Apple’s Missing Ingredient Dulls Its Outlook
Apple Logo (Photo credit: Firelight Industries)
All analysts and investors agree on one thing: Innovation created Apple (AAPL). But innovation has two forms: revolutionary and evolutionary. Revolutionary innovation is what Steve Jobs did so well. His creations shook up the status quo and produced new markets with his dramatically new, must-have products.
But he also was expert at the follow-on – i.e., evolutionary innovation. By advancing his creations faster than the competition, particularly with newly created features, he not only generated Apple’s star leadership status, but also kept its high profit margins intact. Additionally, he ensured highest quality and attractive design, resulting in an ardent customer base and making Apple the standard against which all competitive products were judged.
Then the revolutionary innovation ended…
This article is published on Forbes.com
