When it comes to innovation and new products, many people look up and admire the products that Apple has constantly invented: new versions of iphone, ipod, itouch, ipad… and so on.
On a side note: Notice how their products all start with an “i”? Nice effective branding, don’t you think?
The amazing thing is all their new innovative products quickly become a trend and many other corporations then try to copy their products. Like their ipad, Research in Motion (maker of blackberry) is developing and launching the playbook – similar in many ways and provide similar functions. My question is: How does Apple do it? How is Apple able to keep developing and launching innovative products?
To touch upon this long, long answer, I thought about the BCG growth-share matrix. The first thought in my head was that their products go through this cycle. Apple’s Apple II Computer became a cash cow, which generated high profit margin at that time. The excess profit allowed them to develop the Lisa and the Mac – which were in the category of question marks. Some products become successful and some do not – Mac moved up to be a star and eventually to a cash cow. And now in present time, their profits from cash cows such as ipod and iphone drive their development of new ideas and innovations such as the ipad. The ipad quickly rose to the stars. It is this process that makes new innovations possible.
Image taken from daveferguson.org
