Ever since Alibaba (BABA) had its record-shattering U.S. IPO, it appears the Chinese e-commerce giant and its American competitor, Amazon (AMZN), are destined for a Wall Street showdown. In an unpredictable market, with many potential outcomes, I will focus on two questions: 1) can Amazon convert its R&D investments into positive quarterly reports and 2) will Alibaba continue to build upon its momentum and run Amazon out of American markets?
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Race To $1 Trillion
A recent report filed by Colin Gillis, an analyst for BGC Partners (BGCP), predicted Google (GOOG) would beat Apple (AAPL) to a $1 trillion market cap valuation. In the past decade, the two tech companies have overtaken all Silicon Valley competition, and solidified their top spots as industry leaders. Currently, Apple has a market cap of roughly $640 billion, while Google maintains a $370 billion valuation.
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Taco Bell's Brilliant App
Today, society focuses on making the smart, smarter; the thin, thinner; and the quick, quicker. Embracing this trend, Taco Bell’s (YUM) new mobile application aims to make ordering fast food even faster. About a week ago Taco Bell “blacked out” its social media pages in an attempt to raise awareness for its new app, displaying the simple Twitter (TWTR) hashtag "#OnlyInTheApp."
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When $3 Billion Isn't Enough
Square, the first company to meaningfully integrate credit card point-of-sales services into mobile devices, has witnessed unquestionable success over the past five years. With a customer base in excess of 1 million businesses, Square processes about $30 billion in annual merchant sales; this translates to $900 million in revenue for the company.
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Whistle For Help
Sexual assault is clearly a main issue plaguing American college campuses; every two minutes, someone is sexually assaulted. Because of this, the U.S. Attorney General is actively investigating over 50 universities for their mismanagement of “date rape” incidents. Luckily, where campus oversight fails, the free market prevails. The private technology sector has noticed this shocking trend and is in the midst of combatting it.
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Reddit Boosts Mobile Presence
Reddit, known as the “front page of the internet," or, alternatively, a "giant black hole," has acquired its most popular third party mobile app. After receiving $50 million in funding, Reddit purchased Alien Blue to enhance its brand. For those who don't know, Reddit maintains a very strong following of roughly 175 million dedicated monthly users.
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Microsoft's Windows Watch
Wearable technology is quickly evolving into the next big consumer electronics market. Companies like Samsung, LG, Sony (SNE), Apple (AAPL), and Motorola (MSI) are racing to get their newest smart watches to the market, especially as the holiday season approaches. Samsung alone has released nearly 10 smart watch variants over the past year, and although the market is far from saturated, it is highly competitive.
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