📞 Bless this T-Mobile & Sprint marriage
Hey Snackers,
"Cocomelon," the 2nd most-watched YouTube channel, gets an average of 2.5B views a month. Its content: animated children's songs. "Yes Yes Vegetables" has a fire 826M views.
Markets stayed put Tuesday even as coronavirus deaths passed 1,100 and total cases topped 44K.
We've got a new "Big 3" in wireless: T-Mobile + Sprint gets approved
I approve this relationship... Judge Victor Marrero to T-Mobile and Sprint. Approval of the biggest merger in the wireless industry powered Sprint stock up 77% (investors we're expecting this outcome). If the opinion remains unchallenged, we're left with 3 major carrier choices: Verizon, AT&T, and the new T-Mobile (that ate Sprint). Here's the history of this complex courtship:
- June 2018: T-Mobile's CEO announces that his company has agreed to merge with Sprint. The combo company – valued at $146B – would be split between 3 owners: Deutsche Telekom (T-Mobile's parent), SoftBank (which owns most of Sprint), and retail investors like you and us who own remaining shares.
- November 2019: The Department of Justice and the Federal Communications Commission approve the merger under certain conditions... But 13 states plus DC sued to block the deal, saying it would hurt competition and lead to pricier phone bills.
Sprint has been lagging rivals for a while... so the judge doesn't think this deal will substantially hurt competition. Plus, regulators will make sure that Dish Network enters the game as a viable new service provider. Sprint will have to sell Dish 9M customers, but that'll still be a distant competitor to the Big 3.
We have a three-opoly on our hands... Here's the pecking order now: Verizon #1, New T-Mobile #2, and AT&T #3. And a three-opoly could affect your bill:
- Interpretation A: Competition has been reduced, now that we've gone from 4 major players to 3. When there's less competition, companies tend to charge higher prices.
- Interpretation B: Actually, this merger increases competition, because Sprint was never a real player and T-Mobile wasn't big enough to compete over future 5G networks. Now T-Mobile + Sprint can effectively challenge AT&T and Verizon.
Samsung unveils shiny new toys, including a flip-phone
Trying to make iPhone jealous... Samsung just unveiled a gaggle of new phones at its Galaxy Unpacked event (ironically, it was packed). In 2019, more than 73% of phones globally were Android (even though iPhones are the majority in all but 14 US states). And Samsung is the Android leader, so we're looking at what it showed off:
- S20 Line: Magically skipping 10 generations since the S10, Samsung showed off the Galaxy S20, the S20 Plus, and the S20 Ultra (has a superiority complex). It was all about the camera: video in 8K, strong zoom game, AR lenses.
- Z Flip: This one stands out — A folding glass phone you can flip shut when you feel #sassy (same idea as Motorola's flippable new Razr). Fold it laptop-style for easy video chatting, AKA "Flex Mode." Makes sense. Shipping starts Valentine's Day at a whopping $1,380.
Global smartphone growth has stalled... So Samsung is looking to maintain its worldly lead by jacking up its and introducing the first line of mainstream 5G phones. Plus, it's going nostalgic with circa 2008 foldable-ness.
How far can "better" really get?... When cellphones first hit markets, annual improvements were dramatic. You switched from your plastic Nokia button phone to a touch-screen iPhone in just a few years. But now that smartphones are portable computers, that improvement has plateaued. How many more HD cameras can Samsung and Apple really stick on 6 inches of aluminum?
What else we’re Snackin’
- Play: Hasbro's critical holiday sales were saved by Frozen 2 and Star Wars — even though Baby Yoda dolls were MIA
- Benched: Under Armour plummets 18% after its earnings reveal how badly its losing the market share game to Nike, Adidas, and Lululemon
- Remix: SoundCloud raises $75M from SiriusXM, years after Twitter and Spotify passed on acquiring the audio-sharing platform
- Lose: Airbnb lost $322M in the first 9 months of 2019 as costs creep up before its IPO — during the same period in 2018, it enjoy a $200M profit
- Deccelerate: Lyft's revenues grew 68% in 2019, but the stock fell on word that'll slow to 27% in 2020
Wednesday
- Earnings expected from Cisco, CVS, Shopify, and MGM Resorts
Disclosure: Authors of this Snacks own shares of Lululemon
ID: 1088075