Horizontal Versus Vertical
Understanding the difference between horizontal and vertical strategies is critical to making smart strategic decisions.
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Cable TV created a world where differentiated content could profit from everyone; that is why it will be hard for Disney to make the choices streaming will force on them.
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My well-chronicled frustration with Microsoft’s corporate strategy comes down to one point: I don’t think any company should have both horizontal (i.e. services) and vertical (i.e. devices) businesses. It creates conflicting incentives: a horizontal business…
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Roku’s IPO and Origin Story, Netflix Versus Roku and the Conservation of Attractive Profits, “Weak” Aggregators
Roku’s origin story explain Netflix’s strategic acumen — which, by extension, explains why Roku is a risky bet. Then, Roku explains “weak” aggregators, that aren’t really aggregators at all.
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Everything is Changing; So Should Antitrust
WPP is dealing with not only a changing advertising industry but a changing world, thanks to the Internet. Antitrust needs to change as well.
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Alexa and Cortana, Apple Moves Siri, Tim Cook’s Blindspot
Alexa and Cortana’s partnership makes sense when you consider the company’s business models, goals, and partnership impetus (and it shows why Apple and Google won’t come along). Then, why Siri’s reorganization won’t help much.
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Disney’s Choice
Cable TV created a world where differentiated content could profit from everyone; that is why it will be hard for Disney to make the choices streaming will force on them.
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Apple’s Business Model, Privacy, and Developers; Chip Industry Structure; Stripe Sigma
Apple’s business model lets the company sell privacy, but privacy shouldn’t compromise the business model. Plus, why developers can (still) deepen Apple’s moat, and how the chip, payments, and even publishing industry are similar.
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Services and Apple’s Strategy, The Power of a P&L, Intel Restructures
First, a follow-up on Apple’s Organizational Crossroads including why a focus on services could make more strategic sense than one might think, and why P&L responsibility can be a powerful tool. Then, Intel is restructuring in the face of increased margin pressure and in pursuit of a vision that is, from the company’s perspective, more radical…
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Microsoft’s Hardware Event, Satya Nadella Versus Windows, The Surface Strategy
Microsoft’s hardware event was very compelling on multiple levels: what it said about Windows, what it said about Microsoft, and what it said about Satya Nadella.
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Amazon to Stop Selling Chromecast, Apple TV; Google’s New Hardware
There are lots of reasons why Amazon may have decided to stop selling the Apple TV and Chromecast; the true answer probably is a little bit of each. Plus, Google announced new devices, and it wasn’t that exciting.
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Google I/O: Android and Serving the World; Photos, Google Now, and the World’s Information; Google’s Turning Point
Google’s IO keynote had three parts: the Android part, the machine learning part, and a glimpse into the future. The connections between the three, though, matter far more than any one single announcement.