Colin Sebastian, an analyst at Robert W. Baird, believes that Alphabet could be this technology generation's new GE. But the question is, is that good or bad?
Just recently, Google restructured itself as Alphabet Inc., a parent company for Google subsidiaries that Google co-founder Larry Page will lead as CEO. This drastic change won't likely affect average Internet users, as Google will maintain its current search engine and won't change how YouTube is right now under Sundar Pichai, the former vice president of products and new CEO of the slightly trimmed company.
GE's success can be attributed to its lightbulb, as it became the groundwork that allowed the company to grow from its lighting-related market to then extend to other areas, including oil and gas, aircraft engines and even financial services.
On a similar note, Page applauded Warren Buffet's Berkshire Hathaway because of its business that maintains a wide range of submarkets, from underwear to aerospace.
Like other conglomerates, Google hopes to use search as its foundation to diversify its market, expanding to home and automation connectivity with Nest, biotech and medical products with Life Sciences, shopping services with Express and broadband Internet service with Fiber.
Baird also computed the potential market of Google's subsidiaries. Nest will possibly generate a $20 billion market, Express a $1.4 trillion market, Life Sciences a $45 million market and Fiber a $140 million market.
Alphabet's market opportunities don't end there, as the company can potentially take on automotive technology, virtual reality, machine learning and drones, not to mention that it can continue on in the mobile industry with Android and venture capital with Google Capital and Google Ventures.
What this entails is that Alphabet will have a strong presence in every aspect of the market, and it seems that we will be seeing more of the company in the future.
If we overlook the privacy controversies surrounding Google, Alphabet's hand in everything could be good because of the benefits it can offer. Also, it seems that the company does do more good than bad, but its behavior still leaves experts and private citizens wondering just how far the company will go looking into people's private data.
