Business | Bad tech

What went wrong with Snap, Netflix and Uber?

Despite superficial differences, digital darlings’ business models rest on the same shaky pillars

A woman takes a photograph with a camera whilst standing against an illuminated wall bearing Snapchat Inc.'s logo in this arranged photograph in London, U.K., on Tuesday, Jan. 5, 2016. Snapchat Inc. develops mobile communication applications that allows the user to send and receive photos, drawings, text, or videos that will only last for an allotted amount of time. Photographer: Chris Ratcliffe/Bloomberg via Getty Images

When evan spiegel, boss of Snap, wrote in a leaked memo that the social-media firm had been “punched in the face hard by 2022’s new economic reality”, he might as well have been describing America’s digital darlings as a whole. After a multi-year bull run, the sector is suffering a sharp correction. The NASDAQ index, home to many consumer-internet companies, has fallen by over 30% in the past 12 months; the Dow Jones Industrial Average, made up of less techie firms, is down by around 10%. Crunchbase, a data provider, estimates that American tech has already shed more than 45,000 jobs this year.

This article appeared in the Business section of the print edition under the headline “Bad tech”

Say goodbye to 1.5°C

From the November 5th 2022 edition

Discover stories from this section and more in the list of contents

Explore the edition

More from Business

Larry Ellison’s face feeding a sand timer with some planet and stars elements above. Two small figures on the right of the it looking scared.

What Elon Musk should learn from Larry Ellison

The founder of Oracle has demonstrated remarkable staying power

Kylian Mbappe of Real Madrid dribbles the ball during the LaLiga EA Sports match between Real Valladolid v Real Madrid.

Football clubs are making more money than ever. Players not so much

For both teams and their top stars, it helps to have a brand


A surreal city of LEGO-like houses with identical figures walking along grey paths

The allure of the company town

Lego, Corning and the survival of an old idea


From cribs to carriers, high-end baby products are in vogue

Demographic and technological changes are making infancy more expensive

No one gains from American tariffs on cars from Mexico and Canada

Donald Trump’s levy will hit his country’s carmakers hardest

DeepSeek poses a challenge to Beijing as much as to Silicon Valley

The story of Liang Wenfeng, the model-maker’s mysterious founder