Page 12 - SCS May 2018 - Day 2 Tasks

CIMA MAY 2018 – STRATEGIC CASE STUDY

Reference Material – article in the Mayland Daily Gazette

Tech companies continue to set the pace
Yesterday was a busy day for the technology sector, as two companies made the headlines.
Firstly HomeVideo, the TV and movie streaming company, sought to reassure shareholders
following its recent disappointing financial results by announcing that, with effect from the start
of next month, its subscribers would be able to download content onto their usual devices and
watch it offline. “This is what the market has been crying out for ever since streaming began” said
City analyst Brett Kindle. “I’m just amazed that it has taken so long for it to become real. I think
that subscribers who currently pay companies such as Couchweb and MovieMaster for what will
shortly become an inferior service may think again and switch their allegiances.”
Secondly, music streaming company Spotify made its Stock Market debut yesterday, and investors
will have been pleased. The shares were expected to start trading at $150/share but soon rose to
$165, indicating investor confidence in the company and its growth potential.

Founded in Sweden, Spotify is the largest music streaming company in the world with an
estimated 71 million paying subscribers. By contrast, tech titan Apple has just 38 million, despite
offering 10 million more songs in its catalogue. The third main operator in this market is Amazon,
but it does not disclose how many paying subscribers it has.

26 KAPLAN PUBLISHING