Connect with us

The Spectre of competition comes after Apple…. again

Apple News

The Spectre of competition comes after Apple…. again

Ever wonder why iPod did so well? And why Apple’s competition simply couldn’t compete?

Michael Gartenberg has covered the personal technology beat for more than two decades at places like Gartner, Jupiter Research and Altimeter Group. Most recently, he spent a few years at Apple as Sr. Director of Worldwide Product Marketing. — Ed.

At the end of 2002, I started looking at personal technology as an industry analyst — a rarity at that time — and one of the first products I looked at was Apple’s iPod. iPod fascinated me, in part because the lukewarm reception it received at its launch was befuddling. Yes, Apple wasn’t the first to the MP3 player space, and the company had never been known for its portable accessories or music chops.

But after I used iPod for a day, it was clear to me that it was going to be a breakout hit.

Quantification of solace

I wanted to quantify what I intuitively knew: That Apple understood there were three equal drivers consumers would be loo…

Ever marvel why iPod did so smartly? And why Apple's competition merely could not compete?

Michael Gartenberg has coated the private generation beat for greater than 20 years at puts like Gartner, Jupiter Research and Altimeter Group. Most just lately, he spent a couple of years at Apple as Sr. Director of Worldwide Product Marketing. — Ed.

At the top of 2002, S began taking a look at private generation as an business analyst — a rarity at the moment — and one of the primary merchandise O checked out used to be Apple's iPod. iPod interested me, partially since the lukewarm reception it won at its release used to be befuddling. Yes, Apple wasn't the primary to the MP3 participant area, and the corporate had by no means been recognized for its moveable equipment or track chops.

But after O used iPod for an afternoon, it used to be transparent to me that it used to be going to be a breakout hit.

Quantification of solace

S sought after to quantify what O intuitively knew: That Apple understood there have been 3 equivalent drivers shoppers can be in search of in a tool like iPod.

  • The first: Users sought after shifting content material to their units to be simple. Apple solved this through developing FireWire for the primary iPod, making switch of content material fast and easy.

  • The 2d: Understanding the candy spot for capability. Very few customers at the moment had greater than 1000 songs of their song collections, and iPod's preliminary 5GB capability matched that completely. 1000 songs "for your pocket" used to be the very best fact for an international the place shoppers prized shape and serve as.

  • The 3rd: Battery lifestyles, which used to be and is still quite necessary to customers. Apple's iPod balanced a pocketable measurement with sufficient battery lifestyles to get other folks thru a very important period of time — a pass-united states flight. 1000 songs at your fingertips used to be a lifesaver while you had to make it thru a teach flight in a center seat.

Competition royale

Competition within the MP3 participant area on the time used to be one-dimensional. Some firms presented units with as much as 20GB of garage, ignoring the sensible measurement of so much consumers' song collections, and hampered their units with sluggish USB 1.0 transfers. (A assume A nonetheless have one of the ones units hooked up someplace, nonetheless looking to end its first 5GB switch...) Others all for shape issue over capability. They have been cool, small units, however they have been hampered via tiny Flash reminiscence capacities that could not grasp sufficient track to be if truth be told helpful. And then there have been the units that presented long battery lifestyles, however overlooked the mark on each and every different metric.

S convey this up these days as a result of HP has announced a diffusion of their Spectre line of PCs, in large part aiming to scouse borrow the mantle of nice product layout from Apple.

How will they do that? Because the most recent model of the Spectre line set to say the mantle of the "thinnest" pc on the planet, of path — as though thinness on my own is the degree of greatness. It's precisely the sort of one-dimensional considering that such a lot of competition have used while positioning merchandise towards Apple during the last decade. They all percentage just one more thing in not unusual — it is by no means labored.

Product-fall

Does Apple have designers and engineers that intuitively be mindful the criteria that force product good fortune, or does the corporate's meticulous analysis and construction stay it in advance of the sport? S would possibly not be offering an opinion except for to mention that it isn't important so long as the corporate is in a position to stay doing it.

Competing with Apple through that specialize in one side of a product or technique, like thinness, is a assured recipe for crisis. It's as though competing with the Apple retail revel in calls for handiest the install of a greater glass staircase in a shop, or slick picket tables in your products.

There's multiple size to any a success Apple product. If you are looking to compete, you would higher be considering in no less than 3 dimensions, if now not 4.

Comments

More in Apple News

Popular

Featured

Advertisement
To Top