“The question that needs to be asked and answered is why hardware.” To Satya Nadella’s credit, he provided not just the answer, but the question as well. And, looked at narrowly, there were good things seen – and not seen – at Microsoft’s Surface event. Having clearly failed as a mass market device, it makes […]
Apple Retail and the Innovator’s Dilemma
Angela Ahrendts officially took over as head of Apple Retail last week, and just in time. Same store sales were down five percent last quarter, and have been hovering around zero for several quarters prior. To be fair, that decline is mostly due to Apple’s slowed growth; more concerning is the declining rate of store […]
Daily Update: Bitcoin and China, Samsung Earnings, International Plans for Xiaomi and Lenovo
Good morning, Please remember to update your GlassBoard, t-shirt, poster, and book preferences on your profile page if you have not already done so. Access members, also check out GlassBoard as I have a few ideas I want to put past you, and remember you can contact me directly by email here (the link isSubscribe […]
Daily Update (2014-04-24): Apple Earnings, Capital Structure; Facebook Earnings
Good morning, In case you missed it yesterday, you can now access the Daily Email on the web and through your private RSS feed. Let me know if you have any trouble getting this set up. I also sent a separate email to Access members and Annual Daily Update members asking you to resubmit yourSubscribe […]
Samsung’s Disappearing Differentiation
Earlier this week Samsung, and I’m quoting the headline of the press release, “Unveil[ed] Comprehensive, Lifestyle-Focused Galaxy Gifts Package for Next Generation Galaxy S5”: Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. today announced its collaboration with 16 of the world’s leading mobile content and service providers to offer Galaxy S5 users more than $600 worth of exclusive, pre-paid […]
Two Bears, Revisited
One of the more annoying aspects of the late great PC area was how review sites treated Macs: for all intents and purposes, they were just another PC. Consider this CNET review of the 2007 MacBook Pro:1 The good: Updated CPUs and graphics without an updated price; LED-backlit display for better battery life; 802.11n support. […]
iPad Predictions, Revisited
I wrote about my expectations for tomorrow’s iPad event back in August in an article entitled The iPad is like the iPod, not the iPhone. The introduction: 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 […]
An Interview with Eric Jackson at Forbes
Eric Jackson recently interviewed me for his column at Forbes. I’m cross-posting here my answers to the tech industry related questions. Check out the full interview to read more about me personally and the background of stratechery. Q: Where is Apple at right now as a company in this post-Steve Jobs period? A: I think, […]
What Clayton Christensen Got Wrong
Clayton Christensen continually predicts that Apple will be disrupted because his theory does not incorporate the importance of the user experience.
The $550 iPhone 5C Makes Perfect Sense
I can sympathize with the inability of many folks to grok exactly what Apple is thinking with iPhone 5C pricing. I myself was confused until just before launch, when I wrote Thinking about iPhone Pricing and honed in on the idea of “good-enough.” In the case of the iPhone, the 3G was clearly better than […]