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One factor that the author doesn't mention is Apple's success at lining up deals with component manufacturers. A couple years ago (before anyone had heard of th

One factor that the author doesn't mention is Apple's success at lining up deals with component manufacturers. A couple years ago (before anyone had heard of the iPad) they locked in great prices on flash memory and LCD displays. They could do that because they were about to invent a huge market, and they knew it. Anyone trying to get into the tablet business in 2010 had to pay much, much more. Steve Jobs and Johnny Ive are no slouches, but Tim Cook doesn't get enough credit for stuff like that.

mindblink 16y ago
Exactly, it's a combination of betting big on market vision and component supplier management, and not as much about vertical integration. Case in point, "Apple secures 60% of global touch panel capacity, causing tight supply". Tight supply constrains iPad competitors price position with component suppliers. http://www.digitimes.com/news/a20110216PD219.html http://www.digitimes.com/news/a20110216PD219.html
danilocampos 16y ago
A hundred upvotes, really. Tim Cook turned Apple from a sloppy, cluttered mess to a perfectly tuned and calibrated machine. He designs business processes like Ive designs hardware enclosures. He's still at it, too, telling investors during the last earnings call that Apple once again snapped up a boatload of supply on an unnamed type of component. I bet he'd be amazing at Starcraft, once he learned the ropes.
- kevin_morrill 16y ago
  Getting some pictures of him wiping out some Korean Starcraft nerds :)
- jrbj 16y ago
  I believe it. In Starcraft, Macro beats Micro.
  - iwwr 16y ago
    Tell that to those tanks! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F3IbwjeCx6U http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F3IbwjeCx6U
- easp 16y ago
  I knew Apple was on to something again when, not long after Jobs retook Apple, their inventory on hand started to approach that of Dell. That was Cook's doing.
nika 16y ago
This makes Time Cook my dream date. Seriously, and I hear he swings my way too. There are many ways to innovate in business and technology and design get a lot of time in the spotlight. Operations, especially of a very large enterprise, with thousands of suppliers which also demands highly precise manufacturing and quality control, while having operations spread around the globe, and a public awareness factor that makes it vulnerable to any "Watchdog" who wants to make news... running a less-than-30-days-inventory system is playing on the Nth level. Can anyone name anybody who has done something like that? Amazon's distribution network is a lot easier, as they control all the infrastructure. Dell doesn't have the volume or quality requirements or focused product lineup (which reduces substitution- eg: if dell is out of a particular laptop model, they have others to substitute, apple doesn't have that luxury.) It is no wonder Apple is doing long term contracts for supplies like this. Some have accused them of cornering the market, but this is not like cornering the market on Silver (look up Hunt Brothers) -- as anyone with reasonable technology can make a substitute for electronics components which are fungible commodities for the most part. This is just good management of a very sophisticated manufacturing network. Dude deserves and Oscar in Operations!
- regularfry 16y ago
  I'd be tempted to say that automotive just-in-time processes are, if anything, more impressive in terms of the industry integration. There you'll have hundreds of suppliers coordinating so that custom builds roll off the production line in an arbitrary order, with no more stock in hand than there are builds in the system for the next shift or so. I've seen it at work at BMW, and it is frankly terrifying to consider what the supplier contract terms must be like; if any one of them has a screwup as simple as packing their parts onto a transport in the wrong order, it has major cost implications.
  - dtegart 16y ago
    I worked for a supplier. We had some teething problems once on a new vehicle. We ended up helicoptering parts to the final assembly plant, so we wouldn't shut it down.
  - 16y ago
buro9 16y ago
I know this is going to burn my karma, but having watched the personality cult of Jobs grow to dominance, and now observing the mantle being handed over to Cook in a way that the cult appears just to have adapted to follow the new leader... it's a very disturbing sight. Apple are a great company for sure, but I'm extremely uneasy reading things that make any individual such an icon, let alone with Apple where it's happened before. Tim does appear to be a strong leader and sound COO, but please can we let this personality cult dissipate and not just replace the head that is worshipped. It's weird.
- nochiel 16y ago
