Feature • Activate.com, a leading strategy and technology consulting firm for media, technology, entertainment and information businesses, released the Activate Tech and Media Outlook 2017, its annual report on the state of the internet, tech, media and entertainment industries. The report was initially delivered by Activate CEO, Michael Wolf, at the Wall Street Journal D Live Conference (Oct. 24-26, 2016) in Laguna Beach, California:
Activate Tech and Media Outlook 2017 from Activate:
Trends noted in the report include:
- In the next 5 years, tech and media revenues will grow by over $400B, outpacing global GDP growth.
- Messaging will be a huge driver of growth in tech and media attention. In less than six months, each of the major tech platforms either launched a bot platform, created a messaging app, or both. Messaging will also monetize, with Apple iMessage and Facebook Messenger growing from an average revenue per user of zero in 2016 to $5-$6 by 2020.
- eSports is the next big phenomenon, and will have almost 500 million fans globally by 2020.
Other Tech News:
• How does that make you feel? Twitter founder Jack Dorsey feels 'complicated' about Donald Trump's tweeting--TheGuardian.com.
• Trump roundtable with tech leaders December 14th in New York: invites sent by Trump's transition team adviser Peter Thiel, chief of staff Reince Priebus, and Jared Kushner (Trump's son-in-law). Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg, Apple’s Tim Cook and Google’s Sundar Pichai, Cisco CEO Chuck Robbins and Oracle Co-CEO Safra Catz are expected to attend--NYTimes.com and USAtoday.com. See also Silicon Valley makes nice with Trump | TheHill.com and Start-up CEO Sacks resigns; report says Trump team next | USAtoday.com: "Zenefits CEO David Sacks is stepping down amid speculation that he has been tapped by billionaire technology investor Peter Thiel to assist president-elect Donald Trump ..."
• Shoddy Samsung So Sorry: Samsung confirms it will render the US Note 7 useless with next update | TheVerge.com: "Update will be released December 19th and rolled out within 30 days." But see Verizon statement regarding Samsung Galaxy Note7 | Verizon.com: "We will not push a software upgrade that will eliminate the ability for the Note7 to work as a mobile device in the heart of the holiday travel season." But Samsung catches a break in the Supreme Court: Supreme Court's Text Message in Samsung v. Apple | Bloomberg.com.
• Keep It Simple: separate branding not needed--Android for Work and Play for Work (for enterprises) now simply part of Android and Google Play: "... going forward we’ll refer to enterprise capabilities simply as part of Android and Google Play. With platform-level support shipping with every GMS compatible device, Android for Work and Play for Work have become a core part of Android and Google Play."--blog.google
• Alphabetization--Google makes so much money the other parts of Alphabet never had to worry about financial discipline until Ruth Porat came aboard as CFO--"... former top Google executives who spoke on the condition of anonymity ... describe a company having trouble balancing innovation and its core business, search advertising. Over the 12 months ended in September, Google’s ad business accounted for 89 percent of Alphabet’s revenue, or $76.1 billion. As one ex-executive puts it, 'No one wants to face the reality that this is an advertising company with a bunch of hobbies.'"--Bloomberg.com
• Tencent and Starbucks strategic cooperation: WeChat Pay (pay.weixin.qq.com) now available in about 2,500 Starbucks stores in China via WeChat Wallet--ChinaInternetWatch.com.
• Silicon Valley Culture in China: “[M]ost Chinese companies have not fully absorbed the [Silicon Valley] culture. Many are still highly top-down and bureaucratic, and open office plans often mask more deeply conservative customs. In place of California’s sunny suburbs, China’s innovation hub sits in the traffic and smog-choked northwestern part of Beijing, crammed into office towers above malls that sell all manner of electronics."--NYTimes.com
• Apple's iPhone Blues: "Apple has always been about the brand, and since it has lost a lot of its innovative edge over the last six to seven years, it hasn't been able to gain the foothold it had hoped to in China with its iPhone. A lot of its competitors there offer features close enough to Apple's to cause consumers to think the extra cost of an iPhone isn't worth it." --Seeking Alpha.com and "... iPhone sales consistently underperform the global market as a whole. iPhone may be the most popular single phone but it is cheaper Android phones that are 88% of all phones sold ..."--BusinessInsider.com.
• Microsoft: Requiem For A Smartphone | SeekingAlpha.com: "Windows Phone (mostly Lumias) will probably be allowed to die, but this isn't the end of Windows on mobile devices. Surface Phone, running an Intel processor and a full version of Windows ... "
• ICYMI: Hearing | United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary (video): Examining the Competitive Impact of the AT&T-Time Warner Transaction Subcommittee on Antitrust, Competition Policy & Consumer Rights; Date: Wednesday, December 7, 2016; Time: 10:00 AM; Location: Dirksen Senate Office Building 226; Presiding: Chairman Lee. Witnesses included Randall Stephenson, AT&T Chairman & CEO; Jeffrey Bewkes, Time Warner Chairman & CEO; and Mark Cuban.
• Are You Lying to Yourself? "One would think after the great dot-com crash of April 2000, companies like Cisco, Siebel, and HP would realize that they would soon face a slowdown as many of their customers hit the wall, but despite perhaps the most massive and public early warning system of all time, each CEO reiterated strong guidance right up until the point where they dramatically whiffed their quarters. I asked Andy (Grove) why these great CEOs would lie about their impending fate. He said they were not lying to investors, but rather, they were lying to themselves. Andy explained that humans, particularly those who build things, only listen to leading indicators of good news."--Ben's Blog | bhorowitz.com.
• Microsoft: Requiem For A Smartphone | SeekingAlpha.com: "Windows Phone (mostly Lumias) will probably be allowed to die, but this isn't the end of Windows on mobile devices. Surface Phone, running an Intel processor and a full version of Windows ... "
• ICYMI: Hearing | United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary (video): Examining the Competitive Impact of the AT&T-Time Warner Transaction Subcommittee on Antitrust, Competition Policy & Consumer Rights; Date: Wednesday, December 7, 2016; Time: 10:00 AM; Location: Dirksen Senate Office Building 226; Presiding: Chairman Lee. Witnesses included Randall Stephenson, AT&T Chairman & CEO; Jeffrey Bewkes, Time Warner Chairman & CEO; and Mark Cuban.
• Are You Lying to Yourself? "One would think after the great dot-com crash of April 2000, companies like Cisco, Siebel, and HP would realize that they would soon face a slowdown as many of their customers hit the wall, but despite perhaps the most massive and public early warning system of all time, each CEO reiterated strong guidance right up until the point where they dramatically whiffed their quarters. I asked Andy (Grove) why these great CEOs would lie about their impending fate. He said they were not lying to investors, but rather, they were lying to themselves. Andy explained that humans, particularly those who build things, only listen to leading indicators of good news."--Ben's Blog | bhorowitz.com.
Quick Takes:
- Reasons Google's Pixel is better than the iPhone | BusinessInsider.com.
- Qualcomm Launches Its Assault On The Intel Datacenter | Seeking Alpha.com
- 41% of customers surveyed said they’ll cut, cancel pay TV in next 12 months | ooyala.com
- Google Fiber in Havana - Wishful Thinking? | circleid.com
- T-Mobile announces Digits: one phone number for all your devices | TheVerge.com
- Entrepreneur Raising Money? Avoid This Sleazy Investor's Trap | forbes.com: "The no-re-trading handshake ... It’s up to you to tell them when the negotiation is over, and a deal is a deal."