Applesa国际传媒檚 latest move into streaming video illustrates an escalating trend: Techsa国际传媒檚 biggest companies, faced with limits to their growth, are encroaching on each othersa国际传媒檚 turf.
Apple is taking on Netflix. Facebook is edging into Amazonsa国际传媒檚 sphere with its e-commerce plans. Google, which has already challenged Amazon and Microsoft in cloud computing, is launching an online game service that could undercut the lucrative game-console business at Microsoft and Sony.
Apple, which is also launching a gaming service and introducing its own credit card , may be veering the most outside its comfort zone, technology industry analyst Rob Enderle said.
sa国际传媒淭his is an awful lot of breadth really quickly for a company that hasnsa国际传媒檛 been known for being great at breadth,sa国际传媒� Enderle said. sa国际传媒淭his is much more diversity than Applesa国际传媒檚 ever had.sa国际传媒�
Before, when the companysa国际传媒檚 product suite grew too varied, sa国际传媒渨hat Steve Jobs did with Apple was, he made the company focus,sa国际传媒� Enderle said.
These are different times, however, and Apple may have decided that it doesnsa国际传媒檛 have much choice amid declining sales of its premier product, the iPhone.
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sa国际传媒淭hey have kind of bled the device market dry,sa国际传媒� said Sally Edgar, of UK-based technology consultancy Waterstons. sa国际传媒淐ompanies will increasingly be about subscription services. I think they have to do it to survive.sa国际传媒�
Tech companies, of course, have explored new markets and fought turf battles over them for years.
Facebook and Google have long scrapped over digital ads. Google and Amazon are battling it out over voice assistants in the home. Google and Microsoft have competing search engines. And Apple and Google have waged an epic smartphone battle for roughly a decade.
But longtime tech industry analyst Tim Bajarin sees new urgency in the latest push into streaming services and other businesses that bring in continuous flows of money sa国际传媒� not just when consumers make big investments in new phones or other hardware.
sa国际传媒淚tsa国际传媒檚 just becoming clearer today that the only way a company is going to grow is by adding a recurring revenue model,sa国际传媒� Bajarin said. sa国际传媒淎pple is becoming an aggregator of content. They now have multiple services that will help them grow their bottom line.sa国际传媒�
Enderle said Apple is still in the sa国际传媒渉oneymoon phasesa国际传媒� after a Monday announcement at its Cupertino, California, headquarters. Apple brought out new A-list entertainment partners such as Oprah Winfrey and Steven Spielberg and video game partners such as the creators of sa国际传媒淪imCitysa国际传媒� and the sa国际传媒淔inal Fantasysa国际传媒� series. What happens next may be harder for the company to manage.
sa国际传媒淚t always looks great on the front end and then you have to execute,sa国际传媒� he said.
Matt Osa国际传媒橞rien, The Associated Press
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