The most popular and most important posts on Stratechery in 2018. | Continue reading
The State of Technology, at least in the enterprise space, is strong; consumer tech is another story, and it is time to question the dominance of big companies like Google. | Continue reading
Aggregators succeed by being the best at doing the jobs consumers want done. | Continue reading
Apple’s earnings point towards a disappointing quarter, and there are also clouds on the “services narrative” horizon, particularly in China. Then, Apple’s (ongoing) mistake… | Continue reading
Apple’s case before the Supreme Court is about standing; Apple has a strong case. That, though, doesn’t mean the App Store isn’t a monopoly — and that Apple isn’t increasing… | Continue reading
SAP’s acquisition of Qualtrics shows how the shift in technology has changed business; it is a perfect example of using the Internet to one’s advantage. | Continue reading
Apple’s decision to stop reporting unit sales is defensible; the company, though, should provide more data to support its new growth story. | Continue reading
IBM has bought Red Hat in an attempt to recreate its success in the 90s; it’s not clear, though, that the company or the market is the same. | Continue reading
Virtual reality has always been destined to be less important than augmented reality, and Facebook taking a stake has never made much sense. | Continue reading
Amazon, Google, Apple, and Facebook are battling for the home; what are their strengths, weaknesses, go-to-market strategies, and business models, and who is the favorite? Or does it matter? | Continue reading
Facebook and Google and other advertising businesses are data factories, and regulation will be most effective if it lets users look inside | Continue reading
Facebook and Google and other advertising businesses are data factories, and regulation will be most effective if it lets users look inside | Continue reading
The surprising resignation of Kevin Systrom and Mike Krieger should not, in fact, be surprising: this became inevitable the moment they sold Instagram to Facebook. | Continue reading
The EU is back to regulating tech companies, and getting the Internet wrong in the process. That, though, helps illuminate an approach that could work. | Continue reading
The iPhone is a franchise, a product that will make money in well-defined ways; Apple understands that and is exploiting it more than ever before with the iPhones XS and XR. | Continue reading
Uber had a good strategy, but its crisis meant Lyft had new life and the strategy was no longer workable. Now the company is pursuing something new, even though it is more complicated. | Continue reading
SnapChat is losing users, and it seems clear the biggest reason is Instagram Stories: that is a win for Facebook, but the pain in advertising may be substantial. | Continue reading
An interview with Patreon CEO Jack Conte and Memberful CEO Drew Strojny on the occasion of Patreon acquiring Memberful, the membership software used by Stratechery. This Daily Update is free for ev… | Continue reading
An interview with Patreon CEO Jack Conte and Memberful CEO Drew Strojny on the occasion of Patreon acquiring Memberful, the membership software used by Stratechery. This Daily Update is free for ev… | Continue reading
Facebook was down dramatically after its last earnings; to decide if it is justified it is worth looking at the company through many different lenses, both financial and strategic. | Continue reading
Examining the history of Android explains why the European Commission may be right to fine Google for its actions around Android, even as the reasoning feels off. | Continue reading
Intel is in an increasingly bad position in part because it has been captive to its integrated model. Or, you could simply say they were disrupted. | Continue reading
It is no surprise that a judge allowed the AT&T-Time Warner acquisition to proceed given the government’s poor case; the question is if a better case could have been made. What is ultimat… | Continue reading
Scooters are everywhere, and the use case is amazing. What is not so clear, though, is how scooter companies can build strong businesses, which means consumers are the real winners. | Continue reading
Microsoft paid a lot for GitHub, because it had to pay directly for access to developers. It doesn’t have the leverage of users the way that Apple does on the App Store. | Continue reading
On the business, strategy, and impact of technology. | Continue reading
Understanding the differences between aggregators and platforms matters for companies interacting with them and also regulators considering antitrust. | Continue reading
The Moat Map describes the correlation between the degree of supplier differentiation and the externalization (or internalization) of a company’s network effect. | Continue reading
Google and Facebook represent one philosophy, and Microsoft and Apple represent another; tech needs both, but ultimately platforms are more important than aggregators. | Continue reading
Apple has long defeated disruption by focusing on the user experience; Jeff Bezos and Amazon, though, show that user expectations for their experience are ever-changing. | Continue reading