![[Prophet - Brand, Marketing, Innovation, and Design Experts]](/images/layout/logo88.png){kind=logo}
Apple's Secret Weapon
Apple has arguably created or refined and revitalized at least five new categories in a single decade — the iPod, iTunes, the Apple Store, the iPad, and the iPhone; an incredible achievement. There are many drivers of the success — a flare for cool design, the encouragement of surrounding apps, the perfecting of the user experience, the credibility and visibility of Steve Jobs, the passionate customer base, the brand, and more. However, one key ingredient that is usually overlooked is the ability of Jobs to get the timing right. Some observations:
In October 2001 Apple brought to market the iPod which would sell something over 220 million units over the next eight years. However, as I noted in an earlier blog post, Sony actually launched not one but two iPod-like products fully two years before the iPod was introduced: the Memory Stick Walkman and the VAIO Music Clip. The technology was not ready: each had 64 megabytes of memory that stored only twenty or so songs and was priced too high. Further, the firm was not ready. Sony Music, concerned with avoiding piracy, forced a cumbersome uploading procedure that was inconvenient and resulted in slow transfers.
The iPad and iPhone had similar stories.
The iPad introduced in March of 2010 was preceded a decade earlier by other similar products. In particular, the Microsoft “Tablet PC” was introduced at the 2000 Comdex by Bill Gates himself. All these efforts failed because the technology was not ready and, relatedly, because they lacked any hint of coolness.
The iPhone introduced in January 2007 also had its predecessors. Holman Jenkins writing in the WSJ (“How Apple Foot-Dragged to Victory,” January 26, 2011, p. A7) noted that in the 1990s Jean-Marie Messier had a vision of delivering media content wirelessly, regardless of platform. His company, Vivendi Universal, became a vehicle to realize his vision. In part because of him and others, the mobile industry in Europe invested $500 billion in 3G so that they could deliver against that vision. It turned out that the vision was correct but five years or more premature, and Messier went to jail for overhyping his company. The iPhone arrived at exactly the right time.
Apple, too, had a disastrous premature product: the Newton, a personal digital assistant introduced in 1993 when John Scully was CEO. It was designed to manage schedules and a name list, support note taking using a human writing recognition system, and a variety of other tasks. Despite terrific introductory marketing, the product failed. The Newton was priced high, was both unreliable and sluggish, and had a hard-to-read screen. If the product had waited only two years for the technology to improve and the design to be made more reliable, there might have been a different outcome. In 1996 Palm, with more advanced technology and a less ambitious product vision, came out with the PalmPilot which was a big success.
For an offering to successfully create a new category or subcategory, the technology, the firm, and the market all have to be ready. Having one of these missing usually explains a disappointing innovation initiative. Jobs should be given credit for being a genius at timing.
Posted April 7, 2011 / Permalink
/ Subscribe (e-mail)
/ Subscribe (RSS)
Tags:
apple
innovation
ipad
iphone
ipod
palm
relevance
sony
timing
Share •
Comments
David,
You are very perceptive in mentioning the Apple Store as one of the company's signal innovations. By being able to control its own distribution via the physical and web stores, Apple added to its cachet. While HP, Samsung, etc., depended on Staples and Best Buy to frame their product, Apple controlled the way the product was displayed, demoed, and supported.
The fact that the stores were not ubiquitous (and beautifully designed in their own right) added to the allure of Apple's products and ensured that lines would form when great new products were released.
This I think is an underappreciated aspect of Jobs's genius.
regards, John
In hindsights, I think it was the failure of the products, launched prematurely, that led to more successful products being launched at the right time.
Every time an innovative product creates a new category or sub-category , the first product definitely is not the best. I think it is the persistence of the innovator which not only creates a new wave of thinking but also forces others in the ecosystem to innovate at a rapid pace to add value to the new product that differentiates the successful from the not so successful.
