Big Blue and Apple’s Soul

I hope you’ll forgive my writing about week-old news,1 but I find it striking to compare the paucity of words written about Apple’s partnership with IBM, at least relative to what was written when Apple acquired Beats. After all, the IBM partnership is a much bigger deal. It certainly seems that Tim Cook feels the […]

Daily Update: Split Microsoft Follow-up, Yahoo Buys Flurry, Valuing Privacy…Or Not

Good morning, Apple’s earnings are this afternoon, so look for analysis of those tomorrow. In the meantime, I have some follow-up to yesterday’s opus on Microsoft, as well as a couple of pieces on advertising and tracking. On to today’s updates: Split Up Microsoft Follow-Up I wrote a piece about Microsoft on the main StratecherySubscribe […]

It’s Time to Split Up Microsoft

To understand why so many serious Microsoft observers were encouraged by Satya Nadella’s week-ago memo Bold Ambition and Our Core,1 it’s useful to go back 10 years and read Steve Ballmer’s 2004 memo Our Path Forward. It was around this time that cracks were first starting to appear in the Microsoft machine: the stock had […]

Daily Update: Facebook’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats

Good morning, I am on vacation this week, so instead of Daily Updates based on the news of the past few days, I am doing Strengths-Weaknesses-Opportunities-Threats (SWOT) analysis’ of five of the most important companies in tech: Microsoft, Apple, Google, Facebook and Amazon. These analysis’ are not meant to be comprehensive – I’m going toSubscribe […]

Daily Update: Google’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats

Good morning, I am on vacation this week, so instead of Daily Updates based on the news of the past few days, I am doing Strengths-Weaknesses-Opportunities-Threats (SWOT) analysis’ of five of the most important companies in tech: Microsoft, Apple, Google, Facebook and Amazon. These analysis’ are not meant to be comprehensive – I’m going toSubscribe […]

Daily Update: Apple’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats

Good morning, I am on vacation this week, so instead of Daily Updates based on the news of the past few days, I am doing Strengths-Weaknesses-Opportunities-Threats (SWOT) analysis’ of five of the most important companies in tech: Microsoft, Apple, Google, Facebook and Amazon. These analysis’ are not meant to be comprehensive – I’m going toSubscribe […]

Daily Update: Microsoft’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats

Good morning, I am on vacation this week, so instead of Daily Updates based on the news of the past few days, I am doing Strengths-Weaknesses-Opportunities-Threats (SWOT) analysis’ of five of the most important companies in tech: Microsoft, Apple, Google, Facebook and Amazon. These analysis’ are not meant to be comprehensive – I’m going toSubscribe […]

Daily Update: Breaking Down Satya Nadella’s Letter

Good morning, I apologize today’s update is a bit late; I’ve been struggling with a bit of Stratechery technical debt (specifically the apparently broken login on the membership page). Still, I suppose that’s a fitting segue for today’s single topic, Microsoft. Breaking Down Satya Nadella’s Open Letter Let me cut you off at the pass:Subscribe […]

Daily Update: Samsung Profits Falling, Panasonic Toughbooks, Standards and the Internet of Things

Good morning, Just how useful is theory in understanding, and more importantly, predicting markets? Well, in the case of Samsung, pretty darn useful I’d say. On to the updates. Samsung Profits Falling From The Guardian: Samsung Electronics says that its second-quarter operating profits will fall to a two-year low, blaming growing competition in China, reluctantSubscribe […]