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It's interesting insight, but look at it like this... Apple's dominance isn't from hardware alone. But they are exceptionally talented at it. It isn't in softw
by danilocampos 16y ago
It's interesting insight, but look at it like this...
Apple's dominance isn't from hardware alone. But they are exceptionally talented at it. It isn't in software alone, but again, they know what they're doing. They've got a lot of mature, battle tested code and an outstanding developer community who knows how to wield it. It's not in digital distribution alone, but yet again, they got there very early, have a lot of practice and many deep relationships with the rogue states (thanks, PG) who bully would-be media companies.
Marketing isn't their top achievement, but they love the things they make and the authenticity of their marketing works very well for them.
I could go on and on, but you probably get my point.
Apple's core strength isn't any one thing first, then something else second. Their strength is their ability to see the whole board and make every single thing they do complement everything else in a very meaningful, very equal way. It's an absurd game they play, a combo of three dimensional chess and hacky sack, but their focus makes it work.
No one can compete with Apple by trying to crib any one of their strengths. To be successful, you need to be able to attack several of them at once, and that's very challenging.
They've created an absurdly defensible position. The vision needed to get there makes my brain hurt. No matter how you feel about Apple, you can't argue that their organizational synergy is an incredible force.
- hop 16y agoHard to read with one or two sentences separated as paragraphs.
- danilocampos 16y agoHmm, thanks. Just tried it with a wider window, I see what you mean.
- fossuser 16y agoI think their extreme attention to detail and strong control over every aspect of their product will allow them to remain successful especially within a certain niche. Competition from more free/open alternatives will likely prevent apple from getting to or retaining the number one spot for any length of time though. Apple does things a very specific way and they're damn good at the way they do them.
- mjfern 16y agoWhat you're describing here is the notion of activity systems! Michael Porter describes the concept in detail in the article "What is Strategy," Harvard Business Review. The crux of the idea is that the strategic position of a product hinges on a system of activities across a range of areas, from marketing, to product development, to distribution. Activity systems are a source of sustainable competitive advantage because a competitor can imitate one or two activities, but often not the entire system. In other words, a competitor (e.g., RIM) can imitate Apple's hardware or its software, but this is not sufficient. To really compete with Apple, a competitor would need to imitate (and supersede) Apple on a number of fronts: hardware, software, marketing/branding, distribution, logistics, etc. Needless to say, this is quite a challenge! One of the most stark examples is Southwest Airlines. Scheduled passenger air transportation is a highly transparent industry due to the heavy regulation by the U.S. DOT and the FAA. Despite the fact that competitors know the precise activities that Southwest Airline's performs, they have been generally unable to imitate and compete. And there have been a number of attempts by both legacy and start-up carriers.
- danilocampos 16y agoOutstanding. I'm fascinated by this and off to Google away. Are there any other specific resources or articles you can link to that you think are an especially good discussion of activity systems? Meanwhile, for others, here's a PDF of the document in question: http://www.ipocongress.ru/download/guide/article/what_is_strategy.pdf http://www.ipocongress.ru/download/guide/article/what_is_str...
- mjfern 16y agoIn addition to the "What is Strategy" article, there are several related (academic) journal articles. These articles are quite dense, but interesting nevertheless: Evolution toward fit - http://www.management.wharton.upenn.edu/siggelkow/pdfs/Vanguard%20ASQ.pdf http://www.management.wharton.upenn.edu/siggelkow/pdfs/Vangu... Change in the presence of fit: The rise, the fall, and the renaissance of Liz Claiborne - http://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/papers/872.pdf http://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/papers/872.pdf
- 16y ago