Apple Needs a Challenge

Apple is a great recurring case study for The Challenge Dividend.  On one hand, the company is an example of a challenger that drove improvement in the computer/electronics industry.  It's a scrappy underdog that has succeeded through elegant design and user-loved features.  But on the dark side, it's success and lack of a close challenger has led it to make some bad choices.  A new blog post adds to the latter point and suggests that consumers and Apple itself need a rival to drive improvement.

Last summer I outlined a few examples of Apple's hubristic errors in the first of a series of posts titled "The Spoils of Success" (also see Google, Starbucks, Republicans, Gates Foundation, and the Chinese economy).  In November I found another blogger with a similar take on Apple.  The Daring Fireball blog, by John Gruber, outlines how Apple has won the gadget war because it is the only company that has decent design. 

But Gruber goes farther by calling out how other markets are advancing farther because more than one competitor has cracked the code through design.  In cameras it is Nikon and Canon; in cars, we have Acura, Audi, BMW, Lexus and Mercedes.  These markets are evolving and improving at a high rate on aesthetic lines, and they are differentiating with unique points of emphasis.

But in electronics all we have is Apple.  Laptops, cell phones, music players, etc. are still mainly black and grey with clunky software, feature bloat, and low gee-whiz factor.  Gruber points to Microsoft's Zune as the closest attempt to learn from the iPod, but the company has not gone fully into a passion for design. 

Later in his post, Gruber hits on one of my key themes:

"It's not just us - technology-obsessed consumers - who would benefit from at least one company stepping up and competing against Apple on Apple's own ground.  Apple would too, in that competition would push them to do even better, and act as a preventative against hubris."

The only companies I can think of that are close to Apple are Tivo, whose software runs rings around cable box DVRs, and Sonos, which has a nifty home audio network device.  But the market is still wide open.  I believe design will rise to prominence in the years to come, but it might take a little bit longer than we'd expect.  Design is highly creative, like artwork, which makes it difficult to survive layers of company bureaucracy and is non-existent in outsourced suppliers in China.  And while small companies may have the creativity, they lack the production and distribution scale of large companies. 

But a generation that grew up admiring Steve Jobs and his products is rising through society.  Stay tuned.

Comments

[Frumious]

Interesting point. In terms of challenge, I believe that Apple was challenged fairly early on. For a very long time this was a Microsoft world. Many consumers, like myself, have been trained to believe that Apple is unable to compete with Microsoft in terms of software and "geeky" features. For those that like to get into the guts of a computer system, PC presents a better opportunity. I would never dream of owning an Apple personal computer or laptop and I quite frankly don't know much at all about them. It's just conditioning. I believe the iPod and now the iPhone have done wonders in adding some credibility to the product for the masses of the brainwashed, but it will be a while before I am fully convinced. However, given their position 15 years ago vs. today I believe they have overcome an amazing challenge.

One thought occured to me that absolutely backs your theory on Apple being an industry leader. When I look at competitive products like audio players and cell phones, I notice that rather than invent a new design and look, the manufacturers try to make it look as identical to the Apple product as possible. Verizon's new iPhone ripoff is a prime example. The body and touch screen look identical. Even though this product has a full QWERTY, they prefer to piggy back the iPhone's success rather than blaze a new trail, offering an alternative to iPhone.

[Bob G]

Great point, Frumious.

Apple's challenger mentality in the 80s and 90s helped it find success today. And it is still the hungry player in computers and laptops (have you seen the new "Air" - wow!).

The question for me is: WHY are there no other great, original designs out there aside from Apple?