Many descriptions of the smartphone business focus on the competition between Apple and Samsung, with some attention paid to the assault of Xaiomi in Asia. The computer business is concerned with Macs and occasionally Windows. Hardly anyone pays attention to the sale of low end Intel-based servers. That may be why there is a tendency … Continue reading Lenovo’s Move to Industry Leadership
I recall not too long ago Google did zero advertising. “Just Google it” was spreading virally and Google was growing and had no need to spend money on marketing. Slowly but surely over the past few years, Google has stepped up its advertising efforts. Which, and some may disagree, I interpret as a sign of … Continue reading Google’s Ads: Defense or Offense?
The foundation of the tech business has nearly always been based on the idea of creating products and services that appeal to as wide an audience as possible. As we begin to enter a more mature, slower growth phase of the industry, however, the possibility of going horizontal is getting increasingly difficult. Particularly as we … Continue reading Going Vertical
I read the first three Harry Potter novels to my son. It’s a fond memory strengthened by the fact the books were quite good. In each, the young Harry Potter straddles two very distinct worlds, the magical world of wizards and the familiar world of non-magical folk, Muggles. Us. Except, this is not true, not … Continue reading There Are No Muggles. We Are All Wizards Now.
In the latest mobile focused podcast with Benedict Evans and myself, we touched on a theme that needs more fleshing out. That of a future only possible because of mobile computers/smartphones. When I detail the mobile first world in articles, presentations, and reports, what I highlight is not only the impact but the necessity of … Continue reading Understanding the Global Mobile Web
In my discussion of PC maker’s problems in a piece on the industry’s struggle with Apple, commenter David Olson wondered what had gone wrong at Hewlett-Packard: “Lots of success, lots of brains, lots of potential. What happened?” Although some of HP’s mistakes were the result of some odd bad moves, history contains some important examples … Continue reading Why Bill Hewlett and Dave Packard Made HP What It Was
The Wall Street Journal had a big scoop this week: some numbers on Xiaomi’s business are apparently being shared with potential investors as it looks to raise money for acquisitions and/or expansion. Until now, I’ve held off on writing anything in-depth about Xiaomi precisely because its financial model and key facts such as its profitability … Continue reading Thoughts on Xiaomi
In this podcast, Benedict Evans and Ben Bajarin discuss some of the slides from Benedict’s updated Mobile is Eating the World slide deck. Some important observations are made and teased out about the opportunities that we are seeing globally that are only possible because of the smartphone. Show Notes: Mobile is Eating the World Deck … Continue reading Mobile Focused Podcast: A Future Only Possible Because of Mobile
It wasn’t the biggest news of the week. But anyone who paid attention to the recent announcement by Microsoft, a deal that will integrate Dropbox into Office, sees a new way the company is run by Satya Nadella. For the decades it was run by Bill Gates and Steven Ballmer, Microsoft saw little reason to … Continue reading New Thoughts, New Links, New Microsoft
The wearables category has seen some important new announcements and additions over the last few weeks, so it’s not surprising to see more attention being paid to the market. Of course, there was the Apple Watch announcement back in September. Just last week Microsoft debuted the Microsoft Band to reasonably decent acclaim, while HP jumped … Continue reading A New Wearables Forecast
Welcome to the weekly Tech.pinions podcast. This week Bob O’Donnell, Tim Bajarin, and Jan Dawson discuss the introduction of HP’s new Sprout PC, the purchase of Motorola by Lenovo and the debut of Microsoft’s new Band wearable device. Click here to subscribe in iTunes. If you happen to use a podcast aggregator or want to … Continue reading The Tech.pinions Podcast: HP Sprout, Lenovo-Motorola, Microsoft Band
A few weeks back Horace Dediu of Asymco and I were having dinner and we got to discussing some of this updated thoughts on disruption theory. One bit in particular was how the luxury tech market was causing him to evolve some thinking on the theory as it relates to consumer markets. I thought it … Continue reading Podcast: Discussing Disruption Theory
It’s earnings season and, as usual, I’m spending quite a bit of time poring over financial results from major tech companies (some of which I’ve written up on my personal blog here). However, there’s a topic which I’ve been meaning to write about for some time and which the current earnings season presents an opportunity … Continue reading Profitable Cores and Reinvention
I have to believe Microsoft’s latest earnings has finally obliterated all the silly “Microsoft is doomed!” discussion that’s been so bien pensant across the blogosphere these many years. This is a company that generated $23 billion in revenues and is clearly poised for growth. Most surprisingly, it’s poised for growth in the consumer and hardware markets, mobile and … Continue reading Microsoft Is Doomed. Doomed!
