You have to admire Apple for making so much money. Yet they seem to also retain credibility. They have a fan base that suggests to the world that Apple products are fantastically designed, work intuitively, and are a "lifestyle" accessory.
On the 26th of May it was announced that Apple overtook Microsoft in the league of companies and became the largest "tech" company in the world. Only Exon Mobil are larger.
Often news of Exon or Microsoft is not so good. Its often about how their stuff does not work so well, what nasty people they are, or just another funny picture of Bill Gates. News about Apple is often only good.
What I do not understand are the following:
As the makers of an MP3 player that has moving parts rather than solid state they manage to charge five times the amount of an unbranded product.. In fact all their products are much more expensive, but their packaging is wonderful.
Most of their items are proprietary. This means that they have some element of protection and work best or only work with other apple products. For instance if you want a dock for your iPod, it will have to be an "Apple" dock made under license. No standard usb connections.
They use "cheap" manufacture. Whilst everyone does this - the spotlight has recently been on Apple due to the suicides in their subcontracted factories.
Like everything else - their stuff breaks or becomes obsolescent. iPod's batteries wear out, and it is common for people to mention that they are on their second, third, or fourth product. Such loyalty!
The secret of Apple seems to be their appearance and function - not just packaging, but how their products look and feel. Against other similar products their menus work more intuitively and the "buzz" around the product gives you a feel good factor that can forgive any issues that arise.
The fact remains - they stretch their brand as far as they can. This is about price and profit. Are they about to be uncovered as just another corporate?
Posts
Building Innovation Muscle
4 months ago
3 comments:
As an ICT Engineer I quite often have to make Apple gear work with other bits of kit and it is seldom straightforward. For a while back there it looked like Apple was on the wane, but somehow they brought it back from the edge. In fact they are pulling back rather hard. They are still in 3rd place after Windows & Linux for the desktop, but stunning as it may seem to some, they are selling very well in the server market.
Why?
Damned fine question!
It has to be their fanbase. Fruit lovers or "Apple Fanboiz" as they are known to some seem to be unquestioningly loyal, but again, why? The software is nice but by no means bug free. There are not as many viruses and such that will infect Apple gear as Windows, but not none. The hardware is expensive in comparison to the same item for Windows and Linux, but is just as breakable if not more so. The company has a very agressive stance on design flaws, you'll have a fight to get your money back, it seems.
So where does this leave us?
Apple are loved by their fans because they're not quite as buggy, aggressive and breakable as Microsoft? I wonder, if Microsoft had not existed, would we now be talking about another brand and comparing them to Apple in Microsoft's place?
I did not know about fruit lovers!
I do think Apple give them things that other people do not. Mostly it seems to be around the interface. Motion sensors, touch screen, interactivity, applets.
The other players in the market seem to playing catch up and copying - but taking a lot longer to get to market.
They also have resources to spend more on creating a "buzz" where smaller innovative manufacturers struggle. Archos for instance has had a touch screen tablet for a while - and uses Android - but it is off most people's radar.
Careful of the separation between what Apple's PR droids suggest and what is the actual and whole truth.
Apple invent only a very small fraction of the features that they then tout as being distinctive Apple. They didn't invent the touch screen, or the swipe style interface, motion sensors or digital music players, or "Palmtop" microcomputers. The only thing they did with "Applets" is claim it as their own. Computers have had programs for a fair while now. They didn't even invent the word Applet. In fact they abused it, as it formerly meant a program fragment that can be distributed and then attached to a greater framework to make a single whole that functions as a program. Java have been doing actual applets for a long long time and it wasn't a new idea even then.
What they did do is package them and market them in a manner that appeals to the Fanboiz and to those influenced by same.
"iPad is thin; iPad is beautiful" Ooooooommmmm, repeat after me and then go buy one.
When you take a look at their behaviour around their App Store and the hoops you have to jump through to get your app on there; when you look at how easy it is to get struck off if you offend the delicate sensibilities of one of the richest, most powerful companies on the planet; when you compare that, to the sort of stuff that got Microsoft convicted as a criminal enterprise, maybe you'll see that I wasn't joking with my previous comment about if Microsoft hadn't existed, would we be discussing Apple in their place.
Post a Comment