Apple is building its own GPUs, but I doubt their goal is to save money.
Apple Announcements, iPhone Strategy vs iPod Strategy, Clips
Apple had several announcements that were relatively boring from a product perspective but very interesting when it comes to strategy. Plus, its new “Clips” app may point to new products in the future.
Disney and Differentiated Content, Snap and Hardware
Disney may have differentiated content, but they don’t necessarily have the right business model, and may not get there. Then, could Snap really end up being a hardware company?
Google Assistant Added to Android, Amit Singhal Out at Uber
Google Assistant is being added to Android, which makes the company’s previous statements and actions even more confusing than they already are. Then, another controversy hits Uber, but Google is implicated as well — along with the entire industry.
Apple Earnings, Fitbit Earnings, Nintendo Earnings
Apple’s earnings showed slowing growth but a seemingly impenetrable moat; Fitbit, meanwhile, is in very bad shape, while Nintendo is learning harsh truths about the smartphone market
Xiaomi Retrenches, Lenovo’s Smartphone Struggles, The Chinese Consumer Market and Smartphones
Xiaomi’s CEO confirms how and why the company went wrong; then, why I got Lenovo wrong when it comes to smartphones. Plus, why China is such a challenging market for everyone, including Apple.
The Ten Year Anniversary of the Apple TV
Today is being marked as the 10-year anniversary of the iPhone; it is a footnote of history that it is also the 10-year anniversary of the Apple TV. It’s a reminder that we don’t know what innovations matter until they occur.
Alexa: Amazon’s Operating System
Money is made at chokepoints, and the most valuable chokepoints are operating systems; Amazon is building exactly that with Alexa.
Opendoor Follow-up, Fitbit Buys Pebble Assets, GoPro Closes Entertainment Unit
The point of writing about Opendoor was to praise the ambition for the very reason that it might not work. Then, hardware continues to be hard: Pebble is out of business, and GoPro is in very big trouble.
How Google Is Challenging AWS
AWS seems to have a dominant position in enterprise computing, but Google is trying to change the rules to favor their inherent strengths.