Strategy
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Xiaomi’s Struggles, Samsung Hardware Rumors
Xiaomi is struggling to justify its valuation; in fact there have been signs for a long time that their valuation was unrealistic all along. Plus, Samsung returns to hardware differentiation.
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Netflix Goes Global, iPhone Worry
Netflix’s surprising announcement that the company was extending its service to nearly every country on earth was impressive in its execution, what it said about the company’s strategy, and it raised interesting points about Aggregation Theory and Netflix’s future opportunities. Plus, there is a lot of smoke when it comes to worries about the iPhone.
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Stratechery Gifts and Announcements, Apple Open-Sources Swift
Stratechery gift subscriptions are now available, plus an important site announcement. Then, we all knew Apple was going to open-source Swift. What was impressive was how the company went about doing it; hopefully it will prove to be an example for a clearly divided company.
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Adele Won’t Stream 25, Windowing Versus Piracy
Adele won’t stream her new album, and I think that makes a ton of sense. Monetizing IP might be hard, but I don’t think it’s necessarily hostile to your fans. Plus, what really ended piracy and what will be the biggest conflict in IP-related industries in the future.
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Microsoft’s OneDrive Debacle, Google One Take Two, Google Developing Smartphone Chips?
Microsoft’s OneDrive team unceremoniously ended its unlimited storage offer, scoring an own goal in the process. How did this screw-up happen? Then, Google is re-launching its Android One program in India — should the program even exist? Or, for that matter, should a special Android chip?
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Stop Doubting the iPhone, The Macintosh Company
There have always been iPhone bears, but the latest set seems to be ignoring reality. Plus, the amazing success of the Mac and what that means for the iPhone.
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In Defense of The New York Times
Amazon and The New York Times had a fascinating exchange this week, on Medium of all places. What that exchange represents — the search for truth, now open to anyone — is far more important than the particular article in question.
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China O2O and Unit Economics; The Fallout — Or Not — Of a Chinese Internet Crash; Uber, Postmates, Shyp, Instacart
The Wall Street Journal says China’s O2O industry may be crashing, something that comes as little surprise to many observers. However, does that mean Silicon Valley should be worried? Plus, how to think about Uber, Postmates, Shyp, and Instacart
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Medium and the Publishing Long Tail, Content Blockers and Facebook, Amazon Prime and the Washington Post
A bit of follow-up on yesterday’s post Popping the Publishing Bubble, and why Medium is potentially trying to replicate Stripe’s strategy. Plus, the key decision-maker when it comes to ad-blocking is Facebook, and it’s not at all clear what they will do. Finally, an experiment from Jeff Bezos with the Washington Post and Amazon Prime.