Month: November 2010

Horizontal integration means when a few advanced-technology companies come together to produce a product that lower their costs. For example, 15 years ago, Steven Jobs created the best computer; however, the value of the Apple computer is more than $5000 which is too expensive for people to afford. Later then, with the practice of horizontal integration, Microsoft who specialized in creating software, IBM and Compaq who specialized in creating hardware and Intel and AMD who specialized in creating computer chips came together to create a cheaper computer. With this action, each company quickly reduced their products’ costs. So this caused the computers’ prices became cheaper and cheaper . Now everyone can afford them. This brought a PC revolution. Coincidentally, Steven Jobs has created the best mobile internet cellphone-iPhone, but the price of the cellphone is expensive. However, in the future, with the practice of horizontal integration, mobile internet cellphone will become cheaper and cheaper. If companies like Android and Window Mobile who specialize in making cellphone applications, MEDIATEK and QUALCOMM who specialize in making cellphone chips, HTC and Foxconn who specialize in making cellphones all come together to create cellphones.  Therefore, we can predict that the future mobile internet cellphones will become cheaper and cheaper. Everyone can afford one. This is what horizontal integration brings to a big change in products and markets.

As Bill Gate says: “mouse is out, touch screen and natural language interface are in”, our future PC has 3 big components: 1) touch screen 2) voice control 3) vision technology

Nowadays, people need to bring three things when they go out: cellphone, key and wallet. However in the future, people do not have to bring all of them but just one mobile internet cellphone. With this mobile internet cellphone, it can help people to close the door and open the door. The door has vision technology that it only recognizes the owner of the house. When a person goes into a car with vision technology and voice control, he can talk to the car where he wants to go. Now the car can determine which way is the shortest and without any traffic jam. When he arrives at a park. He can use this cellphone to take pictures and upload them onto the internet to share with friends. If he looks ugly in the picture, he can amend his skin colour…. He uses the cellphone to buy tickets to enter the park. This mobile internet cellphone replaces credit cards. When he sees something he really like, he can use this cellphone to take picture of what he wants to buy and upload the picture onto internet. So many e-commerce websites like eBay will show many links for him to choose from. These technologies have been started. I believe within the next 5 years, these technologies will be used widely.

On may 26^th of 2010, in US Nasdaq Stock Exchange , the Apple company’s market value of shares is $225.10 billion. It is the first time exceeding Microsoft’s $222.7 billion. In 1985 , Steven Jobs was expelled from Apple store. Since then, Apple’s business performance is really bad. In 1997 he went back to the company and he introduced the new iPod. With the new iPod, Apple won a tremendous success. After that iPhone and iPad were also introduced. Inamori Kazuo, the god of management in Japan, said Apple ‘s products are the greatest invention in this century. In the computer industry, Dell is better than Apple. In the software development, Microsoft is better than Apple. In the music industry, EMI is better than Apple. Almost all MBA textbooks state that few second-rate technologies combined cannot exceed first-rate technology. However, Steven Jobs combined hardware, software and music resources; he uses them to create iPod. With the invention of iPod+iTune, Apple exceeds any other MP3 players markers. Over 10 billion music are downloaded by people from iTune. And with iPhone+AppStore, Apple goes beyond any other cellphones markers. iPad+AppStore is a revolutionary stage of PC. According to Strategy Analytics Inc. Marketing report, this year’s 3^rd quarter, iPad ‘s market share of tablet computers is 95%. Because, Steven Jobs is the greatest entrepreneur, Apple can exceed Microsoft in a really short time.