Strategy Talk Archive: 2012

 

Intel Puts ARM on Notice

By Tony Clark, 2-Dooz Inc. – December 24, 2012

A couple of months ago, I speculated on what I believe is Intel’s mobile computing strategy, especially with respect to their battle with ARM for the hardware hearts and souls of smart phones and tablet computers.  I’m officially on record having said that I fully expect Intel to leverage its design and manufacturing leadership to successfully counter ARM by targeting and implementing major energy conservation and performance improvements in its processors.  Last week Intel announced important developments regarding this strategy. Read more ...


Tim Cook's Apple-style

By Tony Clark, 2-Dooz Inc. – November 5, 2012

A little less than a week after the company’s latest and perhaps biggest new products barrage ever, Tim Cook, CEO of Apple, solidified his stamp on the company’s culture by shaking up the executive ranks and by instituting a sweeping reorganization; and in the process continued to forge an Apple that is far less arrogant and ironically more customer focused than it was under Steve Jobs.  This is Tim Cook’s Apple-style.  And, in a sense, he is saying that Apple can be cool without being arrogant and dictatorial.  This has broad and potentially positive implications for the company. Read more to find out why ...


Cloud Service Ecosystems Pose Inflection Point Risk for Intel

By Tony Clark, 2-Dooz Inc. – October 22, 2012

The computing world was once dominated by vertically oriented, proprietary host systems and network architectures.  Example iconic vertically oriented systems include IBM’s 370 host and Systems Network Architecture (SNA) and Digital Equipment Corporation’s PDP-11 mini-computers and DEC-NET.  The list of advantages afforded through vertical orientation included the ability of developers to exercise more control over their respective supply chains, which, in turn, yielded a larger share of the available product margin.  On the host side, this situation changed with the ascent of the so called WinTel industry-wide PC architecture, which was characterized by a horizontal system orientation; whereby Microsoft provided the operating system and Intel provided the microprocessor (and other hardware).   One result of WinTel was a redistribution of the available product margin to the side of the major suppliers.  For example, during the past three decades, Intel—primarily fueled by the success of its Intel Inside program, design expertise and manufacturing leadership—was able to wrestle the lion share of the hardware margin away from the PC manufacturers, e.g., Dell, HP, etc.  Fast forward to the present day and the dominance and influence of the WinTel architecture is now waning in the face of more proprietary, vertically oriented, cloud based service ecosystems from the likes of Apple, Amazon, Google, and others.  It is the emergence of these cloud service ecosystems that pose the most pressing inflection point risk for Intel. Read more to find out why ...


Amazon's Secret Weapon

By Tony Clark, 2-Dooz Inc. – August 13, 2012

Amazon’s (AMZN) secret weapon isn’t related to its cloud services offerings (AWS); besides, that’s a bit too obvious for a “2-Dooz Strategy Talk” article.  Also, the secret weapon has nothing to do with the newly announced Amazon Game Studios (AGS), which enjoyed broad press coverage last week upon the release of its first title—“Living Classics.”  No, the part of Amazon’s strategy that I am referring to has mostly gone unnoticed and has received far less analysis.  Still, in spite of its stealth profile, it is having a profound effect on Amazon’s overall business performance.  Amazon’s secret weapon is called “3P.”  Read more ...

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