iPad Mini and Apple losing it’s way

iPad Mini “leaked” image

All of a sudden I’m writing more than one entry a year, well there are lots of interesting topics that needed a bit more detail than 140 characters. Today’s topic is related to Apple and how it has evolved so far from Steve Jobs’ vision, as evident with the new iPad Mini, and how messed up the world is that it is such a ridiculously successful company.

Before anyone starts bitching this is not a Apple bashing post, I have a iPad 2, I’ve had a couple of ipods, a macbook and other fine Cupertino created products. It’s about facts and how Apple has evolved. Also, if you have never read Blue Ocean Strategy by W. Chan Kim & Renne Maubornge do yourself a favor and give it a shot and you will understand how companies like Apple don’t go -I stand corrected didn’t use to- into a market that was already created and dominated by other competitors; I won’t spoil it, just read it.

Ok, on to the topic at had. Just yesterday Apple sent the invitation for a October 23th event where they will likely announce the release of the new iPad Mini. Why do I find this as a inflection point for Apple? Well it’s been almost a year since Steve Jobs passed on and this is the third, and most evident, time that i see his vision is near extinct.

Some of blind Apple fans will likely close this window right about now since I’m stating some things you will refute with no real proof but it is more than true that Jobs’ vision -and what made Apple what it is today- is long gone. They used to be a company that didn’t go into markets that were already created and dominated by others, they created such amazing products that the world had never seen that a whole new market and “need” was created for them. Take the product that saved Apple, the original iPod; when released for mass sale on October 23, 2001 most of us didn’t really consider music “portable” even though we had a Discman or one of the many portable CD player that existed. The idea was so different than anything that had existed, “1000 songs in your pocket” described it perfectly and thus a new market was created, pure genius. Soon after the Zune, lots of Japanese players and other brands came into the market but Apple was the 1st there and captivated the audience. Lots of iterations came, lots of new competitors arrived but almost 11 years later the iPod is still the best selling mp3 player there is. (Stock value rose from 9 dollars in October, 2001 to about 13 in April, 2002)

Heck, lets stay on the music topic a bit longer. When did you think that right now as you read this you could be buying almost every song there is in the world from the coziness of your parents basement. The “invention” of the iTunes store  and the idea you can purchase stuff directly on your computers and other devices. This Business Insider link takes you to a 1983 interview where he already has this ideas, no idea how they will come true but is on the right way, AMAZING!

Lets move on to January 9, 2007 when Jobs announced the iPhone. This was a time where Nokia, Motorola and Blackberry where leading the market with pretty cool yet simple phones; did Apple make something to compete with them? No they did not, they created a whole new market segment and released what was the 1st smartphone. The concept was beyond astonishing, and companies that didn’t understand how it could be successful are now pretty much all but dead because they never understood the threat the iPhone was and how it would change the way we communicate. Some companies have made huge strides and provided us with products that in many ways are better than the iPhone -I myself use a Samsung Galaxy S2-, but this was a market that Apple created. (Stock value rose from 92.57 dollars on 01/09/07 to 179.40 exactly a year later)

Again, move forward to January 27, 2010 when Apple unveiled the new iPad. Some, including me, will say that this is not the 1st tablet since Microsoft introduced the Tablet PC in 2001, but it clearly was the 1st commercially successful attempt. Again, creating a whole new market. (Stock value rose from 199.27 dollars on 01/27/10 to 343.21 exactly a year later)

The Cupertino based giant has continued to grow hiking it’s stock value to around $650 bucks, give or take a few, because it has been widely successful in what I believe are 4 areas:

• Create products that the world has never seen, introducing them in a way the people think they need them
• When a new version comes out it will be lighter, thinner, “sexier”
• Not have any competitor for a while and have a dominated market by the time anyone else comes out with something similar
• Being able to generate a profit from the hardware sale and not only the apps and content to be consumed on these products (looking at you Amazon, more on that later)

The idea is so simple yet is so complex and hard to execute that Apple is the giant it currently is. Here is where the iPad Mini changes this equation.

The small tablet market (7 inches and smaller) has been something that other companies have gone to as a means to be able to put something on the market and not compete with the iPad. Smart, why fight a fight you know you are going to lose. Amazon has a solid product in the Kindle Fire, Barnes and Noble has the Nook, Samsung has like a gazillion options, you’ve also got Asus, Acer, Google and a ton of other manufacturers.

Apple is going into a market that has lots of options and while it may be successful (I believe it will) this is a step away from my 1st point on how it has made its mark on the world. (The other 2 things i saw that was off from this strategy is that the new iPad was heavier that its predecessor, and the iPhone 5 brought absolutely nothing new to the market no matter how dumb Apple fans look by trying to defend it)

Again, I believe the iPad mini will be a financial success based solely on the Apple name and not because it brings anything new to the table(t) and also it is released at the perfect time of year -near Christmas shopping time-. I see some alarming signals and i don’t like them; I’m a firm believer that evolution is a critical part of personal and business success yet you have to be smart enough to understand you gotta stick with what brought you to the dance and Jobs’ baby is clearly running away from it.

I’ve always had the idea that Apple originally had the vision of creating “beautiful” products that in consequence generated a ton of money but nowadays it seems that has changed a bit, they main driver is creating money by any means necessary. Again, as a company my main goal will always get the best return to my investment but there also needs to be some essence and some appeal that  goes beyond the money and i truly feel that they are slowly losing that.

Regardless of what happens with the iPad Mini and future Apple releases I find it fascinating a single company generates such interest and controversy, motivates people to fight over its products, news telecasts to talk extensively about them, people with little to do to write 1200 word blogs on it. That is how successful businesses are created.

I leave you with a phenomenal Apple quote I ran into yesterday: “Apple creates products that no one needs, but not one of us can live without”

Khakbaz out!