world, while Facebook is honest about the relative value of Australian publishers.
Shopify Shop, Shopify’s Reason to Exist, Google’s Earnings
Shopify launched the Shop.app, which is not only a poor experience but also makes no sense strategically. Then, Google’s earnings show how big tech is going to get even stronger.
First, Do No Harm
As regulators look closer at acquisitions they should be extremely wary of unintended consequences. The current system works well for everyone, most of the time.
Snap Earnings, Notes and Concerns, DoorDash and Tipping
Snap’s earnings were impressive, including the most valuable AR application of all time, but the company still needs to show it can earn advertisers broadly. Then, DoorDash responds to pressure from the demand side.
Microsoft and Slack Follow-up, F8, Facebook versus Snapchat
How Microsoft Teams differs from Slack, then Facebook’s F8 keynote is nominally about privacy-focused social networking, but is in fact about competing with Snapchat (again!).
Twitter Earnings, Snap Earnings, Escaping the Duopoly
Twitter and Snap both had encouraging earnings, for reasons that were both similar and also unique to each company and their history. Perhaps there is hope for consumer tech companies after all — and maybe Facebook and Google aren’t so bad.