Juiciest quotes from Antitrust Report
The U.S. House of Reps investigation of Big Tech continues to be one of the most fascinating subjects in our time — with truckloads of data suggesting that the world’s largest tech companies were using their success and intelligence to, well, grow. Wired tracks fourteen of the juiciest quotes coming from Facebook, Apple, Google and Amazon.
dis-rup-shun: What business person says, “I want to build a really successful business, but not too successful, as I want to make sure I have a lot of really good competitors who make it impossible to grow past a certain level, and then I will tell my shareholders and employees that this is as good as it gets — look elsewhere if you want more?” It is hard to blame these “kids in candy store” tech execs who invented new markets and forgot that success at the cost of restricting competition is against the law. But they are about to get a lesson in line-drawing and when to know when to turn down the “total world domination” knob.
IBM gets focus
IBM, long the most recognized brand for computing for those that were adults before Apple was a rock star company, has gained new focus. The company announced this week that it is splitting into two companies: the IBM brand will stay with the company focusing on hybrid cloud solutions (high margin business) and Newco will focus on IT infrastructure solutions consulting — the crowded space of bidding on design and management of corporate IT departments and projects. CNBC
dis-rup-shun: IBM has been one of the most mis-understood brands for decades. Once known for mainframe computers, then made famous for launching the business PC, the company does little of the former and none of the latter. The company has spent the last two decades diminishing in influence over corporate computing and struggling to be known for its crown jewel, the “Watson” branding of cloud computing. IBM has a new CEO, Arvind Krishna, who is cleaning up the shop and focusing on growth segments. Just like at Google and Microsoft, fresh blood and fresh thinking is already doing wonders for IBM’s outlook.
Samsung has blow out quarter
Samsung’s quarter ended in September saw a smashing 58% increase over the prior year — about $10.6 billion. The company has benefited from an uptick in demand of consumer products (thanks COVID), a stocking up on memory chips given sanctions against Huawei (thanks Trump) and an uptick of display orders in preparation for the release of the next, and 5G compatible, iPhone (thanks Apple). CNBC
dis-rup-shun: For all the talk of the global economy being in shambles, there are many white-hot bright spots that are keeping the engines of commerce humming, enabling people around the world to shop online, pay their mortgages, and keep credit cards warm. Unfortunately for those locked out of online economies, the percentage of people living in extreme poverty has risen to the highest levels in decades. The digital divide is not a growing local, but rather a global crisis.
Wyze removes price barrier from smart home
Wyze is the smart home technology company, that for the last several years, has been selling competitively featured smart camera for a fraction of competitors. The company is now offering a $30 doorbell camera and a $50 thermostat to join its $20 smart camera and $8 connected lightbulb. CNET
dis-rup-shun: For every promising new market, there is a spoiler who offers a good enough product at a price point which is “off the price curve” and Wyze is that spoiler for the smart home. What could possibly be their strategy? Perhaps they are trying to be the unicorn of the device world, rapidly capturing as many users as possible in order to make a big, fat exit to a Google or Amazon. Whatever the plan, they are removing cost as a barrier to participation in the smart home market — providing useful products for less than the cost of a meal for two. Let’s see if they can throttle the adoption curve.