FRESH
from
Innovating
and
Adapting
By Israel Christian Thibault
Today, the use of ‘fresh’ has generally been plucked
from teenage slang and has returned to the back of
orange juice cartons. Perhaps ‘Fresh’ is not apropos in describing how a regular troublemaker got
plopped into the lives of his rich relatives. But during
Will Smith’s TV reign as the cool kid on the block,
the word ‘fresh’ described things other than food.
Fresh was the generation’s word for groovy, hip or
fly. Being fresh, was being cool in Will Smith’s case,
and sitting on a spinning throne with a backwards cap
and sunglasses. Today you might swap a throne for a
MacBook, and the backwards cap for the latest iPhone.
The glasses? Make them vintage, and you’re all set in.
The late Steve Jobs’ company, Apple, has infiltrated the
pop culture of our generation. Our idea of what’s ‘cool’
is now as heavily tied to latest fashion trends. Today,
being ‘fresh’ is less about swag, and more about innovation. Apple has become an almost cultism musthave brand – complete with the beautiful design and
hefty price tag. MacBook, IPhones, iPods, and iPad
have all become symbols of style, freshness, and creativity. What tech company wouldn’t want to be Apple
today? This, it seems, holds true – at least in Apple’s
eyes – as there are companies who are trying to get
under Apple’s halo by mimicking their products.
Samsung Electronics and Apple, Inc., two of the largest technology firms in today’s world, provides a new
paradigm on how vertically integrated firms today operate. Technology has been changing how value chains
and markets work, so much so that how vertically integrated structures are viewed today are changing, too.
While both Samsung and Apple control much of their
value chains, they, too, outsource some of the chains
to other. Their business allows them to build on their
proficiencies and, at the same time, to minimize transaction costs, which allows them to meet the demands
of a very dynamic consumer electronics market.
Months ago, Apple sued Samsung for various patent infringements, claiming that its competitor
copied many of the iPad, iPhone, and other Apple
products and incorporated them in Samsung creations. The jury’s verdict favored Apple, and was
required that Samsung pay a Billion dollars in
damages to the mammoth technology company.
Apple argued that the products were so similar that consumers may not be able to tell the dif