Outlook for the giants in 2015: Apple continues to make money while Samsung faces crisis

The technology industry was very lively in 2014. The rise of wearable devices, smart homes and O2O attracted a lot of investment, and the amount of venture capital and mergers and acquisitions hit new highs. The technology industry is the fastest changing industry, with the shortest company lifespan and the most brutal competition. Decades of foundation and hundreds of billions of market value can be wiped out in an instant. For technology giants, the fastest changing industry is also the most difficult test. How will the giants plan in 2015? Tencent Technology makes the following predictions for everyone.

Overseas articles:

apple

2014 was a bumper year for Apple. Although iPad sales declined and the business lacked new growth points, the iPhone's large screen and differentiation strategy were effective, and the company's stock price almost doubled. Driven by the strong sales of iPhone 6 and Plus, Apple's sales of software and content will increase significantly next year, and may surpass iPad sales. The promotion of Apple Pay will strengthen Apple's ecosystem and may allow Apple to get involved in financial credit business. iWatch and smart home platform business may trigger new growth points.

Google

Google made many attempts and business expansions in 2014, including the acquisition of Nest, a star smart home company. The Android system continued to rise in market share, but due to the encirclement of latecomers such as Facebook in mobile advertising, enterprise applications, Google Glass, and driverless cars are still far from generating profits. Google's stock price fell in 2014, but as the famous Silicon Valley saying goes, for technology companies, influence is more important than market value.

In 2015, I believe Google will start to make profits in the enterprise and education markets. If the promotion strategy of cheap smartphones Android One and smart home platforms is appropriate, Google's competitiveness will be further enhanced. Although the capital market is disappointed with Google this year, judging from the trend, Google is still a white horse among giants.

Amazon

Amazon had a tough year in 2014. The outside world questioned its strategy of low-profit expansion, and its stock price finally gave way, falling by about 20%. The blockbuster hardware Fire Phone did not perform well, resulting in a large asset write-down. The listing of Chinese e-commerce companies such as Alibaba put some pressure on it. From a business perspective, Amazon's e-commerce and cloud computing have expanded globally, and the launch of one-hour delivery and takeout delivery services in the United States has also consolidated its position. The challenges facing Amazon from technology companies are not great. All the company needs to do is to grab more shares in the traditional retail industry. In 2015, Amazon will continue its strategy of large investments and continue to strengthen its fresh food and delivery services.

Samsung

Samsung was the tech giant with the worst financial performance in 2014. Due to the decline in sales of Android phones, the company's profits were almost halved, its stock price fell, and the company reorganized its mobile phone department. In 2015, Samsung's situation may be even more dangerous. Although the life cycle of smartphones has not yet ended, the rise of mid- and low-end mobile phone manufacturers represented by Chinese manufacturers will further erode Samsung's market share. Samsung's efforts in software and service operating platforms have all failed. Apart from its traditional supply chain and marketing advantages, it has no other growth points. This year, Samsung's performance may decline further.

Facebook

2014 was a bumper year for Facebook. Its continued breakthrough in mobile advertising led to rapid revenue growth, and it made big acquisitions of WhatsApp and Oculus VR. Its stock price rose by about 50%. In 2015, Facebook will continue to make breakthroughs in mobile advertising and video advertising, and its early acquisition of Instagram may also provide it with considerable revenue.

Domestic articles:

Baidu

2014 was a dull year for Baidu. The company did not expand into the busy financial, e-commerce and O2O fields. It continued to deepen its presence in the search, map and application distribution fields, and its performance and stock price remained stable. Baidu's new products in recent years lack highlights. Light applications have not affected the market, and the direct train launched in 2014 has little impact on the market. In 2014, Baidu launched devices such as smart bicycles and smart glasses, but these devices are more of a cutting-edge gesture rather than a mature product. In 2015, Baidu may try more products, but it still relies on traditional search and map businesses.

Alibaba

Alibaba went public in 2014 and has been involved in a large number of mergers and acquisitions, entering new industries such as healthcare, IT, film and television, and gaming. However, Alibaba's business expansion seems to be somewhat scattered, with low complementarity and integration with its main business, and it may be difficult to see a big improvement in 2015.

In 2015, Alibaba will continue to enjoy the dividends of the growth of the e-commerce industry. As China is gradually opening up private capital to enter the financial industry, Alibaba Microfinance may become the next growth point.

JD.com

Similar to Alibaba, JD.com was also listed in the US in 2014 and has benefited from the rapid growth of China's e-commerce, becoming the largest platform for electrical appliance e-commerce. With the signing of contracts between Haier, Midea and other home appliance companies and JD.com, JD.com's channel position will be further consolidated, and it will conduct various attempts in 2015, such as channel sinking, C2B model and smart home appliances. JD.com is also experimenting with fresh food and food delivery businesses. As the popularity of O2O increases, JD.com will also increase investment in these areas.

Qihoo 360

360 was not well received in the capital market in 2014. As its search engine did not reflect the expected performance, its stock price at the end of the year had been halved compared to its highest point of the year. In December, 360 announced its cooperation with Guangguang, established a joint venture mobile phone company with Coolpad, and fired at Baidu. 360 was threatened by latecomers such as Cheetah in security and application distribution. Its search engine could not compete with Baidu, and it urgently needed a new business growth point. In 2015, 360's focus may be on mobile phone hardware. However, the requirements and gameplay of hardware and software are completely different. Whether the market has enough space to accommodate 360 ​​is a big question.

As a winner of Toutiao's Qingyun Plan and Baijiahao's Bai+ Plan, the 2019 Baidu Digital Author of the Year, the Baijiahao's Most Popular Author in the Technology Field, the 2019 Sogou Technology and Culture Author, and the 2021 Baijiahao Quarterly Influential Creator, he has won many awards, including the 2013 Sohu Best Industry Media Person, the 2015 China New Media Entrepreneurship Competition Beijing Third Place, the 2015 Guangmang Experience Award, the 2015 China New Media Entrepreneurship Competition Finals Third Place, and the 2018 Baidu Dynamic Annual Powerful Celebrity.