I do believe Apple will decelerate and become a normal company in few years if not in few months. COnsidering the great enrgy and creativity of steve jobs is no more available to apple we would see that APple might find it difficult to grow or bring out innovative products at the same rate.
I agree that Apple will decelerate. I think the 2-4 year range is about right. The company will continue to stay profitable, but this fast paced growth cannot continue. Apple needs a new leader to take them into the future. A leader that can help Apple innovate, instead of building off of existing products.
The contrary argument, though, is that Apple is just beginning to expand its offerings internationally and there are many consumers globally who want the iPhone, iPad and the iPod series. Plus, Apple keeps hinting at other products it will roll out over the next years. It's possible we are the ones that don't see the "magic" of Apple!
i am of the same opinion that such a growth pace is hard to maintain but 2-4 years is a short time. A lot will depend on the next innovative product that Apple will launch (iTV?). Apple's product have huge demand, no doubt about it and the premium prices will make sure that the company differential its product. And Bolaji, you are right that developing countries is still an uncharted territory for Apple. Apple's magic is bound to work here.
Any company which grows by virtue of the enigma of its charismatic leader has to trasnform itself into a professionally managed company someday to survive on long term basis.
With Steve Jobs departing , the time has come sooner for Apple to do that transformation and I am sure the second rung leadership which worked for so many years in the shadow of that big personality will find that it is capable of converting Apple from an autocratically ruled one to a mature and professional company while keeping that spirit of innovation inculcated by Steve Jobs , intact..
After reading your blog I went on reading Colony's post, as you suggested. He certainly presents a good argument from a valid point of view. I tend to agree with the concept of charismatic leader and charismatic company to define both Steve Jobs and Apple. There is no doubt that Apple became the company it is today thanks to the creative and innovative mind of Steve Jobs and the products resulting from that creativity and innovation, and not for any great business formula.
I have my doubts if Apple will continue to be the Apple we know today, or if it will evolve into a just another company. However, it is still way too soon to come to any conclusions after less than a year of Jobs' death and only two new products presented to the market after that.
I agree, however, that Apple needs another charismatic leader, preferably with the same creative and innovative mind. If Apple can find that magical person, it will be remain the same company.
Once I told, commenting on one of your previous blogs about Apple and Jobs, that Apple would do magic if it teaches Apple's employees and executives all about Jobs' life, work and thinking. I believe if Apple would ask Steve Jobs for advice now he could say: "Study my life. My life is my message", just as Gandhi also did, if I can make this comparison of two great minds that I admire.
I shook my head in amazement when I saw Apple's earnings. I also read the Forrester commentray, and it is a well-reasoned argument. As much as Jobs had achieved guru status, though, the company is still about products. The momentum has to abate at some point, but you still have to give the compnay credit for execution in the post-Jobs era.
Susan, i like your last paragraph. We can learn a lot by studying the life and struggle of great personality and how they become who they were. It is easy to follow what others did but difficut to achieve the same charisma and charm. Probably, tha's why we have no other Jobs or Gandhi.
Susan, i like your last paragraph. We can learn a lot by studying the life and struggle of great personality and how they become who they were. It is easy to follow what others did but difficut to achieve the same charisma and charm. Probably, tha's why we have no other Jobs or Gandhi.
EBN Dialogue enables and encourages you to participate in live chats with notable leaders and luminaries. Not only editors and journalists, but the entire EBN community is able to comment and ask questions. Listed below are upcoming and archived chats.
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Thailand Stages a Comeback Join EBN contributor Jennifer Baljko on Thursday August 23, 2012, at 11:00 a.m. EST for a live chat on how electronic manufacturers in Thailand have shored up their supply chain to reduce the impact of future natural disasters.
Euro-Crisis: What It Means for High-Tech Firms Join EBN Editor in Chief Bolaji Ojo and Contributing Editor Jennifer Baljko on Thursday, July 12, at 10:00 a.m. EDT for a Live Chat on high-tech and Europe's economic difficulties.
Microsoft Surface: Potential Winners & Losers What are the implications for the electronics industry supply chain of Microsoft Corp.'s decision to launch its own tablet PC? Join industry veteran and EE Times' systems and OEM expert Rick Merritt on Tuesday, July 3, at 12:00 pm EDT for a Live Chat on this subject.
Join EBN contributor Jennifer Baljko on Thursday August 23, 2012, at 11:00 a.m. EST for a live chat on how electronic manufacturers in Thailand have shored up their supply chain to reduce the impact of future natural disasters.
Peter Drucker famously said "Trying to predict the future is like trying to drive down a country road at night with no lights while looking out the back window." Yet in the razor's-edge world of electronics—with a lean supply chain and just-in-time demands—the need to know the future is vital.
While no one really can accurately predict the future, we can take guidance from another Drucker saying which is the best way to predict the future is to create it.
You've heard the saying "the No. 1 supply chain risk is your people." That hasn't always been the case. But today's complex global supply chain requires a new type of multitalented employee. It's one who understands, finance, marketing, economics, is savvy with technology, graceful with relationships and can think analytically.
Where are these people? Are universities properly preparing the next generation supply chain professionals? How do train your existing workforce for these new, demanding positions?
Brian Fuller, editor-in-chief of EBN, will lead a 60-minute Avnet Velocity panel discussion that will ask and answer these and other questions swirling around today's supply-chain talent challenges.
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