That works well for Tim and Apple in the here and now, but how long will this success last without serious new product innovation to appease the market? Just ask BlackBerry.
I guess we have differing interpretations of what meaningful innovation entails.
In my opinion, what Apple has done well since Steve Job's passing was to build a formidable ecosystem around the iPhone. Tim Cook made the right call in making the iPhone the centre of Apple, rather than the Mac (because the number of people who own an iPhone vastly outnumber those who own a Mac).
At the end of the day, I believe that Apple is a design company selling tools that can improve people’s lives. It does this not through any one product, but by the interplay between hardware, software and services to create a superior experience that people are willing to pay a premium for.
It's also why I would like to throw the question back to
@Col4bin
Blackberry was disrupted by a superior product (the iPhone), and that's the whole problem - it sold a product. What will Apple be disrupted by, given that it isn't defined by any one product but rather, the user experience (which is again, derived from hardware, software and services integration)? And since no company comes close to replicating the Apple ecosystem or offering as cohesive a product line, I really don't see any credible threat to Apple at the moment.
Fast forward to today, and we are rewarded with articles like this:
Consumers are increasingly choosing iPhones over high-end Android smartphones, with younger users pushing Apple toward the level of dominance in the market globally that it has enjoyed in the U.S.
www.wsj.com
SEOUL—Consumers around the world are increasingly choosing
Apple Inc.’s
AAPL -1.39%decrease; red down pointing triangle iPhones over high-end Android smartphones, with younger users seen as pushing the company toward
the level of dominance in the market globally that it has enjoyed in the U.S.
I have a number of theories as to why this is to case. We have Apple's famous integration between hardware, software and services coming together to create a unique user experience that the competition can't emulate, we have mobile carrier promotions, instalment plans and trade-in programmes coming together to make iPhones more affordable and accessible, we have accessories like the Apple Watch, AirPods and AirTags giving incentive to either get an iPhone or stick with one, and most importantly, Apple's take on innovation (where it prioritises quality over quantity) is resonating with consumers who prefer more practical and useful tools over the kitchen sink approach of companies like Samsung.
It's also difficult to compete with "cool", which is what Apple is currently seen as. These are intangibles that cannot be quantified on a spec sheet, but they matter, and more importantly, can't be readily aped.
What I am trying to say is that there is a lot more to running a successful business than a very narrow and engineering-focused take on what "product innovation" entails (just look at the galaxy fold as an example of a technologically-impressive device that hasn't really taken off). Something like having an entire array of Apple Watch bands, much as the people here like to poke fun at it, has been integral to the Apple Watch being as popular as it is, even though there's nothing technologically innovative about them, because it's purely a fashion play (just as the decision to release a yellow iPhone 14 at this time is a purely business-driven move aimed at smoothening their balance sheet). But it's one that works, because it understands the human psyche.
My advice to each and every one of the Macrumours members here is, as it always was, is that we really should be trying to explain Apple's success. Not explain it away.