  "I'm extremely uneasy reading things that make any individual such an icon...Please can we let this personality cult dissipate..." Personality cults are much more important than you realise. The post-modernist approach seems to be to downplay the significance of individual visionaries in favour of diffuse accolades attributed to the group or larger corpus. It's nonsense. Shakespeare was an individual (not a nebulous, anonymous, amorphous collective) of unique literary gifts. Jobs is a design and technological wizard who single-handedly righted the ship. Tim Cook is a process engineering and business operations mastermind of the like that has never been seen since Carnegie. Ives' industrial design methodologies will blaze the path for decades to come.
  - iuguy 16y ago
    > Jobs is a design and technological wizard You've fallen for it. Ives is the designer, not Jobs. Woz was the technological wizard, not Jobs. Jobs is a leader, a salesman and a marketer. Granted, he's a wizard (in the Oz sense of the word) but pull back the curtain and you'll find other incredibly talented people doing their jobs, if you'll pardon the unintentional pun.
    - 6ren 16y ago
      In term of design and technology, my impression is that Jobs is a filter and a coach. This should be thinner! It needs rounded corners! etc. He is able to coax the best out of design and technology folk and direct it towards a valuable end.
ZeroGravitas 16y ago
So is it buying in bulk or planning ahead that make Tim Cook the greatest COO in history? Because neither seem particularly amazing to me. Is it just the fact that the sums of money involved are quite large? Or is it the subtle undertones of sticking it to the competition so they can't compete fairly that makes this story (and the ones about patents) resonate so strongly with Apple fans?
- apl 16y ago
  It's both, as a matter of fact, and judging from the struggling competition neither is particularly easy. When discussing Cook's qualities and Apple's refined processes, there isn't much fanboy-ism involved. They're simply really, really good at it.
  - ZeroGravitas 16y ago
    And yet if you ask a hundred Apple fans why their competition is struggling you'll get a hundred different reasons. You seem to be claiming that planning ahead and buying in bulk to produce a cheap, boring looking, plastic tablet with a half-finished, linux-based phone OS and stylus interface would be enough to destroy the competition. Others would disagree. And not only do you credit this one factor with decisive victory, you're attributing it not to Apple as a corporation, but to one individual. In other words, this is all about fanboy-ism. Indeed, like the face of Jesus appearing in a grilled cheese sandwich, the only interesting aspect of this story is the way the believers react to it. The underlying reality is suspect, but no-one seems to care as long as it fits their narrative.
    - apl 16y ago
      What? > And yet if you ask a hundred Apple fans why their > competition is struggling you'll get a hundred different > reasons. I'm not an Apple "fan." Also, given that success is usually a fairly complex phenomenon, varied opinions are hardly surprising. Ask a hundred so-called "Apple haters" why the company "sucks" and you'll get even more incongruent answers. > You seem to be claiming that planning ahead and buying > in bulk to produce a cheap, boring looking, plastic > tablet with a half-finished, linux-based phone OS and > stylus interface would be enough to destroy the > competition. Others would disagree. I'm not claiming that, and I strongly doubt that I seem to. In fact, I'm simply defending the proposition that Apple's impeccable management of supply chains and inventory allows them to produce quality products at scale and reasonable price points. Yes, producing quality products (not cheap, boring plastic tablets) for 500$ is something that the competition can't do at this point. The stuff that is on par is more expensive (Xoom, Galaxy Tablet and so on); the stuff that is similarly priced or way cheaper (Notion Ink Adam, Archos) is very flimsy and immature. The combination might destroy competition, including Apple, yes, but would definitely require sophisticated supply chain management. Right now, all relevant components are limited resources. What's so controversial about that? > And not only do you credit this one factor with decisive victory I don't (cf. difference between necessary and sufficient conditions). > you're attributing it not to Apple as a corporation, but to one individual. I don't. It's a fairly wide-spread habit to identify the work of a full department (operations) with its VP/head (COO Cook). Nothing wrong with that; reading it as "ZOMG TIM COOK IS DOING EVERYTHING WITHOUT HELP!!!!11" is naive at best. Of course, he relies on hundreds of engineers and administrators, but he's been successful in several companies so far and from what I've heard he is indeed a "hands-on" manager and workaholic. Nothing fanboy-ish about that. > Indeed, like the face of Jesus appearing in a grilled > cheese sandwich, the only interesting aspect of this > story is the way the believers react to it. The > underlying reality is suspect, but no-one seems to care > as long as it fits their narrative. Oh, now you're just venting anger. Fair enough. Continue.
cma 16y ago
Isn't 10" the standard netbook display size? Maybe not in the same aspect ratio as the ipad, but no one appears to be trying to stick with the ipad's aspect ratio anyway.

