Competing On All Fronts: Google vs Amazon vs MSFT vs Facebook vs Apple
Recently Google announced that it’s throwing its hat into the “Voice Activated Home Hub” category with the Google Home. All the large tech companies: Google (Market Cap ~$500B), Amazon (Market Cap ~$350B), Microsoft (Market Cap ~$400B), Facebook (Market Cap ~$350B), and Apple (Market Cap ~$500B), are constantly competing on all fronts.
Fronts
- Analytics
Google has had Google Analytics, the secret assistant to its ranking algorithm. Yahoo bought Flurry for Mobile (app) analytics. Apple purchased Topsy as its analytics offering.
Since 3 of the 6 big tech companies are competing in this category, we can call this 50% saturated.
2) Collaboration
Google has Drive as its Collaboration offering. Yahoo has Bookpad. And Microsoft has Sharepoint.
Since 3 of the 6 big tech companies are competing in this category, we can call this 50% saturated.
3) Mail
Google has Gmail. Yahoo has Yahoo Mail. Microsoft has Hotmail. And Apple has iCloud.
Since 4 of the 6 big tech companies are competing in this category, we can call this 67% saturated.
4) Search
Google has Google Search. Yahoo has Yahoo Search. Microsoft has Bing.
Since 3 of the 6 big tech companies are competing in this category, we can call this 50% saturated.
5) Maps
Google has Google Maps. Yahoo has Yahoo Maps. Microsoft has Bing Maps. And Apple has Apple Maps.
Since 4 of the 6 big tech companies are competing in this category, we can call this 67% saturated.
6) Ad tech DSP — A demand-side platform (DSP) is a system that allows buyers of digital advertising inventory to manage multiple ad exchange and data exchange accounts through one interface.
Google has Doubleclick and Yahoo has Brightroll.
Since 2of the 6 big tech companies are competing in this category, we can call this 33% saturated.
7) Ad tech SSP — A supply-side platform or sell-side platform (SSP) is a technology platform to enable web publishers to manage their advertising space inventory, fill it with ads, and receive revenue.
Google has Admeld and Yahoo has Brightroll.
Since 2of the 6 big tech companies are competing in this category, we can call this 33% saturated.
8) Cloud storage
Google has Google Drive. Amazon has EC2. Microsoft has Azure. And Apple has iCloud.
Since 4 of the 6 big tech companies are competing in this category, we can call this 67% saturated.
9) Mobile
Google has Android. Amazon has the Fire. Microsoft has the Microsoft Phone. And Apple has the iPhone.
Since 4 of the 6 big tech companies are competing in this category, we can call this 67% saturated.
10) Music
Google has Songza and Play. Amazon has Amazon Music. Apple has iTunes.
Since 3 of the 6 big tech companies are competing in this category, we can call this 50% saturated.
11) Video
Google has Youtube. Amazon has Twitch. Apple has iTunes.
Since 3 of the 6 big tech companies are competing in this category, we can call this 50% saturated.
12) Street View
Google has Google Maps. Microsoft has Bing (Streetside).
Since 2 of the 6 big tech companies are competing in this category, we can call this 33% saturated.
13) Navigation
Google has Google Maps. Microsoft has Bing (Streetside). Apple has Embark.
Since 3 of the 6 big tech companies are competing in this category, we can call this 50% saturated.
14) Location Based Service
Google had Loopt and Dodgeball (now Foursquare). Facebook had Gowalla.
Since 2 of the 6 big tech companies are competing in this category, we can call this 33% saturated.
15) Photo Sharing
Google has Picasa. Yahoo has Flickr. Apple has iCloud. Facebook has Instagram.
Since 4 of the 6 big tech companies are competing in this category, we can call this 67% saturated.
16) Games
Google has Android. Microsoft has Xbox. Facebook has Oculus. Apple has iOS Apps.
Since 4 of the 6 big tech companies are competing in this category, we can call this 50% saturated.
17) Blogging
Google has Blogger. Yahoo has Tumblr.
Since 2 of the 6 big tech companies are competing in this category, we can call this 33% saturated.
18) TV
Google has Chromecast. Amazon has FireTV. Apple has Apple TV.
Since 3 of the 6 big tech companies are competing in this category, we can call this 50% saturated.
19) Voice OS
Google has Assistant. Amazon has Alexa. Microsoft has Cortana. Apple has Siri.
Since 4 of the 6 big tech companies are competing in this category, we can call this 67% saturated.
What will continue happening is as soon as a category becomes too competitive or a clear category leader emerges, the search for the new category begins. Identifying the trends of companies wanting to throw their hats in the ring to compete for market share is an interesting tool for young startups. They can position their companies as unique acquisition targets for larger companies in those respective categories.
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