David,
You are very perceptive in mentioning the Apple Store as one of the company's signal innovations. By being able to control its own distribution via the physical and web stores, Apple added to its cachet. While HP, Samsung, etc., depended on Staples and Best Buy to frame their product, Apple controlled the way the product was displayed, demoed, and supported.
The fact that the stores were not ubiquitous (and beautifully designed in their own right) added to the allure of Apple's products and ensured that lines would form when great new products were released.
This I think is an underappreciated aspect of Jobs's genius.
regards, John
Mark, note that Newton was not done under Jobs plus it was rushed to market to make Xmas. If they had just slowed down, it would have helped. There are a host of hi tech firms that generate vaporware (promised new products that get delayed) in order to freeze the market. A new Prius might qualify as a product people waited for and paid more.
John, I saw the new Covent Garden Apple store in London. Incredible--huge and always crowded. I agree Jobs should get a lot of credit for the Apple store as it was a totally new arena for him but he knew it was key to protecting and leveraging the brand.
Vivek, you are right. Jobs and others got ideas by looking at the inferior products out there and knowing they could do better.
Hello David,
Regarding the iPod, do you think that the iTunes might have been the platform for its success? Not alone, that's for sure. But Apple actually created something unique with iTunes... they have "created" both the technology/ interface and the product itself. Almost like the iTunes was the perfect "back-up" for the iPod. Would the iPod have become so popular if Apple has relied on others to develop the adequate technology?
Steve Jobs has not only the perfect timing but also the wisdom to learn from the mistakes of others.
Best regards,
Mafalda M Coelho.
Mafalda, yes I think like most business successes there were 7 or 8 factors that drove that iPod's success and if you take any one or two away it would have been a different story. The iTunes was definitely a key driver.
I think in the end it really came down to Apple making a decision to stand out as a brand. This may have started with their multi-colored theme which slowly evolved into a sleek white/black/gray along with their interface innovation starting with OSX and continuing in the iPod and iPhone. They really offer a greater experience to any comparable device..
I'd suggest that iTunes is the business platform that underpins its technology. Beginning with music for the iPod, then adding the App Store for the iPhone and now iPads, and now Apple TV.
I think the Apple brand started with the early Apple computers that evovled to the iMac. They really took control of their brand with the Apple Stores--that was an incredible brand control move.
David,
Excellent observations and comments. The IPhone should have failed following classic thinking, since with IPhone Apple was entering a new category (mobile phones) and a new channel (operator business) at the same time. A stretch too far?
But an often forgotten twist to the IPhone story is that Steve Jobs had learned from the past and showed true strategic brilliance. In Sep. 2005 Motorola launched the hyped white ITunes Phone ROKR E1 in coop with Apple. The Phone was limited by Apple to support only 100 songs and was of course a massive failure planned to happen.
The project enabled Apple to learn the channel and category and snatch best talent from Moto. When IPhone arrived it was no longer a new industry nor channel - Apple used Motorola to learn the business.
Very good observations David. The difference from Apple certainlly is the customer centric NPD.
Christian, good information, I did not know about the iTunes Phone. But it reinforces the strategic timing issue but shows that a firm that gets the tining wrong can still be in the game if there is the right leadership. The possibility that the failure was planned or at least onsidere a market test is interesting.
Don't forget about the Apple LISA - In 1983, the first personal computer to sport a Graphical User Interface.
It was Jobs' project - named after his daughter - until he was forced out in 1982.
It too was a failure, primarily because it was expensive & grossly underpowered.
As one colleague sarcastically described it, "Wow, this new LISA would make an amazing boat anchor."
David,
Agree, I owned a Newton — not too many people can (or would) say that. The Newton was not only before its time but an inferior product. Not every product Apple makes can be a hit. Although, they have an incredible track record for success. The "cool" brand indeed. Can you think of any other brand that you would wait overnight just for the privilege of paying a few hundred dollars to buy their product?
Mark
— Added by Mark Burgess on April 7, 2011