mindblink 16y ago

Exactly, it's a combination of betting big on market vision and component supplier management, and not as much about vertical integration. Case in point, "Apple secures 60% of global touch panel capacity, causing tight supply". Tight supply constrains iPad competitors price position with component suppliers. http://www.digitimes.com/news/a20110216PD219.html http://www.digitimes.com/news/a20110216PD219.html

danilocampos 16y ago

A hundred upvotes, really. Tim Cook turned Apple from a sloppy, cluttered mess to a perfectly tuned and calibrated machine. He designs business processes like Ive designs hardware enclosures. He's still at it, too, telling investors during the last earnings call that Apple once again snapped up a boatload of supply on an unnamed type of component. I bet he'd be amazing at Starcraft, once he learned the ropes.

kevin_morrill 16y ago
Getting some pictures of him wiping out some Korean Starcraft nerds :)
jrbj 16y ago
I believe it. In Starcraft, Macro beats Micro.
- iwwr 16y ago
  Tell that to those tanks! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F3IbwjeCx6U http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F3IbwjeCx6U
easp 16y ago
I knew Apple was on to something again when, not long after Jobs retook Apple, their inventory on hand started to approach that of Dell. That was Cook's doing.

nika 16y ago

This makes Time Cook my dream date. Seriously, and I hear he swings my way too. There are many ways to innovate in business and technology and design get a lot of time in the spotlight. Operations, especially of a very large enterprise, with thousands of suppliers which also demands highly precise manufacturing and quality control, while having operations spread around the globe, and a public awareness factor that makes it vulnerable to any "Watchdog" who wants to make news... running a less-than-30-days-inventory system is playing on the Nth level. Can anyone name anybody who has done something like that? Amazon's distribution network is a lot easier, as they control all the infrastructure. Dell doesn't have the volume or quality requirements or focused product lineup (which reduces substitution- eg: if dell is out of a particular laptop model, they have others to substitute, apple doesn't have that luxury.) It is no wonder Apple is doing long term contracts for supplies like this. Some have accused them of cornering the market, but this is not like cornering the market on Silver (look up Hunt Brothers) -- as anyone with reasonable technology can make a substitute for electronics components which are fungible commodities for the most part. This is just good management of a very sophisticated manufacturing network. Dude deserves and Oscar in Operations!

regularfry 16y ago
I'd be tempted to say that automotive just-in-time processes are, if anything, more impressive in terms of the industry integration. There you'll have hundreds of suppliers coordinating so that custom builds roll off the production line in an arbitrary order, with no more stock in hand than there are builds in the system for the next shift or so. I've seen it at work at BMW, and it is frankly terrifying to consider what the supplier contract terms must be like; if any one of them has a screwup as simple as packing their parts onto a transport in the wrong order, it has major cost implications.
- dtegart 16y ago
  I worked for a supplier. We had some teething problems once on a new vehicle. We ended up helicoptering parts to the final assembly plant, so we wouldn't shut it down.
- 16y ago

buro9 16y ago

I know this is going to burn my karma, but having watched the personality cult of Jobs grow to dominance, and now observing the mantle being handed over to Cook in a way that the cult appears just to have adapted to follow the new leader... it's a very disturbing sight. Apple are a great company for sure, but I'm extremely uneasy reading things that make any individual such an icon, let alone with Apple where it's happened before. Tim does appear to be a strong leader and sound COO, but please can we let this personality cult dissipate and not just replace the head that is worshipped. It's weird.

