The rise of the mobile platform-device, and the decline of the operators

The rise of the mobile platform-device, and the decline of the operators

Over the last five years, we’ve seen a staggering creation of wealth by two companies with mobile device strategies: Apple (which owns the iPod and iPhone) and RIM (which owns the blackberry).

Their success comes even as the major operators have stagnated — the big three have created almost no value at all.

Below is a chart of the stock performance of Apple and RIM, compared to the Nasdaq over the past five years. They’ve grown about… Continue Reading