Synchronoss, a new position.

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it would seem that these third party providers like Google already have a lock on that ecosystem. Switching users is hard, especially when the offer has no additional value proposition … I mean people so many services from Google, they are familiar with Google, and they can leverage that crowd effect to get people into their ecosystem, they can integrate storage with other services etc. It’s also an issue of implicit trust. I would think companies like Google (Facebook, Twitter …) that thrive on your data have also implicitly acquired the trust of the users. Users feel that data with these big services is much safer than with someone else, and that includes anything offered by a carrier.

Anirban;

You have raised a few very good points.
First is that the brand name recognition of Google and it offers Google Drive for free to anyone. There are several online service providers that have earned my trust over the years - Amazon, Paypal, Apple iCloud, and Google. I can do business with them or through them without much hesitation at all. Amazon in particular. It doesn’t necessarily have the lowest price, but I buy from them most of the time because I feel it is safer to deal with them. And their customer service and delivery are unbeatable.

As stated before I and my family are deeply into the Apple ecosystem. We have all our emails, contacts, photos, music and etc. in iCloud. But iCloud offers limited free storage and charges for additional space. I also have a lot of stock research write-ups and downloads that I have accumulated over the years. I want to store them in a place so that it is backed up and safe, and that I can read them when and where I want to without being in front of a desktop or laptop. So I chose Google Drive because it is free, and also because it offers free Google Sheet with a set of Google Financial functions, which I don’t know Apple offers.

I downloaded Google Drive to all my mobile devices. Now I can read them on my iPhone, iPads, laptop or desktop. I have used Google Sheet to build a spreadsheet of all my holdings that can pull down from Google such data points as current price, price change, percent change, day high and low, volume. Now I can see how all my stocks are doing very easily by glancing at the spreadsheet from any of my mobile devices.

I don’t see myself sign up with carrier for their cloud services for the foreseeable future. I would reconsider if they offer very advanced features such as cross-platform communication/interaction - not just file transfer.

I checked Synchronoss web site last night. It does offer some cross-platform communication services but I am not sure it is more than just file transfer.

Regards.
-M

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Telcos face stiff competition so what they can charge is limited by market dynamics, and it’s going to get worse with entry of companies like Google.

I am not willing to concede on this Anirban but I do agree with what you have to say on the phones. But lets put this aside and tell me what you think about Synchronoss and its business. I can see what Denny is saying about the IOT portion of the business, but everyone in the cloud space is doing the same exact thing. Synchronoss just seems to not have a moat unless they can embed themselves in the cell phone companies and capture those customers. I am not sure how many people would be willing to pay for cloud storage, just as an anecdotal I have had friends tell me they are to cheap to pay for any storage. I know that isn’t anywhere conclusive but I tend to agree. So what are your thoughts on Synchronoss?

Thanks,
Andy

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I can see what Denny is saying about the IOT portion of the business, but everyone in the cloud space is doing the same exact thing.

Andy

To clarify my position:

  1. Cloud is commodity but so are telephones. What sets the iPhone apart and before it the Nokia or the Blackberry? No need to state the specifics, it’s enough to state that they had some competitive advantage.

  2. Each successful cloud provider must have some competitive advantage and it seems to be the ecosystem it’s a part of which is why I said that it was not truly an increasing returns type of business. Four or six clouds will coexist and each one will have a strong moat. Unless you switch devices or carriers you won’t switch cloud.

  3. Synchronoss’s competitive advantage is the ease of acquisition for as long as they have carriers locked in. When you activate a device for a carrier you acquire a cloud customer most of the time.

  4. How well they can monetize their cloud customers remains to be seen. Now it’s $1 to $5 a month per customer. If the carriers are forced to give away the basic service for free there will be price pressure on Synchronoss but they can still monetize higher order service where they are dealing with the customer instead of with the carrier. This is where their personal and later enterprise IoT offering comes into play.

I have not yet decided on investing in SNCR but this thread has been great in exploring the business. Thanks all!

Denny Schlesinger

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So what are your thoughts on Synchronoss?

Andy,

I agree with what Denny said in his post #7754. It pretty much squares up my thinking on this company. With respect to IoT opportunities, right now everyone is trying to get into this business, so my preference is to go with those that have earnings and revenues from IoT (CAMP, SWIR, SKWS) … I 'm skeptical of the companies that think they can make things happen with IoT.

Sorry, I haven’t done much digging beyond looking at the original recommendation and a quick flip through the website. It didn’t interest me enough to have me look at the 10K.

Anirban

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To clarify my position

Thanks Denny for clarifying your position.

Andy

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Sorry, I haven’t done much digging beyond looking at the original recommendation and a quick flip through the website. It didn’t interest me enough to have me look at the 10K.

That’s Ok Anirban we only have so much time in a day. I always appreciate your insight.

Andy