It seems increasingly obvious to me that the story of the next ten years of consumer-facing online businesses is going to be a straight shoot-out between four companies: Facebook, Google, Apple, Amazon.

1. Gerard Santinelli
Sizing Up The Big Beasts -
Gerard Santinelli
Gerard Santinelli's
Business Blog

2. It seems increasingly obvious to me that the story of the next ten
years of consumer-facing online businesses is going to be a
straight shoot-out between four companies:
Facebook
Google
Apple
Amazon
Now some of you – my older
readers in particular – may be
shouting at this point: “What about
Microsoft Gerard?”
I’ve already ruled Microsoft out when it comes to the consumer
market. I can see them re-inventing the company as a cloud provider
for business under new CEO Satya Nadella but they’re just too far
behind with the consumer segment in my opinion. That ship has
sailed.
Sizing Up The Big Beasts -
Gerard Santinelli

3. I’m going to look at each one of the big four above in detail in
separate future posts but, to begin with, I want to try out a little
thought experiment: what does each company want?
I’m trying to think here not about what they necessarily do right
now but what they ultimately want. Here are the first thoughts that
came to mind in answer to that question:
What does Google want?
Google wants to know everything about the world. It wants all that
information gathered together so it can unleash its algorithms on it.
Google is a machine-learning company masquerading as an
advertising company.
Sizing Up The Big Beasts -
Gerard Santinelli

4. Facebook wants to know everything about you and your
relationship with people close to you so it can unleash its
algorithms on that data.
What Does Facebook Want?
Sizing Up The Big Beasts -
Gerard Santinelli

5. Apple wants to make every single high-end appliance you use. The
watch and the rumored car are just the tip of the iceberg. Apple
wants to to own the entire space at the upper income levels.
What does Apple want?
Sizing Up The Big Beasts -
Gerard Santinelli

6. Amazon wants you to make every single one
of your purchases through them. It doesn’t
care whether those purchases are physical or
virtual. It wants to be the only shop you ever
use.
What do those answers tell me straightaway?
A couple of things: Google’s real enemy is
Facebook and Apple’s real enemy is Amazon.
What does Amazon want?
There’s been a lot of recent skirmishes on other fronts e.g. Google
and Apple squabbling over maps or mobile operating systems but I
think that’s just a sideshow compared to the real battles to come.
And when I squint my eyes and look at all four to see who’s in the
weakest position, my gut tells me Google has a lot more to be
worried about than the others.
Stick around and I’ll go through the reasons why I think that’s the
case but I’d be interested to hear your thoughts on that initial
breakdown in the comments below. Let’s get the conversation
started!
Sizing Up The Big Beasts -
Gerard Santinelli

7. Thanks!Thanks!- Gerard Santinelli
Gerard Santinelli
Sizing Up The Big Beasts -
Gerard Santinelli