> The group [Pichai, Page, and Porat] even talked about—and eventually dismissed—the idea of leaving the market entirely, this person said. [1]
That they’ve actually discussed shutting it down in the recent past lends plausibility to this risk. In 2019, they set 2023 as a deadline for moving into the #2 spot ahead of Azure. Obviously, they’ve not gotten anywhere near that.
Wow. Imagine top level execs at Ford discussing, but eventually dismissing--the idea of leaving the automobile market entirely. Their hearts really aren't in it as much as with AWS.
Google is an advertising company. They're planning an exit in a non-core market. It shouldn't be a surprise. The weight of "traditional google" has held zero value to me in measuring their cloud product.
Google's cloud products are built around the needs of advertisers. A large and slow backend that's meant to churn ungodly amounts of data.
Amazon is a retail company their cloud products are build around this need. They have a highly segmented and mostly nimble backend that's mean to build unwieldy amounts of API.
Ford, ironically, is an example of a company that has recently exited a huge business segment - they no longer make sedans. They now exclusively make SUVs and trucks. It is largely thought of as a pretty good move on their part.
Google probably should spin off GCP rather than killing it, but it's not a terrible idea to divest from a failing arm of a business. Google (like Intel) just does it too early.
This is a US/NA focused comment. Ford makes sedans in EU and other markets. They also make sedans for the US market in China and other manufacturing locations.
So it's true that Ford US manufacturing have exited sedan production, Ford itself continues to build and sell sedans.
That they’ve actually discussed shutting it down in the recent past lends plausibility to this risk. In 2019, they set 2023 as a deadline for moving into the #2 spot ahead of Azure. Obviously, they’ve not gotten anywhere near that.
[1] https://www.theinformation.com/articles/google-brass-set-202...