nochiel 16y ago
"I'm extremely uneasy reading things that make any individual such an icon...Please can we let this personality cult dissipate..." Personality cults are much more important than you realise. The post-modernist approach seems to be to downplay the significance of individual visionaries in favour of diffuse accolades attributed to the group or larger corpus. It's nonsense. Shakespeare was an individual (not a nebulous, anonymous, amorphous collective) of unique literary gifts. Jobs is a design and technological wizard who single-handedly righted the ship. Tim Cook is a process engineering and business operations mastermind of the like that has never been seen since Carnegie. Ives' industrial design methodologies will blaze the path for decades to come.
- iuguy 16y ago
  > Jobs is a design and technological wizard You've fallen for it. Ives is the designer, not Jobs. Woz was the technological wizard, not Jobs. Jobs is a leader, a salesman and a marketer. Granted, he's a wizard (in the Oz sense of the word) but pull back the curtain and you'll find other incredibly talented people doing their jobs, if you'll pardon the unintentional pun.
  - 6ren 16y ago
    In term of design and technology, my impression is that Jobs is a filter and a coach. This should be thinner! It needs rounded corners! etc. He is able to coax the best out of design and technology folk and direct it towards a valuable end.

ZeroGravitas 16y ago

So is it buying in bulk or planning ahead that make Tim Cook the greatest COO in history? Because neither seem particularly amazing to me. Is it just the fact that the sums of money involved are quite large? Or is it the subtle undertones of sticking it to the competition so they can't compete fairly that makes this story (and the ones about patents) resonate so strongly with Apple fans?

apl 16y ago
It's both, as a matter of fact, and judging from the struggling competition neither is particularly easy. When discussing Cook's qualities and Apple's refined processes, there isn't much fanboy-ism involved. They're simply really, really good at it.
- ZeroGravitas 16y ago
  And yet if you ask a hundred Apple fans why their competition is struggling you'll get a hundred different reasons. You seem to be claiming that planning ahead and buying in bulk to produce a cheap, boring looking, plastic tablet with a half-finished, linux-based phone OS and stylus interface would be enough to destroy the competition. Others would disagree. And not only do you credit this one factor with decisive victory, you're attributing it not to Apple as a corporation, but to one individual. In other words, this is all about fanboy-ism. Indeed, like the face of Jesus appearing in a grilled cheese sandwich, the only interesting aspect of this story is the way the believers react to it. The underlying reality is suspect, but no-one seems to care as long as it fits their narrative.
  - apl 16y ago
    What? > And yet if you ask a hundred Apple fans why their > competition is struggling you'll get a hundred different > reasons. I'm not an Apple "fan." Also, given that success is usually a fairly complex phenomenon, varied opinions are hardly surprising. Ask a hundred so-called "Apple haters" why the company "sucks" and you'll get even more incongruent answers. > You seem to be claiming that planning ahead and buying > in bulk to produce a cheap, boring looking, plastic > tablet with a half-finished, linux-based phone OS and > stylus interface would be enough to destroy the > competition. Others would disagree. I'm not claiming that, and I strongly doubt that I seem to. In fact, I'm simply defending the proposition that Apple's impeccable management of supply chains and inventory allows them to produce quality products at scale and reasonable price points. Yes, producing quality products (not cheap, boring plastic tablets) for 500$ is something that the competition can't do at this point. The stuff that is on par is more expensive (Xoom, Galaxy Tablet and so on); the stuff that is similarly priced or way cheaper (Notion Ink Adam, Archos) is very flimsy and immature. The combination might destroy competition, including Apple, yes, but would definitely require sophisticated supply chain management. Right now, all relevant components are limited resources. What's so controversial about that? > And not only do you credit this one factor with decisive victory I don't (cf. difference between necessary and sufficient conditions). > you're attributing it not to Apple as a corporation, but to one individual. I don't. It's a fairly wide-spread habit to identify the work of a full department (operations) with its VP/head (COO Cook). Nothing wrong with that; reading it as "ZOMG TIM COOK IS DOING EVERYTHING WITHOUT HELP!!!!11" is naive at best. Of course, he relies on hundreds of engineers and administrators, but he's been successful in several companies so far and from what I've heard he is indeed a "hands-on" manager and workaholic. Nothing fanboy-ish about that. > Indeed, like the face of Jesus appearing in a grilled > cheese sandwich, the only interesting aspect of this > story is the way the believers react to it. The > underlying reality is suspect, but no-one seems to care > as long as it fits their narrative. Oh, now you're just venting anger. Fair enough. Continue.

cma 16y ago

Isn't 10" the standard netbook display size? Maybe not in the same aspect ratio as the ipad, but no one appears to be trying to stick with the ipad's aspect ratio anyway.