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Yahoo sold to US telecoms giant Verizon

bbc.co.uk

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Re: Yahoo sold to US telecoms giant Verizon

#111

So less than 1/5 of a linkedin. Is Yahoo's core business really that bad?

It's search and ads, which may or may not be their "core" as they've got a number of other properties (mail, tumblr, flickr, media). Not to mention that their entire shareprice is basically propped up by the value of their Alibaba investment.

I was under the impression their other properties are included (mail, tumblr, flickr), and only patents and Alibaba holdings are excluded -- is that not the case?

Re: Yahoo sold to US telecoms giant Verizon

#112
post #29
post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That really had to be the dumbest moves in computing history. "What does the #2 CPU maker need to become #1? The #2 GPU maker, obviously!"

Well to defend them they needed a solution to fight the incoming intel cpu with integrated gpu. They needed ATI portfolio and knowledges.

The integrated GPU really didn't need that kind of power, though. Anyone playing more than solitaire is going to get a discrete GPU anyway. They could have snapped up a smaller chipset maker for a tenth of the price.

Instead they entered both the integrated and discrete GPU markets, when they were already a market underdog that already struggled in the CPU market. They paid way too much for ATI, and then spread themselves way too thin.

I'm not just pointing out the error in hindsight, I was a critic of this deal back when it was first announced as well.

Re: Yahoo sold to US telecoms giant Verizon

#113

Verizon shouldn't be allowed to own any web properties. They inject a unique subscriber identifier into your HTTP requests unless you turn it off. http://www.verizonwireless.com/support/unique-identifier-hea...

No company that sells Internet access should be allowed to also be in the content business.

What's the underlying principle there? That infrastructure providers shouldn't be in potential competition with companies that use their infrastructure as part of their own business model? By that logic, should Apple, Google, and Microsoft be required to get out of the hardware business? How would application of that principle affect things like app stores or Facebook's platform, or even Valve's Steam for that matter?

Re: Yahoo sold to US telecoms giant Verizon

#114
post #98

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The idea was that a CPU + GPU company would be a lot stronger than themselves trying to defend against their respective #1 competitors. Instead, both the CPU and GPU market leaders got stronger and leveraged their massive capital to turn the #2 into a very, very distant #2.

It also changed the decision process from "Pick 1 of Intel and AMD, plus pick 1 of nVidia and ATI" to "Pick Intel/nVidia or AMD/AMD" for companies like Dell/HP etc. so AMD and ATI's weaknesses compounded each other from then on.

Not sure, having the GPU division allowed them to bid for the Xbox and PS contracts.

Having an APU allows them to play in the low end market which was dominated by Intel with their IGP, the vast majority of laptops do not come with a discrete GPU which meant that AMD could not compete with Intel at all prior to their acquisition of ATI unless they would develop their own GPU or license it from some one (they had plans of licensing PowerVR at some point IIRC).

Re: Yahoo sold to US telecoms giant Verizon

#115

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No company that sells Internet access should be allowed to also be in the content business.

Should Google be allowed to sell fiber? I think the suggestion that carriers shouldn't do this is wrong and naive and here is why: User count should not ever be exponential of customer counts. It inescapably results in fundamentally unethical business practices where users are exploited. That is google's business model and they stand uncontested today. Carriers that end up doing any amount of content monetization wil…

[deleted]

Re: Yahoo sold to US telecoms giant Verizon

#116
post #98

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The idea was that a CPU + GPU company would be a lot stronger than themselves trying to defend against their respective #1 competitors. Instead, both the CPU and GPU market leaders got stronger and leveraged their massive capital to turn the #2 into a very, very distant #2.

It also changed the decision process from "Pick 1 of Intel and AMD, plus pick 1 of nVidia and ATI" to "Pick Intel/nVidia or AMD/AMD" for companies like Dell/HP etc. so AMD and ATI's weaknesses compounded each other from then on.

The market was already dividing out that way honestly, and if you are going to be a low-margin, higher-volume player, you should try to work on economy of scale as part of your market differentiation factors.

Re: Yahoo sold to US telecoms giant Verizon

#117
post #90

Yeah, they have billions to spend on buying companies like Yahoo, but they can't upgrade all their rotting copper to fiber optics. That's Verizon for you.

Any place that doesn't already have fiber within Verizon's footprint probably can't accommodate it profitably. The margins on the places that do already have fiber are already thin. No business wants to invest in new infrastructure that isn't going to make it any money. It's not like anybody else is chomping at the bit to build fiber in those places.

Re: Yahoo sold to US telecoms giant Verizon

#118

Verizon shouldn't be allowed to own any web properties. They inject a unique subscriber identifier into your HTTP requests unless you turn it off. http://www.verizonwireless.com/support/unique-identifier-hea...

I find this to be the height of outrageous. It makes my blood boil every time I hear about it. Messing with my data in-flight should be a crime.

Re: Yahoo sold to US telecoms giant Verizon

#119
post #90

Yeah, they have billions to spend on buying companies like Yahoo, but they can't upgrade all their rotting copper to fiber optics. That's Verizon for you.

Any place that doesn't already have fiber within Verizon's footprint probably can't accommodate it profitably. The margins on the places that do already have fiber are already thin. No business wants to invest in new infrastructure that isn't going to make it any money. It's not like anybody else is chomping at the bit to build fiber in those places.

It can accommodate it profitably. But any such undertaking is a long term investment, and Verizon doesn't operate in such categories. They want to rip profits faster.

Also, they have internal conflict of interests. I.e. their execs are all about wireless, and simply don't care about landline business. Splitting it in two could actually help, since then they'll care about improving.

> It's not like anybody else is chomping at the bit to build fiber in those places.

Verizon stopped building out fiber everywhere. Only when they have a contract, they do it (very reluctantly). Some areas are indeed less profitable because of population density and other such factors. But others are not.

Re: Yahoo sold to US telecoms giant Verizon

#120
post #90

Yeah, they have billions to spend on buying companies like Yahoo, but they can't upgrade all their rotting copper to fiber optics. That's Verizon for you.

Why would they? Until people start dropping them, what is the point?

Cable companies. DOCSIS 3 makes DSL look like dial-up.

But there's evidence that Verizon made deals with cable companies to bundle wireless services, so Verizon could keep caring less about rotting infrastructure.

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