First some important updates about Stratechery, then Google is seeking to acquire Fitbit. Why the acquisition makes sense, and why it doesn’t.
Google and Ambient Computing
Google presented a vision of ambient computing that goes beyond the smartphone. The company is well-placed, but faces challenges both in the marketplace and in the mirror.
Apple App Store Changes, Google to Remove French News Excerpts, Europe Bans Content Worldwide
Apple is softening App Store lock-in by the barest amount possible. Then, Google shows its power in France, but a case against Facebook shows how limited that power is.
Google’s Earnings, Amazon’s Earnings
Google’s earnings came with the usual dearth of information, although it appears that Google Cloud is growing more than expected. AWS growth, meanwhile, is definitely slowing as Amazon’s business broadly is running out of low-hanging fruit.
Tech and Antitrust Follow-up, Google Buys Looker, Salesforce Buys Tableau
Sometimes analysis is about what will happen, not what should happen. Then, two big acquisitions in the data analytics face: Google’s purchase of Looker makes sense, while Salesforce is paying a steep price for Tableau.
Tech and Antitrust
A review of the potential antitrust cases against Google, Apple, Facebook, and Amazon suggests that only Google is vulnerable.
Cloudera and Pivotal, Box and Zuora
Four companies that are getting hammered in the stock market after releasing growth projections that missed expectations; it’s not clear that all of them will come back.
AMD Launches 7nm Chips, Sony Partners with Microsoft, Apple and AWS
AMD leapfrogs Intel thanks to modularity, Sony partners with Microsoft thanks to scale, and Apple balances both.
Google IO Follow-up, Linux on Windows, Microsoft’s Developer Strategy
More on Google’s I/O keynote, particularly about how the company is well-positioned for a privacy-centric world. Then, Microsoft is doing an excellent job of appealing to developers.
Apple’s Earnings, Google’s Earnings, Amazon Earnings
Apple, Google, and Amazon’s earnings all showed fundamental weaknesses in the consumer market; perhaps these companies are not all-powerful.