Tencent needs all its regulatory expertise. Tencent’s regulatory woes look set to continue for some time to come, meaning that the outlook for the next few quarters remains difficult. Tencent has now been forced to shut down its popular “Everyday Texas Hold’Em” game on September 25th as the game is seen as too much like gambling for the regulator. Gambling...
A chink appears in Google’s iron control of Android. For the first time, there is a real threat to the dominance of the Google Play store on Android devices which may eventually undermine Google’s ability to control Android. Fortnite is currently by far the biggest thing in gaming with well over 100m regular players and over $300m in monthly turnover....
More than a hiccup. There is little doubt that the market for virtual reality has entered the trough of disillusionment and it will take real progress on the limitations of the technology before it comes out again. IDC’s latest figures (see here) make rough reading and I think it likely that even the one segment that is showing growth will...
A perfect balance of open and closed is required. Volkswagen has articulated exactly the right strategy to give it a shot at becoming a digital company, but if it takes its proprietary stance too far and does not execute well, this could easily become another €3.5bn down the drain. RFM research has identified the possibility that both electrification and autonomous...
Folding devices to offset the ravages of commoditisation. The announcement of a device with a truly flexible screen looks to have been perfectly timed as Samsung is starting to run out of hardware differentiation in its Galaxy handset line-up. The idea of a device with a flexible screen has been around for more than 7 years (see here) and as...
Ofo’s travails will put it in Didi clutches. Ofo is facing another angry creditor, which combined with the seemingly endless bicycle graveyards in China, clearly indicates that the consolidation phase is now upon us. Bike sharing like food delivery, app stores, valet apps and so on is passing through the classic hype cycle (first defined by Gartner) and now finds...
Anecdotes are not data. Waymo may appear to be struggling with some of the most basic vehicle operations, but the little data that there is still suggests that it is miles ahead of the competition. A report from The Information cites anecdotal observations (see here) that Waymo vehicles have had trouble making left turns at intersections and that local residents...
Volareo is way too late to have a chance. The smart speaker market is already extremely crowded which is likely to ensure that Volareo’s offering disappears without a trace. Volareo is a Dutch start-up whose proposition is based on ensuring that musicians get a large slice of the revenue from a song with payment being enabled using cryptocurrencies. The device...
On course to become a commodity. Toyota is partnering with Uber in a move that confirms that it has no confidence in an in-house autonomous vehicle offering as well as little understanding of how its industry is becoming driven by software. Toyota will invest $500m in Uber at a valuation of $72bn and begin manufacturing Sierra Minivans with Uber’s self-driving technology...
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.
Apple – Under the hood.
The real action is inside the new products. The new, universally leaked, devices are pretty dull on the outside but it is what Apple has done on the inside, particularly around the camera, that makes them worthy of note. The devices were so widely leaked (probably deliberately) that there was nothing that caused any real surprise with three new iPhones,...