Will Amazon Kindle Vertical Integration?

I wrote a controversial Forbes column, How Amazon Could Change Publishing, in the spring. In this column, I submitted that Amazon could disintermediate traditional publishers and agents, and free up money that they could share with authors. My hypothesis was based on the fact that since Amazon has a technology-based merchandising system capable of figuring

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Amazon Toying with Vertical Integration

Amazon.com (AMZN) has been pursuing growth at all costs. Their recently announced Q1 2008 results are witness to that drive. They reported the quarter’s revenue at $4.13 billion, meeting analyst expectations and reporting a 37% increase over the previous year. Their earnings for the quarter at $0.34 were marginally higher than the market’s expectation of

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Apple’s Component Strategy Shifts

Apple just bought a 150-person chip company, P. A. Semi, to get its own low-power microprocessor design capabilities in-house.

Vertical Ad Networks: Evolution

Another big funding round in the vertical ad network world: FM raises between $40 and $50M from Oak Investment Partners. Valuation: $200 Million; 2007 Revenue: $25 Million; 2008 Revenue Forecast: $60 Million. Not bad!