3 ms·

When Jobs returned to Apple, he mocked the insane number of Mac models that the company had at the time and showed a grid of 4 products with two axes: consumer

When Jobs returned to Apple, he mocked the insane number of Mac models that the company had at the time and showed a grid of 4 products with two axes: consumer vs professional, and portable vs desktop. https://images.macrumors.com/t/RMh3opIDBtVaaNXx0L_ntSxfO34=/1600x0/filters:quality(90)/article-new/2019/07/steve-jobs-2x2.jpg https://images.macrumors.com/t/RMh3opIDBtVaaNXx0L_ntSxfO34=/... The current product catalog is a far cry from that simplicity. For instance, the iPad Pro comes in two sizes. Inexplicably, customers need to choose between a 32 GB and 64 GB model of Apple TV 4K. There are 5 models of iPhone currently offered.

snowwrestler 6y ago
This gets dragged out every time someone comments on Apple's product strategy today, and it's just not relevant. Apple 20 years ago was a company in crisis and Jobs helped impose much-needed focus. As they climbed out of crisis, they expanded their product portfolio. The iPod alone violated this famous grid, and if you look back, over time there were a ton of overlapping products, versions, options, and accessories in the iPod category. Why? To fill out all the price point tiers and deny competitors ground from which they could establish differentiated products and grow from there. Jobs himself installed this strategy, and Apple continues to execute it to great success across all their product lines.