Monday, July 30, 2012

Is "Mobile First" Now Affecting Financial Returns?

Is "mobile first" now affecting application and device provider financial returns? You might argue so. 


 “What we’re seeing is that the non-mobile-centric Four Horsemen, Amazon and Facebook, aren’t seeing the same big profits as the two mobile-centric ones, Apple and Google," says  Yankee Group Research VP Carl Howe.  

Facebook’s overall revenue in the second quarter of 2012 hit U.S.$1.2 billion, up 32 percent and beating estimates, but the company posted a net loss of U.S.$157 million vs. income of U.S.$240 million posted a year earlier. 


Amazon, for its part, announced a 96 percent drop in net income, to U.S.$7 million, primarily due to investments in and subsidies for its best-selling Kindle Fire mobile device, 


But Google and Apple, which you might argue have head starts in terms of their "mobile first" strategies, are doing better, financially. 

In fairness, Amazon does, as a matter of strategy, emphasize big investments that provide strategic value, even if it hits quarterly earnings. You might argue that is simply what happened in the second quarter. 


Facebook frankly admits it has to create a mobile strategy, but has yet to do so in practice. 



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