Apple has often been tight-lipped about its research in order to keep its technical prowess from being used by competitors. Now, the technology giant is going to let its artificial intelligence teams to publish research papers in journals. While this is a great move for academics and science-buffs, it remains to be seen if it’s going to help the company financially. #Apple #technology
It’s been a while since we read that Google passed Apple to become the world’s most valuable company. Google’s parent company Alphabet overtook Apple in May, with respect to market capitalization. However, Apple is back at the top, with a market capitalization of $568 billion. Google’s market capitalization of $547 isn’t far behind. It holds the second place now. What is really revealing is that Facebook is now the 5th most valued company in the world, after Microsoft & Amazon. What does this tell us? The fact that a social networking company is one of the biggest 5 is a revealing trend. What it is also revealing is that Apple’s business is kind of slinking. Its iPhones are not generating as much money as they used to do previously, and it is left wondering if it should focus on its Macs or its iPads. Google’s business isn’t doing very well, especially when it comes to its ad business. The reasons could be many, but at the moment, what we need to notice is, Google and Apple continue to remain at the top, while Facebook is slowly clawing its way to the top. Microsoft is falling, and Amazon has plateaued. It tells us where we are in the world of technology. With both Apple and Google being the traditional tech companies, that have focused on mobile development, is it soon enough to say that the mobile bubble getting ready to burst? Not really! On the contrary, mobile usage is plateauing, and the market is becoming more and more mature. With maximum people having access to tools that get them online (such as mobile devices), it is only for Facebook to see an upward surge, which focuses on its social platform and ads. Similarly, more people are buying online, which leads us to believe that mobile is keeping Amazon’s growth at a steady pace. While there do not seem to be any disruptions coming our way, the trend clearly is towards the social. Social platforms have long been seen as the next big thing, and now they are getting their due respect, and Facebook’s case is just an example of the trend. On the other hand, both Google and Apple are struggling to retain their coveted places, which show us that previous business models may soon change, and they may need to innovate in order to stay at their top forms. Looking forward Both Google and Apple might begin to focus on not just their mobile businesses, but also their social side of their business. For example, Google may invest more on making algorithms social-search friendly, whereas, Apple is likely to focus on Apple Music’s inherent social capabilities. Music is the next big untapped source of social revolution and Apple is certainly well equipped to handle that. We need to wait and watch how these older companies will handle this situation, while social networking companies continue to see the growth that we all expected.
Back in May, when Apple invested $1 billion in Didi Chuxing, a Chinese ride-hailing service, people were left wondering what that was all about. Was Apple trying to enter the Chinese market? Was it trying to launch a new app that helps people hail taxis? Was it about the media tool which helps people access entertainment in their cars? Or was it just that Apple was super intuitive? Looks like, Apple knew what was to come much earlier than most speculated. Didi, which is one of the prominent taxi hailing services in China, just purchased Uber’s Chinese business for $35 billion. While Uber retains 20% of the stake, it quickly becomes clear that Apple gained access to not only Didi Chuxing’s customer list, but also Uber’s Chinese consumers list. Effectively, this will help Apple to track consumer behavior in China and also enhance its products for the Asian giant. It is a different story though, that certain Apple services are not available in China yet. However, this move indicates that larger technology companies often gain access to markets and consumes by purchasing companies or investing in them. Apple did just that. [php snippet=1] How might this help Apple? Consumer lists help companies to brand themselves, design marketing campaigns and also choose different branding strategies. While China remains one of the largest markets for Apple products in the world, it is also the largest overall market in the world, by its sheer size. It is extremely important to have access to such a mammoth market, if one were to gain access t its creamy layer. This is just what Apple did and it was one of the wisest decisions made by this company. There are rumors about Apple launching self-driven cars, similar to Google but those may not be valid. What could be valid is that Apple is looking at the $1 billion investment as an investment for its digital marketing campaigns, which will come every time there is a new product launch. We only have to wait and watch to see how Apple will use its new found access to customer information in China. The possibilities are endless but to begin with, Apple will certainly benefit from the various market segments that these ride hailing companies cater to. Looking forward Like any good financial move, it was not clear why Apple invested $1 billion in Didi Chuxing. However, after a couple of months and a few more financial contracts signed, it is clear what Apple was aiming at: access to Chinese consumers’ information and data. Whether $1 was the right price to pay for this information is something that time will tell, but most likely, it was a wise move. In other words, it also helps us to know how much information is valued today. Consumer information is not only a hotly debated topic, but also something that is sold or bartered. When the time comes, one may need to keep certain things confidential. All the more reason to keep it safe and secure.
