A bite out of Apple

When it comes to electronic gadgets, I have always fallen in the late majority group in adoptation. This was no different for the ever so popular Apple product line. Even today, I am still hesitant to put my hands on Apple products because of its limited compatibility.

In 1995, Jobs was reinstated as the CEO of Apple and returned to his office after being voted off 12 years ago. Ignoring the criticism around him, Jobs successfully repositioned Apple by concentrating his effort on the development of the iMac and re- launching Macintosh. Apple focused its marketing campaign on the simplicity of their product which initiated its amazing journey as Nicole mentioned in her blog. From the day Jobs returned to Apple until his recent passing, the company’s share price soared 10,953%. The company continues to rapidly expand all around the world, targeting new international markets such as China.

While Apple has all the things going right, I am not without my concern for the future of Apple. The reason why Apple failed back in the early 80’s when it first launched its Macintosh computer is due to compatibility issues, which still stands today. In trying to create a unique product, Apple developed its own software, the Macintosh, for its product line. This was a great idea since consumers will need to buy their product regardless of whether they want the software or the hardware. This created a monopoly in the market which differentiated Apple from other computer giants.

However, this differentiation caused many negative user experiences as software developed by other companies were

not compatible on the Macintosh. As a Mac user myself, I had many unpleasant experience in transferring files from a Mac to a PC. Files have to be extracted and converted before it can be accessed on a PC, which is a painstaking process. The impracticality of Apple’s products will inevitably hurt the customer relationship and soon the consumers will lose patience and trust.

To encourage the expansion of their customer base and to meet the demands of existing customers, Apple needs to adjust its value proposition to increase the flexibility of their products to accommodate and yet challenge the technological advancement of their competitors to keep its leading edge.