Meta doesn’t expect anyone to pay for Instagram. Meta’s proposal to charge $10.5 per month for Instagram looks deliberately priced to fail creating a strong incentive for users in the EU to explicitly allow targeted advertising which will also test just how valuable the service is to its users. Meta Platforms is currently embroiled in negotiations with the EU with...
No solution to Google Search. Court documents confirm that while Apple would love to become self-sufficient in a number of core technologies, there are a number of areas where it will remain dependent on others for the foreseeable future. As part of the Department of Justice’s (DOC) suit against Google, documents are coming to light that demonstrate just how much...
Here we go again. Even though the launch of a chatbot is a rinse and repeat of 2017’s Facebook M (see here), Meta Platforms’ complete dominance of the open-source community puts it in a powerful position with developers. Meta Platforms made three big announcements at its Connect 2023 conference, all of which involve AI (of course). First, chatbot is not dissimilar...
OpenAI makes hay while the sun shines. When a company that has issues with making profits can raise money at a valuation of $85bn, it becomes abundantly clear that investors in generative AI have taken leave of their senses. Open AI is reportedly raising money at a valuation of $80bn to $90bn which to me looks like an opportunistic event...
Investment underlines Amazon’s AI weaknesses. Amazon is staking its claim in the world of generative AI but at the same time, the size of the bet it is making on Anthropic clearly signals that Amazon’s existing AI is second-rate and that something else is needed to allow it to play in the big leagues. Amazon is investing $1.25bn in Anthropic...
Unity puts down the revolver. Unity has realised that developers are the life’s blood of both its business and its long-term potential and has greatly watered down its plans to earn more money which will preserve its position but will do the share price no good whatsoever in the short term. Unity has written an open letter to the community...
Weak markets don’t matter that much. Life is not great in The Metaverse at the moment as shipments are expected to almost halve in 2024 but in the grand scheme of things, this is irrelevant as RFM Research does not expect any real traction in this market much before 2028 or 2029. According to Counterpoint Research (see here), shipments declined...
Alexa might finally deliver on a 6-year old promise. Amazon’s annual Alexa event was dominated by generative AI, but the reality is that Amazon promised all this 6 years ago and remains demonstrably behind the curve when it comes to generative AI. It is ironic that Amazon has by far the largest installed base of hardware that could be upgraded...
The US sees through the propaganda. Commentary from the US Department of Commerce indicates that it has not fallen for the propaganda and realised that the ability to make chips economically at scale is more important than being able to achieve a single feat of engineering. The launch of the Huawei Mate 60 Pro has caused a lot of fuss...
Richard is founder, owner of research company, Radio Free Mobile. He has 16 years of experience working in sell side equity research. During his 11 year tenure at Nomura Securities, he focused on the equity coverage of the Global Technology sector.
Google – Chronic affliction.
Google still hides its light under a bush. Google held its Made by Google 2023 event where it once again demonstrated some great innovation which would work much better if it was in a device made by Samsung device rather than Google. However, both companies continue to be afflicted with chronic engineering disease meaning that Apple will remain pretty much...