Alphabet just overtook Apple as the most valuable company in the world. The organization formally known as Google, which now operates as the parent company to Google along with other divisions like Google Capital, Google Fiber and Nest labs, knocked Apple off the perch it’s been sitting on for four years.
Alphabet released its earnings statement late yesterday showing it beat out 4th quarter projections, and that sent its stock soaring. As of now, Alphabet’s combined share value is pegged at $554 Billion, topping Apple’s combined share value by $20 Billion. The story is as much about the decline of Apple’s value as it is the rise of Alphabet’s. Remember that just one year ago, Apple was up around the $760 Billion mark.
Speaking of big companies duking it out for the pole position: T-Mobile has tied Verizon as the fastest 4G LTE carrier in the US. The ratings from a crowd-sourced mobile data company called Open Signal show that T-Mobile’s network is not just getting fast, but growing in nationwide coverage too, closing in on AT&T in terms of how accessible its signal is across the nation.
Self-described as the “Un-Carrier” T-Mobile has positioned itself as the mobile company that cares about its customers and is willing to do whatever it takes to make them happy. That includes the controversial Binge-on program that lets T-Mobile users stream as much video as they want from services like Netflix, without a single byte of it hitting their data plan.
If you’re a new-found cord cutter, you probably rely on streaming services from Netflix and Hulu to keep you entertained with Internet-delivered TV and movies. But if Time Warner Inc. has its way, Hulu may no longer be the treasure trove of current-season TV shows that cord-cutters have come to count on. A report from The Wall Street Journal indicates Time Warner Inc. – not Time Warner Cable, mind you – has a bid in to score a 25% share of Hulu.
If it does, it will join NBC/Universal, Fox, and Disney/ABC as part owner of one of the most popular streaming services available, and then it will start throwing its weight around. Time Warner apparently wants to keep current-season television shows from appearing on Hulu the day after they air because that threatens the traditional Pay-TV model it banks on. Notice: All four owners make a lot of the TV shows that appear on Hulu.
They giveth, and they can taketh away. Ironically, the very thing that made Hulu popular could be going away, and we don’t think Hulu’s got enough original content to keep it afloat if that happens. There’s a lot more to this story, so be sure to check out the full article right here.
