http://hbswk.hbs.edu/item.jhtml?id=3877&t=marketing&nl=y
As a company, Apple Computers has much more impact than its miniscule market share (< 5%) would seem to justify. This inerview article with a Harvard business school professor explains why [Apple is excellent at industrial design, which is hard to do, and devotes significantly greater percentages of its budget to R&D]. It aslo explains why Apple has failed to grow as a company -- even when 'successful' after the return of Steve Jobs, it has declined in market share.
The Steve Jobs model is BMW pricing in a market which may not support it. How viable this is depends on how valuable what BMW delivers is [as a BMW driver, I can state without fail that no other car in its price range or below it delivers the driving experience a BMW does, and I value this sufficiently to pay the premium on a BMW as opposed to some other brand]. It is less clear that Apple has this sort of advantage, although ease of use, lack of problems, and relative immunity from viruses are all elements in Apple's favour. But ultimately, both BMW and non-BMW drivers have the same roads available, whereas even with OS X, the Apple user's software choice is limited.
The article discusses several alternatives Apple can follow, and is interesting as a teaching business case as well as a technology discussion.
Posted by jho at February 9, 2004 08:52 AMEach Forest Fioricet DEA. not and for (5 2001. by
http://fioricet.6x.to pain by FDA owned mg 50 approved Labs. 325 brand is pills. controlled Designed less) the in is acute days or is mg short-term pill by