In response to Stephanie Herdman’s blog I agree that Apple has done an amazing job at becoming an innovator in the electronics market. They have created not just a brand, but a culture that is built on innovation. If we compare Apple and PC products we find that Apples hardware is inferior to PC’s and compatible with much less software, so what has made it so popular? Apple is tapping into a market that doesn’t exist. Rather than doing market research and finding out what the consumers want based on what already exists, they are making new products.

In an article of Fortune Magazine, the late CEO of Apple, Steve Jobs, claims they don’t do market research or use consultants, but rather figure out what they would want and then they create it. In Steve Jobs biography released last October, Steve describes the company goals as making good, innovative products and if they do this correctly the customers will like them and the money will follow, but it can’t be about making money first.

Everywhere we look we can see examples of this business strategy paying off. Look around any classroom and you will see a sea of Apple computers, with only a handful of PC’s in between. Apple users often encounter problems with the programs needed for classes because they aren’t compatible and the school is set up for PC’s, but this doesn’t stop the students from buying the Apple computer. This is because Apple has done a superior job of marketing the innovative features of their products and tapping into the products that it’s consumers really want, products that make up for the hardware inferiority and compatibility issues.