Stratechery by Ben Thompson – On the business, strategy, and impact of technology.
On the business, strategy, and impact of technology.| Stratechery by Ben Thompson
On the business, strategy, and impact of technology.| Stratechery by Ben Thompson
KPop Demon Hunters is the hit of the year. Sony missed out, but they didn’t make a mistake; Netflix won the reward by being an Aggregator.| Stratechery by Ben Thompson
Netflix grew more slowly than it expected because it had fewer hits than it expected; then, Sony is winning in streaming by not playing.| Stratechery by Ben Thompson
It is no surprise that a judge allowed the AT&T-Time Warner acquisition to proceed given the government’s poor case; the question is if a better case could have been made. What is ultima…| Stratechery by Ben Thompson
Netflix’s earnings were disappointing for reasons characteristic to disappointing earnings for all service companies. For Netflix, though, the stakes are higher.| Stratechery by Ben Thompson
Disney and OpenAI, Totems in an AI World, Google Versus the World| Stratechery by Ben Thompson
Netflix is driving the Hollywood end game, likely confident it can increase the value of IP, and fend off YouTube.| Stratechery by Ben Thompson
Google lost some battles but won the war in its search distribution case: the Google patronage network was deemed too important to undo.| Stratechery by Ben Thompson
A Personal Update and Vacation Break| Stratechery by Ben Thompson
Apple’s WWDC keynote was extremely impressive: Apple Intelligence is something only Apple could build, and it enhances their platform power such that AI companies like OpenAI have to accept A…| Stratechery by Ben Thompson
Apple is well and truly a services company; hardware is necessary but insufficient for future growth.| Stratechery by Ben Thompson
Apple’s iPhone event was better than it seemed, especially if you ignore a misguided video. Then, the iPhone gets another price cut.| Stratechery by Ben Thompson
Apple introduced some impressive product updates; the real news, though, were the prices, which suggested that Apple is fully embracing being a services company.| Stratechery by Ben Thompson
The iPad is 10, and while it remains a useful device, it is ultimately a disappointment. Apple lost the vision for what the iPad could be, and never gave space for developers to figure it out for t…| Stratechery by Ben Thompson
We have likely reached Peak iPhone, and if not, it’s only a matter of time; physical goods can only scale so far. The future, thanks to the Internet, is everything-as-a-service| Stratechery by Ben Thompson
Apple was at its best in its most recent keynote: unveiling the sorts of products the company is uniquely capable of creating. The question, though, is whether the company has the vision and capabi…| Stratechery by Ben Thompson
Subscriptions are the future of local news: the key, though, is getting rid of newspapers.| Stratechery by Ben Thompson
Stratechery is launching a new feature for subscribers: The Daily Update, as a podcast. Now you can read or listen to every post on Stratechery.| Stratechery by Ben Thompson
Facebook clearly tried to eliminate competition by acquiring Instagram and WhatsApp, but it’s not clear they were successful, which is the question that matters in a case that is ultimately a…| Stratechery by Ben Thompson
The ideas behind Social Networking 2.0 are not new, but the Idea Adoption Curve takes time. Plus, how Facebook missed its platform chance a decade ago.| Stratechery by Ben Thompson
Twitter’s blog is generally a cheery place, with one big exception from 2012: the innocuously named Changes Coming in Version 1.1 of the Twitter API, and in particular, the section called …| Stratechery by Ben Thompson
Follow up on AI’s impact on Google, and the weird relationship between OpenAI and Microsoft| Stratechery by Ben Thompson
Meta’s metaverse approach, from chips to operating systems to business models, evinces a lack of strategy.| Stratechery by Ben Thompson
More AI developments, first in terms of iPhone apps and Stable Diffusion, and the Apple Silicon optimizations. Then, open questions about the AI market going forward.| Stratechery by Ben Thompson
Trends in medium, AI, and user interaction underpin Instagram’s response to TikTok, and will determine Meta’s long-term moat.| Stratechery by Ben Thompson
An interview with Daniel Gross and Nat Friedman about ChatGPT and the near-term future of AI, Apple’s huge opportunity, the importance of bias, and the GPU paradox.| Stratechery by Ben Thompson
Google, the real Aggregator, is squeezing OTAs, which acted like Aggregators while depending on Google for demand. It’s easy to say Google is being unfair, but this may be better for consumer…| Stratechery by Ben Thompson
Google is unique in that their business was built on being the best. The company, though, benefited from the open web. That is not the case in mobile.| Stratechery by Ben Thompson
While the modern computing era in many respects began with the IBM System/360 mainframe and further expanded with the minicomputer, normal consumers didn’t start encountering computers until …| Stratechery by Ben Thompson
That Intel is built to be integrated is precisely the problem, why Qualcomm bought a CPU team, and Netflix controls its own destiny.| Stratechery by Ben Thompson
The U.S. is increasingly — and appropriately — concerned about its extreme dependence on Taiwan. TSMC needs to build in the U.S. if they don’t want to let Intel back in the game.| Stratechery by Ben Thompson
Apple’s shift in differentiation shows how Intel went wrong; then, more notes on the M1, including Microsoft’s mysterious absence.| Stratechery by Ben Thompson
