Spotify is making a major move into podcasts, where it appears to have clear designs to be the sort of Aggregator it cannot be when it comes to music.
The Facebook Emails; The Platform Debate; Zuckerberg’s Platform Delusion, Redux
Facebook emails reveal a company that didn’t realize its real business was ads
Apple’s Social Network
Apple’s decision to stop reporting unit sales is defensible; the company, though, should provide more data to support its new growth story.
The Snap Memo, Snapchat’s Core Problem, Snap’s Bad Positioning
Evan Spiegel wrote a long memo to Snapchat that laid out the company’s problems perhaps more starkly than he appreciated.
Sandberg and Dorsey in Congress, Dorsey and Incentives, Google’s Absence
Facebook’s Sheryl Sandberg and Twitter’s Jack Dorsey testified in front of Congress; the former had the most to lose, while the latter hinted at exactly what.
Uber’s Bundles
Uber had a good strategy, but its crisis meant Lyft had new life and the strategy was no longer workable. Now the company is pursuing something new, even though it is more complicated.
The Cost of Developers
Microsoft paid a lot for GitHub, because it had to pay directly for access to developers. It doesn’t have the leverage of users the way that Apple does on the App Store.
ZTE and Trump, Dropbox Earnings, Bloomberg’s Paywall
The ZTE saga takes a twist, Dropbox’s first earnings are solid, and Bloomberg shows how the rich get richer.
T-Mobile to Acquire Sprint, Microsoft’s Earnings
T-Mobile is acquiring Sprint. The deal makes a lot of sense, particularly in the context of 5G — will regulators look forward or backward? Then, Microsoft continues to own the CIO relationship.
Qualcomm, National Security, and Patents
The Trump administration blocked Broadcom’s acquisition of Qualcomm, and I think it was the right move. Understanding why means understanding Qualcomm and Broadcom’s plan for the company — and the problem with patents.