The "Pro" market we remember fondly is not the same today. Today, it can't save anyone, and relying on it exclusively isn't a recipe for growth - at least not the kind that Apple wants. The money is in serving the consumer sector - all that insatiable desire for new and interesting devices, and the sort of software that empowers people and let's them do things that weren't even on the radar a few years ago.
The business you're in today can be reinvented tomorrow. Everyone must reinvent themselves. Tech is changing. Even specialized, niche markets. There is no niche market that is today immune from the sea-changes that take place in the wider consumer markets. It all filters and branches outward to niche segments.
And those niche segments are also changing, and are being integrated with the wider consumer segments. The average person a few years ago would be hard-pressed to do any advanced level of photo-editing, especially without purchasing ridiculously expensive software and having to put up with serious learning curves.
Now, in the span of only a few years, look at the kind of power that has been put into Joe Average's hands. It's incredible. You can even do, with some iOS apps (of all things!), things that were a few years ago only possible with much more complex and expensive software.
The line between "Pro" and "Consumer" has been blurred to an unprecedented degree. Hence, today we have what is known as the "Prosumer." And these Prosumers are growing in number and strength every day. One of the companies serving them is Apple.
The Pro market is dwindling. The Prosumer market is expanding rapidly. The skills that at one point were hard-earned and rare (Pro skills) are being steadily, slowly but surely, acquired by even average users with a little time and curiosity. As tech becomes much more accessible to Joe Average, those skills that were once prized in the industry will eventually become commonplace. What took a lot of skill yesterday can be easily accomplished and on a larger scale today, due to increased exposure and access that Joe Average, and for that matter you and I, are enjoying. It all filters down due to increased access.
The "Pro" market is not the same market that Apple allegedly turned their back on years ago. It has changed. And it is no longer a market that can sustain anyone exclusively. At all. Especially with the Rise of the Prosumer. The traditional "Pro" market is slowly dying, but also changing. It is becoming integrated with the consumer market, and Prosumers are making it happen.
In time there will be no specialized, niche markets at all in consumer tech, and that includes the "Pro" segment. We will all have access to them, with better tools that will be far easier to use.
