Facebook the Social Network company also owns the most popular messaging app for SmartPhones in India WhatsApp. Facebook, unfortunately has been running the Indian division under deep loss and wasn’t able to Monetize the WhatsApp Platform. iBankers bridged the synergies WhatsApp shared with Jio Platforms and Zuckerber readily agreed to invest a whopping $10 Billion in the newly formed company by Reliance Group – Jio Platforms Ltd This intensified the war of Silicon Valley Big companies relying on 4G/5G Data Networks.
Google has ramped up its digital advertising business geared towards programmatic and video advertising, Google is focused on building a subscription business in the B2B space through its enterprise suite.
Amazon dominates e-commerce transactions. It has strong subscription capabilities via cloud offerings (AWS for businesses) and Prime (retail/media). Globally, it is a big player in advertising; a strategy that it will replicate in India.
For Microsoft, subscription is vital as it has a dominant office productivity platform. It is looking to tap into enterprise spends by offering cloud and Work From Home solutions. Through LinkedIn, it is tapping into enterprise branding and recruitment spends. It has strong partnership with Indian telcos.
So far the above are the strongest contenders with deep pockets and synergies for their business ambitions in India.
Netflix remains a niche player in India as it lacks mass market content and is at a premium price point. It could explore alternate business models like low price ad supported tiers (like Hulu) and bundling with Telcos to expand. Apple is growing stronger in the premium smartphone segment. Globally, it is building a digital subscription business through its app store and offerings like media and a credit card. But, it is yet to go beyond handset transactions in India. It may look to partner with telcos/media companies in the future.