A great deal of my tablet market analysis has been spent exploring opportunities for a PC in the form of a tablet. Opportunities not fulfilled by a PC in the form of a desktop or laptop. As I explained here, the enterprise or commercial tablet market’s upside is still quite large. But the question about the … Continue reading The Consumer Tablet Growth Opportunity
I, along with many other people, cannot wait until the day TV is disrupted. It continually shocks me that the single worst piece of technology I have in my house is my cable TV box. I’ve played out scenario after scenario about how TV gets disrupted and still I land in the same place. It … Continue reading The Myth of TV Disruption
In case you wondered about IBM completing the restructuring of its business, the company’s quiet announcement this week tells the tale. It unloaded a long critical part of the company, including its semiconductor factories in East Fishkill, N.Y., and outside Burlington, Vt., by paying GLOBALFOUNDRIES to take it off its hands for $1.5 billion. Dumping … Continue reading The Sale of the Chip Business Marks the New IBM Future
I’ve had the privilege of using the iPad Air 2 for a little less than a week now and, despite the “sky is falling on the tablet market” themes we hear, I wanted to put the iPad Air upgrades into perspective. There are two ways to look at the iPad Air — a consumer angle … Continue reading The iPad Air 2’s Huge Upside
The number of comedic comments that have been made about “size” probably outnumber knock-knock jokes these days, because it seems everyone likes to offer their view on the matter. When it comes to technology devices, there have also been numerous debates about the importance of size—or not—particularly when it comes to different devices within … Continue reading Size Does Matter…When it Comes to Screens
Mae Jemison turned 58 last Friday. Jemison was the first African American woman to travel into space. As a child, one of her influences was Star Trek’s Lieutenant Uhura. I hope some one, some day writes the definitive piece on all the girls inspired by this popular television character. Role models are vital. They help clear … Continue reading Lt. Uhura. Dr. Mae Jemison. Melinda Gates. Onward.
Tablets, in general, and iPads, in particular, seem to be getting a bad rap nowadays. So I thought I’d take a look at both the bad and the good, and see if that provided us with any meaningful takeaways. 1) The Bad 1.1) The Tablet Market is slowing. 1.2) The iPad Market is slowing. 1.3) … Continue reading iPads: The Bad, The Good And The Takeaway
On the second day Steve jobs was back at Apple I had a chance to sit down with him and ask him about how he planned to rescue Apple. At the time, Apple was $1 billion in the red and we now know they were only a month or two away from even greater financial disaster. The company had … Continue reading Why the New 5K Retina iMac is a Game Changer
We just finished having a new home built and moved in this past weekend. I’m a technologist by trade and have always loved gadgets. With a green field site, high tech awareness and a love for gadgets, you’d think my new home would be filled with home automation and smart home technology. Yet there’s remarkably little … Continue reading What I Learned About the Smart Home From Building a Home
When it comes to the computing products I study — TVs, smartphones, tablets, PCs — I tend to talk primarily about what is happening in China and the US/Europe. Mostly because, for most consumer tech products, China and the US are the largest markets by population for consumer technology. While there is a great deal … Continue reading India and the Digital Age
Thanks for the feedback on my last Padcast on Xiaomi. This will likely be the last one I do for free for a while. I will do more of these for our subscribers on key industry points. If you liked these and are not a subscriber I encourage you to subscribe to our industry insider … Continue reading Video Analysis: Mac vs. PC With Some iPad Help
