Surviving in the Battle of Ecosystems
Last week, Tim Cook presented the results of the first quarter of Apple, devoting some time to the evolution of Apple TV in the last year. He talked about how they expect this product to accelerate change in the media industry. In particular, the change of relationship model and distribution with the “cable bundle beginning to break down”. Bundles that are handled by the telecommunications and offered to their customers.
The creation of an ecosystem on a platform is happening in multiple areas
A year and a half ago, the same Tim Cook, in the presentation of the new generation of Apple TV, stressed: “The future of TV is apps.” What he was talking about is a new ecosystem. Apple presents a device from which it builds a platform in which they invite to participate to everyone who wants to be part of that ecosystem. Netflix, for example, can offer its movies and series through its app on Apple TV to reach directly to its consumers, without relying on agreements with telecom operators. Google raises a similar platform but also opening the ecosystem to device manufacturers. Anyone can design a TV or TV Box with Android TV.
Both Apple and Google are replicating the model with which so much success have had in the mobile. They create a platform where the rules of the game change substantially with the previous model. This substantial change is based on three closely linked principles, the Long Tail, the free economy as a price and personalization. A model that offers a combination of products and infinite content. In which there is a range of price models ranging from free to subscription, to granular purchase. A model in which the selection of products of each user is different from the one next to it.
What I find especially remarkable is that this same model, the creation of an ecosystem on a platform, is replicating in multiple areas.
At home, in addition to the ecosystem around the television, a series of platforms are being created around virtual assistants. We have Alexa through Amazon Echo, or Google Home, as home nerve centers. The proposal is that the entire ecosystem of sensors, devices and appliances, that bring the Internet of Things to the house, interact through these platforms. It is not the only proposal. Many players already have hardware inside homes that could evolve in that direction. Utilities with their smart meters, telcos with their routers and set-top boxes or security companies with their communication control units. Many players more are interested in participating in this ecosystem. We are seeing it with the Amazon Dash button, but also are can obtain benefits, for instance, the insurance or care services industries.
In the car, of course, there are manufacturers, but the creation of these platforms is not trivial, and so appear Android Auto and Apple CarPlay. It is significant because of many drivers, despite having GPS in the car with maps, still use Waze, or another application, while driving. In fact, there is a considerable volume of apps, within the ecosystems of the mobile, aimed at the car.
The strategy to participate in the different ecosystems is fundamental to not be left out
The home and the car are very relevant, but they are not the only environments. Everything suggests that similar platforms can emerge in other areas. They are emerging around the people with the wearables, around the Smart Cities or around the collaborative economy with their reputation systems.
From an Exponential Transformation perspective, in order to face the next wave of change, I believe it is essential to have a strategy within these ecosystems. Not only what services you will offer and how you will offer them, but also how you will relate to the other actors. Increasingly, relations are not going to be monochromatic, with Co-opetition taking on importance, in which cooperation and competition must be combined. Something that is illustrated in the image above from a few years ago, where the owners of the big platforms, Google, Apple and Microsoft, while developing and strengthening their own ecosystems, accessed by more than one billion users, participate in the ecosystems of others. The strategy to participate in the different ecosystems is fundamental to not be left out.
(en español aquí)