ARM Macs are imminent; why they make sense, and why the implications could be far-reaching, for not just Apple but also Intel.| Stratechery by Ben Thompson
The Windows division no longer exists at Microsoft, marking the end to a four-year process of changing Microsoft’s culture.| Stratechery by Ben Thompson
Microsoft needs to first understand the type of company it is, and choose its strategy accordingly. That means focusing on services, not devices.| Stratechery by Ben Thompson
Holiday Break: December 22nd to January 4th| Stratechery by Ben Thompson
Compaq’s descent from a company of action to a brand is a frightening parable for the the West’s focus on talk over action.| Stratechery by Ben Thompson
If there is a new tech cold war, it is one with shots fired over a decade ago, largely by China. The questions going forward are about both leverage and values.| Stratechery by Ben Thompson
Intel is in an increasingly bad position in part because it has been captive to its integrated model. Or, you could simply say they were disrupted.| Stratechery by Ben Thompson
TSMC earnings and Taiwan’s margin impact, why the company left money on the table (which might have cost the chairman his job), and Intel’s relative risk-taking.| Stratechery by Ben Thompson
Intel’s earnings were bad again, but the downward movement in the stock should have been priced in years ago; current management, meanwhile, can’t be evaluated for at least two more yea…| Stratechery by Ben Thompson
Intel Concerns, Fubo Blocks Venu| Stratechery by Ben Thompson
Thinking about Intel rescue plans, then Nvidia’s earnings were expectedly uneven; what is unexpected is the extent to which the Justice Department wants to punish success.| Stratechery by Ben Thompson
The best way to understand Pat Gelsingers thinking about the threats posed by ARM and AMD is to go back to his arguments in favor of CISC over RISC| Stratechery by Ben Thompson
An interview with Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger about IDM 2.0, the acquisition of Tower Semiconductor, and the choices Intel did not make.| Stratechery by Ben Thompson
Not all of Uber’s efforts are new, but the urgency is. Then, there are only three foundries pursuing 7nm, which means more pricing power (and how this applies to Uber and self-driving cars).| Stratechery by Ben Thompson
Amazon’s latest offering highlights the economic challenges facing open source companies — and Amazon should pay attention.| Stratechery by Ben Thompson
TSMC’s earnings reinforce the possibility that TSMC’s willingness to invest is real governor on the AI bubble. Intel needs to provide some competition.| Stratechery by Ben Thompson
I’ve come to appreciate Google’s amorphous nature; what makes me bullish is the clarity of YouTube’s AI opportunity.| Stratechery by Ben Thompson
Anthropic’s Opus 4.5 appears to be a big breakthrough that slots into Anthropic’s enterprise strategy, while ChatGPT gets new consumer features, and Meta might use Google’s TPUs| Stratechery by Ben Thompson
Gemini 3 is out, and looks to be state of the art. What does that mean for everyone else in the AI space, and what markets might Google win?| Stratechery by Ben Thompson
An interview with Eric Seufert about the right advertising model for AI, the right AI for Meta, and why personalized advertising is good for society.| Stratechery by Ben Thompson
The DOJ brought the right kind of case against an Aggregator, which stagnates by being too nice; the goal is for companies to act like they actually have enemies.| Stratechery by Ben Thompson
The most interesting announcement at Nvidia’s GTC conference was DGX Cloud, which represents a big shift in the value chain for Nvidia| Stratechery by Ben Thompson
The Justice Department’s lawsuit against Google is appropriately narrow, and if it fails it gives a template for Congressional action.| Stratechery by Ben Thompson
A response to a critique of Aggregation Theory, and a defense of debate on an Internet devoid of gatekeepers.| Stratechery by Ben Thompson
Google’s continued dominance may not be intransigence, but rather the difficulty of regulating demand. Then, how Apple helps Google and Facebook, and Barry Diller isn’t blaming Google.| Stratechery by Ben Thompson
Facebook is in trouble — again — for Russian ads about the election; figuring out how to deal with them requires first understanding that Facebook, like Google, is a Super-Aggregator. It faces zero…| Stratechery by Ben Thompson
OpenAI and Nvidia are both under threat from Google; I like OpenAI’s chances best, but they need an advertising model to beat Google as an Aggregator.| Stratechery by Ben Thompson
Silicon Valley Bank bears responsibility for its demise, but it symbolizes a Silicon Valley reality that is very different from the myth — and the ultimate cause is tech itself.| Stratechery by Ben Thompson
OpenAI is a consumer tech company, whether they intended to or not (and in contrast to Meta’s Reality Labs). Both Microsoft and OpenAI should act accordingly.| Stratechery by Ben Thompson
TSMC and Intel’s approach to backside power are downstream of their cultures: customer-centric versus self-serving. It may doom the latter.| Stratechery by Ben Thompson
Tesla is making future chips with Samsung, likely cementing the Korean company as the industry’s second supplier.| Stratechery by Ben Thompson
Apple is not doomed, but for the first time in a long time its long-term fortunes are cloudy; the time to make change is now.| Stratechery by Ben Thompson
The AI industry is more exciting than ever, but the chip situation is very precarious and requires drastic action.| Stratechery by Ben Thompson
