
The Game of Phones: How 5 Top Tech Companies Plan to Win - jonmwords
http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/the_game_of_phones_how_5_top_tech_companies_plan_t.php#.TsrdZcfdi9c.hackernews
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cek
This is a narrow-minded analysis that fails to expose what is really important
in the competition between these giants.

The battleground is not the phones (devices) but the services that power the
experiences consumers will use and pay for (often indirectly) over time.

A better pivot would be around the assets that each of these 5 companies must
have to be a leader in the consumer space in the next 3-5 years:

1) Control of (or unfettered access to) a global-scale social graph

2) An efficient, direct-to-consumer commerce system allowing taking/making
payments in micro amounts

3) A world-wide, scalable cloud platform

4) A set of consumer valuable services

I've listed these in the order I think most important. If you agree the social
graph is important you'll understand why Google will do _whatever_ it takes to
make G+ a real competitor to Facebook.

Microsoft will eventually get excellent at interfacing directly with consumers
(or will partner with someone e.g. Amazon to do so).

Amazon is very well positioned across all four.

Apple struggles with the social graph and cloud platform. They are clearly
investing in the cloud. Not clear what they think they will do about the lack
of a social graph.

Google is in pretty good shape except the only "consumer valuable service"
they really provide is search; they need more.

