Comments | wwhyte: Interesting Links for 08-03-2013

wwhyte

Interesting Links for 08-03-2013

Mar 08, 2013 06:00

http://daringfireball.net/linked/2013/03/04/surowiecki-bumblebee
Surowiecki: "Over time, Apple has succeeded despite (or because of) its disregard for the conventional wisdom about what works in technology markets". Gruber: "I have long argued that Apple’s business model is simple and seemingly obvious: make high-quality products that people want ( Read more... )

Comments 6

"That shouldn't work" much? beinmysolo March 8 2013, 14:27:11 UTC

At the risk of being ob.Fanboy, for argument's sake, define 'losing market leadership'.
Profit? Units in use? Units sold?

MP3 players, Smartphones and tablets all pre-existed Apple's entry. They target established things.

They drive their own costs down relentlessly. Most people didn't notice that when the Intel switch happened, on a spec for spec comparison, MacBooks were and continue to be cheaper than the competition. Tear downs of subsequent products continue to show that they are making things at a lower cost than their competitors. They use their size and a very limited product range to get commodification working for them.

Apple is definitely a niche company. The question isn't whether it's going back to it, it's how many more profitable niches there are to exploit.

Re: "That shouldn't work" much? wwhyte March 10 2013, 06:50:27 UTC

Apple is definitely a niche company. The question isn't whether it's going back to it, it's how many more profitable niches there are to exploit.Well, yes and no. It's hard to call the largest tech company in the world (which I assume it still is) a niche company. The question about Apple that I was thinking about was: how does it manage to get niche profit margins in a mass market business? And the answer is: its integrated design approach allows it to produce great products (or good-enough products: the original iPod, iPhone and Air were very limited, but scratched a particular itch) that drive the acceptance of new product categories in the mass market while simultaneously making high margins. But as those product categories become more established, other producers will be able to use a commoditized supply chain to drive prices down, and Apple will have to choose between volumes and margins. In the PC world, it's chosen margins. In the smartphone world, it's not clear what it will choose, but the current model where Verizon pays $ ( ... )

Re: "That shouldn't work" much? beinmysolo March 10 2013, 13:30:12 UTC

And this is the point at which people who've been paying attention again point out is that what you are saying is "That shouldn't work" without looking at your own arguments carefully ( ... )

Re: "That shouldn't work" much? beinmysolo March 10 2013, 13:48:40 UTC

And this is the point at which people who've been paying attention again point out is that what you are saying is "That shouldn't work" without looking at your own arguments carefully ( ... )

Thread 6