Instead of competing in the costly foundational model race, tech giants can acquire a model-agnostic 'router' like Perplexity. This allows them to integrate the best AI into their ecosystem, controlling the user-facing agent layer, which is a more defensible position.
The 90 plans a bilateral data exchange with platforms like Apple HealthKit and Whoop. This strategy allows a new device to immediately provide value by correlating its unique data (UV exposure) with established metrics (sleep quality), creating novel insights for users from day one.
To create a new multi-hundred-billion dollar revenue stream, Apple could acquire a cloud provider like DigitalOcean. It could leverage its massive developer ecosystem and brand trust to quickly build a credible competitor to AWS and Azure, reducing its dependency on the iPhone.
To move beyond tech, Apple could acquire Disney. This would allow for IP-integrated hardware (e.g., Star Wars laptops), and merge Apple's tech with Disney's physical parks for enhanced guest experiences, creating powerful synergies that competitors couldn't replicate.
Consumer adoption of home robots faces a significant trust barrier. A brand like Apple, with its reputation for privacy and quality, is uniquely positioned to overcome this fear and convince people to allow robots into their homes, creating a massive new product category.
The 90, a UV-tracking wearable, features a modular core sensor that can be moved between different accessories like pendants and bracelets. This design solves a key adoption hurdle for wearables by allowing users to integrate the technology into their personal style, rather than being locked into a single form factor.
The 90 wearable reframes a complex biological process into an intuitive metric: 'sun debt,' the idea that skin processes sun exposure for up to five days. Creating simple, memorable concepts like this helps educate users and drives habitual engagement with the product.
By collecting novel, on-body data like personal UV exposure at scale, startups like The 90 can create a valuable asset. Partnering with pharmaceutical companies and universities to provide this data for research not only creates a revenue stream but also builds a deep scientific moat.