I haven't used the specific words of competitor or the immediate threat of one (such as ScaleAi). The bigger challenge for Appen and other data annotation companies is how they adapt and continue to keep their products relevant.
I've never said that companies shouldn't expand into China. It's a huge market, but it comes with significant risk and challenges. In China there is a perception that overseas/international often has higher quality. They can't trust their own processes as they know the quality is continuously degraded as everyone tries to take their cut. I'm not saying that a Chinese company will overtake Appen in a global setting. I'm just saying that they will have a local advantage in the Chinese domestic market, that will take time for Appen to gain experience in.
I have a sense where I think the company is heading. By posting and reading here, I get an understanding of how others are reading the market. Some of the challenges I see won't become apparent in the short-term or even mid-term.
If there is someone here with a background in even the basics of AI & ML, they will have a headache just like I do from reading some of these posts.. I'm sure they'd agree with the challenges as nothing that I've mentioned is controversial. It's really common-sense.
I wasn't anticipating people to be so argumentative, although it could be due to the type of personalities attracted to stock trading. I apologise if I made you suspicious.
APX Price at posting:
$13.28 Sentiment: Sell Disclosure: Not Held
(20min delay)