Samsung introduced the Galaxy Gear yesterday, and, yeah, it’s not great. Even Samsung fans are mocking the company saying they should have waited for Apple. — Sammy the Walrus IV (@SammyWalrusIV) September 4, 2013 I jumped on the leaked prototype, with the same general sentiment: Samsung’s watch will undoubtedly change drastically whenever Apple’s wearable is […]
The Deal That Makes No Sense
Early this morning Microsoft acquired Nokia for €3.79 billion (plus €1.65 billion for patents). It is a deal that makes no sense. While industry observers love to pontificate about mergers and acquisitions, the reality is that most ideas are value-destroying. It is far better to form an alliance or partnership; most of the benefits, none […]
C is for Changing My Mind
Yesterday’s article about iPhone 5c pricing prompted a vigorous discussion on Twitter, and I’m changing my mind on a few points (I told you I have strong opinions weakly held!): I was always wavering on the 3G idea: Imagine an LTE iPhone 5C sold to post-pay carriers, and a non-LTE iPhone 5C sold at a […]
C is for Choices
I have to admit, it was a bit of a thrill breaking the news to the western world of the latest iPhone leak: Taiwan's Apple Daily claims to have iPhones 5C and 5S: http://t.co/bAZ8F49Wzn Double flash on 5S, highly scratch-resistant plastic on 5C. — Ben Thompson (@monkbent) August 21, 2013 Still, it really wasn’t anything new […]
The App Store Rainbow
Postulate: The greatest differentiator for iOS is the quality of its apps. That’s the position taken by Benedict Evans in a must-read piece: If total Android engagement moves decisively above iOS, the fact that iOS will remain big will be beside the point – it will move from first to first-equal and then perhaps second […]
BlackBerry – and Nokia’s – Fundamental Failing
In December 2009, while a first-year student at Kellogg, I went to a RIM (now BlackBerry1) recruitment presentation. “Our problem,” the relatively senior fellow said, “is that when I get on a plane, everyone uses a BlackBerry until they close the door. Then they pull out their iPods. We need to make BlackBerry’s the only […]
Amazon’s Dominant Strategy
Jonah Keri, on Mike Trout, the baseball player: “You always look at player comps in this business,” Bane said. “None of our guys wanted to put down the comp that you’d expect in this case, because it’s just too much pressure. We should have done it, though. We should have put down the comp that […]
The iPad is like the iPod, not the iPhone
Most folks seem to instinctively compare the iPad and the tablet market to the iPhone and smartphone market, and it’s easy to see why. They share the same OS, the same competitor, many of the same apps, and, of course, the same time period – the present. But in reality – and this touches on […]
The (alleged) 13-inch iPad and the triumph of thin clients
The WSJ, in an article entitled Apple Tests Larger Screens for iPhones, iPads: In recent months, Apple has asked for prototype smartphone screens larger than 4 inches and has also asked for screen designs for a new tablet device measuring slightly less than 13 inches diagonally, they said. The current iPhone 5 has a four-inch […]
Additional Notes on Casual Games
This series of posts is about enabling sustainable businesses on the App Store. In Part 1, I discuss why Paper and other productivity apps may not be doing as well as you might think. Part 2 explores why casual games, in contrast, are a sustainable business, but not a differentiator for platforms (I added a […]