Understanding the path the semiconductor industry took to today both shows where China needs to go and also explains why the risks for geopolitical conflict are higher than ever.| Stratechery by Ben Thompson
An interview with Tony Fadell about the iPod, iPhone, Apple’s history with Samsung, Nest, the future of ARM, and his new book “Build”.| Stratechery by Ben Thompson
An interview with Craig Moffett about Charter vs. Disney, the 1990s telecom bubble, the history of the U.S. TV and broadband markets, and why Google might win video.| Stratechery by Ben Thompson
AI will make ambient computing possible, Zuckerberg talks AI with The Verge, and AWS is worried about falling behind.| Stratechery by Ben Thompson
Holiday Break: December 25th to January 5th| Stratechery by Ben Thompson
Money is made at chokepoints, and the most valuable chokepoints are operating systems; Amazon is building exactly that with Alexa.| Stratechery by Ben Thompson
Marc Andreessen and Ben Horowitz are joining Elon Musk in explicitly endorsing President Trump; this is a narrow expression of naked self-interest. The real story is why self interest came to trium…| Stratechery by Ben Thompson
An interview with Roblox CEO David Baszucki about advertising, AI, and expanding the business in the wake of the pandemic.| Stratechery by Ben Thompson
We are in an AI Bubble: the big question is if this bubble will be worth it for the physical infrastructure and coordinated innovation that result?| Stratechery by Ben Thompson
My Netflix chart from Netflix and the Conservation of Attractive Profits wasn’t quite right: after all, I was talking about time, and networks and studios are already modularized. Still, fixi…| Stratechery by Ben Thompson
The way we get TV may be changing, but the importance and defensibility of great content will persist| Stratechery by Ben Thompson
If the importance of an integrated experience matter more with your phone than your PC, because you use it more, how much more important is an integrated experience that touches every detail of you…| Stratechery by Ben Thompson
The structure of the TV businesses and exclusive content has helped the industry escape disruption. For now.| Stratechery by Ben Thompson
The best Stratechery content from the week of October 6, 2025, including OpenAI’s Windows strategy, Sam Altman and boundless ambition, and the future of creation.| Stratechery by Ben Thompson
Holiday Break: December 23rd to January 6th| Stratechery by Ben Thompson
Apple’s iPhone announcement was impressive, but no one was impressed, because Apple is increasingly peripheral to what is changing the world.| Stratechery by Ben Thompson
The U.S. taking an equity stake in Intel is a terrible idea; it also happens to be the least bad idea to make Intel Foundry viable.| Stratechery by Ben Thompson
Positioning AI contenders — and losers — by their tech philosophy and business potential.| Stratechery by Ben Thompson
Apple’s WWDC was a retreat from not just last year’s WWDC, but potentially a broader reset for the company. That’s why it was a great presentation.| Stratechery by Ben Thompson
Microsoft is putting forth compelling proposals for the Open Agentic Web. However, the proposal needs digital payments, which will be key to creating a new content marketplace for AI.| Stratechery by Ben Thompson
After endless dithering, that’s how long it took me to know the iPhone 5C would cost $549. It was at two minutes, fifty-six seconds ((All times are from the official event podcast in iTunes))…| Stratechery by Ben Thompson
For years publishers haven’t had to worry about business models: they just captured attention and watched the money come in. Those days, though, are over: the publications that survive will s…| Stratechery by Ben Thompson
A week before yesterday’s launch of the Fire Phone, Amazon sent all of the attendees a copy of the children’s book “Mr. Pines Purple House” with a note from Jeff Bezos stati…| Stratechery by Ben Thompson
First came the PC, and on top of the PC the Internet. Then, mobile, but what will rule mobile?| Stratechery by Ben Thompson
Despite the hype about disruption, the truth is most tech giants, particularly platform providers, are not so much displaced as they are eclipsed. IBM, for example, has been successfully selling an…| Stratechery by Ben Thompson
Google went wrong in the past by abandoning their horizontal business model; are they repeating their mistake, or does the future give them no choice?| Stratechery by Ben Thompson
An interview with Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg about Llama and the AI opportunity, the evolution of social medial, and what it means to connect.| Stratechery by Ben Thompson
An interview with Eric Seufert about the impact of the trade war on digital advertising, the Google Ads antitrust case, and why the biggest platforms keep on winning.| Stratechery by Ben Thompson
Apple AI is delayed, and Apple may be trying to do too much; what the company ought to do is empower developers to make AI applications.| Stratechery by Ben Thompson
This series of posts is about enabling sustainable businesses on the App Store. In Part 1, I discuss why Paper and other productivity apps may not be doing as well as you might think. Part 2 explor…| Stratechery by Ben Thompson
Apple has long defeated disruption by focusing on the user experience; Jeff Bezos and Amazon, though, show that user expectations for their experience are ever-changing.| Stratechery by Ben Thompson
Mark Zuckerberg suggested that social media is a “Fifth Estate”; in fact, social media is a means by which the Third Estate — commoners — can seize political power. Here history matters…| Stratechery by Ben Thompson
