Network Effect

Apple's Walmart Deal Will Effectively Kill Google's Android

Anyone who thinks that sitting and waiting in this game is an acceptable strategy is missing the point. The entire business model centers on the ecosystem around the phone. The cell phone itself is just the trojan horse to the customer, or gateway to the ecosystem. The key is to develop the self-perpetuating cycle between buyer and seller within the ecocystem. The more people that have these phones, the more companies need to sell / develop products and services for the ecosystem. If Android doesn't have any customers, why would people keep developing for it. Look at Google Base and Google Wallet. These are free - but no one buys through them so early adopters just give up and the spiral starts the other way. The whole key, as evidenced by Ma Bell, MSFT, eBay, PayPal and a whole host of other networks that dominate their industry is the network effect of the ecosystem around their business. Apple won this game a long time ago. This will be yet another area where Google tries to win against an 800 pound gorilla and fails miserably.

Apple's $199 iPhone Is a Game-Changer

AppleSauc said it best ... "the iPhone is not a phone at all". exactly, it's a trojan horse to build a network from which Apple can generate limitless revenue streams. the first example of this is the fact that AT&T is paying people $200 to buy the iPhone and use their network because they are making $90 / month on each user so they pay it off in 2 months. the iPhone is a network, not a phone. and Apple, and a whole host of other companies are going to generate countless revenue streams from it.

Apple's $199 iPhone Is a Game-Changer

seems like more and more people are finally starting to get a glimpse of the massive possibilities with the iPhone. 100M next year seems about right - once global adoption is blessed so phones are no longer unlocked, this will explode even more than it has already. And once they build the ecosystem around the iPhone, it's game over. There will be a lot of companies that Apple will steamroll over once they build the ecosystem. Even Mr. Softy one day if they play their cards right. The student has become the teacher, grasshopper.

AT&T Vague on iPhone Growth; Apple Shares Slump

Apple will blow away numbers on iPhone - International unlocked phones is off the charts. Huge arbitrage going on where wholesalers are buying them in bulk as soon as they become available in the US, unlocking them, and selling them all over the world. The opportunities with the iPhone are huge and endless. But ideas are a dime a dozen - it's all about the execution. And Apple continues to deliver at an accelerating pace - Jobs is like the Michael Jordan of business - you don't know how he does it, but you just know that somehow he always pulls it off. And it's not like they're going to stop at the iPhone. This thing is a tsunami - wave after wave after wave of innovation and expanding the network and ecosystem ... there's video games, home entertainment, digital media delivery, peer-to-peer social networking ... etc. This snowball has just started to roll down the hill here. Until Jobs leaves, Apple will continue to exceed the expectations of the street. Short term, market is fickle so who knows. But long term, this is a slam dunk.

Wireless Auction: Google Playing Chess Ten Moves Ahead

the story is over. the google that everybody knew no longer exists. look at the history of the Internet - AOL, Yahoo, eBay, Amazon - all kings of the hill one day like Google is now. but watch their stock price history as the bloom came off the rose as it just did for Google as it went from $750 - $400 and people started to realize that they can't keep that growth pace up. as a result, disappointments start to be the story for a while rather than huge outperformance and P/E starts to come in b/c growth is slowing. The great Google story is over - they're still a great company and will do great things - but it's no longer the Google that we once knew.