And I would love to have one of those old, first-generation
Apple Macs somewhere on my shelf. It was history, and its
drop-down menu idea single-handedly killed off the future
sales of 10 million Computing for Dummies books. Steve
Jobs had vision and genius. He lived in the right place at
the right time. When he died, I reread his 1985 interview
with Playboy Magazine. It was evident that his technology
vision had come to fruition. It was even more striking that
his social vision for the role of technology in society did not
come to fruition. He would likely have freaked out in 1985
if people told him then that his toys would become elitist.
In a post-Jobs era, the future will be determined by regular
economics. Half the magic was the man. The rest was
just people and process. It is hard for the leapfrogger to
leapfrog itself, and having jumped IBM with a surprise once
before, Apple will likely remain on high alert until infinity so
as not to be surprised in similar fashion. Thus, it is regular
economics that will tell us which tribe will eventually trump.
In my mind, that is Samsung by a mile. And then some.
Here are four reasons to dump Apple now:
1
MASSCLUSIVITY has its limits. You sell Louis Vuitton
bags at a premium. When every woman owns one, it is
no longer special and no one will pay the premium. This
idea will forever keep the too-trendy, too-expensive and
too-regularly-in-need-of-upgrade Apple short on scale. It
will never have the numbers.
2
Numbers x Margin = RESEARCH & DEVELOPMENT.
Let’s not consult the dictionary to find the Korean word
for “creativity” just yet. But as several industries can
attest, when a category has been established and can
be re-engineered to perfection, we all know where to go
and where to source quality and value. And it’s decidedly
not looking West.
3
PRICE, PRICE AND PRICE. The global economy
is in a deep slump. And it will remain in that slump for a
considerable while. Value counts. And since Samsung’s
smart marketers have managed to undermine the one
key competitive advantage of Apple, namely its cool
factor, nobody needs to look like a cheapskate when
buying on price. Where is the Apple wristwatch/phone?
4
TIPPING POINT AND SCALE. At some point
in most product lifecycles and industries, fortune
and trend favour the one or the other and create a
certain momentum vis a vis competitors. Samsung is
experiencing that momentum and is doing enough smart
things, and often enough, to keep the momentum going.
And if derivative industries, such as app developers,
throw their money behind where momentum is showing,
a virtuous cycle appears. More apps, more users. More
users, more apps.
So, spare a thought for the two apples. The Big Apple
has shown it resilience in reinventing itself. But, often,
that has been because people had nowhere else to go.
Moving to Des Moines or Buffalo is a complex affair.
By comparison, walking across the street and buying
a Samsung and downloading gazillions of free apps?
That’s a walk in the park…
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