The Didi financials are finally out. And they are an interesting mix of good and bad. Didi has market dominance and tech leadership in the largest market for shared mobility. But it is also chronically unprofitable. For investors, this could be a fantastic opportunity. Because Didi’s ongoing losses will scare off investors and likely lower […]
In this episode of the Tech Strategy podcast, Jeffrey Towson discusses whether Huawei’s HarmonyOS can break Android’s global dominance. He argues that HarmonyOS has several strengths, including its security features and its ability to run on a wide range of devices. However, he also notes that HarmonyOS faces several challenges, including the lack of app support and the fact that it is competing against an entrenched incumbent.
In Part 1, I summarized my visit to a media event at JD Central (JDC) Thailand. And I teed up some of the difficulties for Chinese ecommerce giants trying to go international, especially in Southeast Asia. After the media event, I sat down with JD Central CEO Vincent Yang, which turned out to be a pretty […]
This is Part 2 of two articles on Alibaba Investors Day. In Part 1 (Dissecting Alibaba’s 11 Growth Strategies), I wrote about their 5 growth strategies in “Domestic Consumption” (i.e., stuff Chinese consumers spend money on). But CEO Daniel Zhang also outlined 5 growth strategies for Alibaba Cloud. And their cloud business is what everyone has […]
In this podcast, Jeffrey Towson discusses four problems with Hamilton Helmer’s 7 Powers framework. He argues that the framework is too simplistic, does not account for the role of technology, and does not take into account the different competitive dynamics in different industries.
Hi everyone, After months of discussion with subscribers, I’m splitting the course into two more focused services. One service for tech investors. One service for those more interested in executive education in digital strategy. It turns out the audience for this course really is somewhat split between two sets of interests. By creating more focused […]
There was a good paper recently published by Martin Reeves and Raj Varadajaran of the Boston Consulting Group. The paper (When Resilience Is More Important Than Efficiency) touched on a lot of issues related to digital competition – but there was one chart that I thought really hit at the center of a lot of […]
Huawei released their 2019 financial results last week. And I had the opportunity to interview Karl Song, the VP of Corporate Communications, prior so I knew what was coming (but I got embargoed). You can see that interview here. And it was fascinating. Step back and consider what a truly crazy year Huawei had. Has […]
In my online Asia Tech Class, I talk a lot about digital superpowers, which are digital tools that upend established business. And one of these superpowers a dramatically improved user experience, such that the traditional offering is now unacceptable to users. And this sort of dramatically improved user experience is what is happening in luxury […]
I keep an eye out for digital phenomena where China / Asia is on the frontier. We’ve seen this sort of digital leadership in mobile apps, mobile payments and e-commerce. And after meeting with head of smart cities at Huawei, I am convinced we are seeing the same phenomenon in smart cities. Below is my […]