In a new report, "Assessing the Investment Priorities of Mobile Players" that examines the acquisition and investment strategies of Apple, Google and a group of leading mobile players, Strategy Analytics finds that the strategies of leading players in the global smartphone market are dominated by Apple and Google efforts aimed at strengthening their prized content and application ecosystems.
"More than 70% of the group's investments are aimed at enhancing and expanding their core competencies," states Ahmed Mostafa, Associate Consultant in Strategy Analytics US Consulting team. "Apple and Google dominate acquisitions in both dollar and number terms, and are also leaders in developing the new market opportunity in the multi-screen living room and connected home."
"Apple has the most balanced acquisition strategy," states Chris Ambrosio, Executive Director of US Consulting at Strategy Analytics, "supplementing its ecosystems investments with acquisitions of technology companies that extend and improve its hardware-centric enabling technologies. Overall acquisitions are rapidly becoming the new "R&D" for larger, cash-swollen mobile device and ecosystem players. Through the medium term, traditional mobile device vendors will struggle to compete using only traditional internally driven research and development efforts."
Other findings of the report include:
- Microsoft has not followed up its bold acquisition of Nokia with acquisitions or investments in either the content and apps ecosystem or in device-centric enabling technologies. The lack of activity to quickly improve its content and apps ecosystem is an alarm signaling a lack of commitment to that important element of its mobile future.
