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Snap Inc. Reports First Quarter 2017 Results

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Re: Snap Inc. Reports First Quarter 2017 Results

#91
post #81

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have snapchat on my phone, not because I use it... my daughter likes to make funny faces. She does NOT post. Am I counted as an active user?

I have TV in my house, not because I watch any TV programs, but because I like BasketBall. Am I counted as an active user? Not trying to come across as snarky, but trying to setup an easy analogy :).

If you watch the advertisements and can actually act on said advertisements all is well with the system. However, if you have zero spending power, no influence and miss the ads... all is not well.

When are we going to say; What the hell is the point of this? Users "using" something doesn't make it profitable unless they are willing to pay you for it. Furthermore, advertising IS NOT working. Look at retail, malls AND name brands... Horrible performance for the bulk of recent memory.

Re: Snap Inc. Reports First Quarter 2017 Results

#93
post #56
post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I do not think that investors are concern about net loss - at least I'm not. I'm disappointed by anemic growth: Facebook has 18 percent increase year over year. They have ~2B users [1] This q Snapchat had growth of ~5% which will be about ~20% per year. But they are 10x smaller than Facebook. [1] Facebook 5/3/17 earning report

>Facebook has 18 percent increase year over year. They have ~2B users. That's nearly 2/3 of people on the planet with Internet connections, according to estimates by the ITU (approx 3B internet users by the end of 2016) [0]. Even if I believed that user figure, which I dont, there is no way Facebook can grow at the same rate for much longer. [0] http://www.itu.int/en/ITU-D/Statistics/Documents/facts/ICTFa...

I don't know anything about this overall, but I have some interesting anecdotes that show the power of Facebook around the world.

I've done some pretty substantial traveling throughout Asia, and just about everyone with a smartphone that I've met also has a Facebook account (excluding China).

In Myanmar (aka Burma) the strict military government restricted internet usage until they turned over control of the government last year. Most people are (within the last 12-24 months) using the internet for the first time! Most have never used a computer, and they only know the internet from an (Android) smartphone. However, every single person who I talked to there who had a smartphone had a Facebook.

The one local I talked to most in depth about this had never used Google! He said he didn't know how to use Google, and he didn't think he needed it. I explained what Google can help with: searching for information, reading news, etc. He showed me that he read news and did searches for things all from within the Facebook app.

I saw similar usage of Facebook in other developing Asian countries (Nepal, Thailand, Indonesia), where people used Facebook as a kind of substitute for a web browser / search engine.

You and I would never think to use Facebook as our internet portal, but it seems to be a very sticky and powerful tool for many of those just coming online.

Re: Snap Inc. Reports First Quarter 2017 Results

#94
post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What problem would that solve for them?

SNAP may already be a Camera Company, but you can never have too much Camera Company.

"Camera Company" built on the cameras of other companies.

Re: Snap Inc. Reports First Quarter 2017 Results

#95
post #68

Earlier quoted context omitted.

On the earnings call they reported 5 million snaps taken using Spectacles, and $8 million in revenue from Spectacles this quarter. Maybe 55-60,000 units sold (?). That was the only thing I was curious about on the call.

5 Million / 50K (worse if you use 65K) = 100 Snaps per spectacle over a 90 day period = 1 Snap per spectacle per day. Thats super low engagement. For one its not going to alleviate any growth concerns. I see an Apple buyout looming.

Spectacles aren't really comparable to Google Glass, they're more like an action camera, such as a GoPro, but dumbed down and really easy to use. What counts as high user engagement for such a product? It's the sort of thing you only take out for events and special outings.

Re: Snap Inc. Reports First Quarter 2017 Results

#97
post #56

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>Facebook has 18 percent increase year over year. They have ~2B users. That's nearly 2/3 of people on the planet with Internet connections, according to estimates by the ITU (approx 3B internet users by the end of 2016) [0]. Even if I believed that user figure, which I dont, there is no way Facebook can grow at the same rate for much longer. [0] http://www.itu.int/en/ITU-D/Statistics/Documents/facts/ICTFa...

You and I both. Facebook numbers have been a scam for a long time. I look at most social media as I look at multilevel marketing... it's all sunshine and rainbows until it simply collapses. There are no 100 year businesses in social.

I think you're severely underestimating the scale and reach of Facebook. There's a reason it's a ~450B company.

It really does have that many users. Even if a solid 20% of them are all fake accounts (which I don't think the percentage is that high), it's still a large part of the connected world.

There's a reason Facebook is developing technology to bring the rest of the unconnected world online. It's because they know they'll reach a point where they'll have the whole connected market, and the only way forward is to grow the market to it's full potential.

Don't let your hatred of the product or company blind your understanding of its scale and influence on the world (both positive and negative).

Re: Snap Inc. Reports First Quarter 2017 Results

#98
post #9

Is there any public company that releases earnings in realtime rather than quarterly and/or annually? Has this ever been tried? Is there any rational behind earnings being reported quarterly/annually besides it being aligned with existing regulatory and accounting procedures?

What would be the company's incentive to do that? It would probably just make their stock price hyper-volatile, right?

Re: Snap Inc. Reports First Quarter 2017 Results

#99
post #56

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>Facebook has 18 percent increase year over year. They have ~2B users. That's nearly 2/3 of people on the planet with Internet connections, according to estimates by the ITU (approx 3B internet users by the end of 2016) [0]. Even if I believed that user figure, which I dont, there is no way Facebook can grow at the same rate for much longer. [0] http://www.itu.int/en/ITU-D/Statistics/Documents/facts/ICTFa...

I don't know anything about this overall, but I have some interesting anecdotes that show the power of Facebook around the world. I've done some pretty substantial traveling throughout Asia, and just about everyone with a smartphone that I've met also has a Facebook account (excluding China). In Myanmar (aka Burma) the strict military government restricted internet usage until they turned over control of the governme…

Facebook saw the "we're saturating the number of people on the Internet" wall years ago. That's why they zero-rate the app, and integrated SMS notifications and had J2ME and SIM apps.

Re: Snap Inc. Reports First Quarter 2017 Results

#100
post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> A very key number here is revenue per user [...] this is down from $1.05 (14%) from what it reported for Q4 2016, before its IPO. I disagree a little with Bloomberg here, the numbers are bad (active users isn't great), but given the same number of users you'd expect advertising revenue (which is what they're driven by) to be down Q1 vs Q4. Ad budgets and spending is cyclical and seasonal, far more money is thrown a…

I have snapchat on my phone, not because I use it... my daughter likes to make funny faces. She does NOT post. Am I counted as an active user?

Yes. They have your attention and they can do things to slowly nudge you to start engaging in deeper ways. For example your daughter grows up and is used to the "Snap-like" interaction already and will engage far more on Snapchat or similar products. Or maybe she one day finds the "Discover" section of the app and starts watching content on there.

The fact that they have you and your daughter engaging with the product at all is a meaningful thing for the business. There's a lot they can do with even this cursory engagement over time.

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