Apple Computer is on track to become the next great consumer electronics company. I believe this because they do things with electronics that few others can claim to do, which is make technology the way it should be.
Apple has always made great products, products that just work and are easy to use. Over the past few years I have observed Apple make some brilliant strategic moves that help the world understand how great their products really are. The first was positioning an Apple computer as the hub of the “Digital Lifestyle”. A few years ago at Macworld I heard Steve Jobs say “We (Apple) want to do for entertainment what Microsoft Office did for productivity”. He was making this statement while explaining the value of iTunes, iPhoto, iMovie, and iDvd. This was a telling statement about where Apple was heading.
The next great move Apple made was the iPod. They created this product around something everyone loves, music. They made this product affordable enough so more people can get their hands on an Apple product and see how great they are for themselves. Again the iPod was and is an MP3 player and more, the way it should be. Shortly after the iPod release they announced the iTunes music store, taking a model that was chaos before and creating a legitimate music service the way it should be. Even more recently they announced the iPod Photo, capitalizing on something else near to everyone’s heart, photos. With iPod photo they now expanded the iPod into more than just music and tightly integrated it with iPhoto, photo management the way it should be.
Lastly the Apple retail stores provide a fantastic way to let everyone see and use all the great products Apple creates. These stores capitalize on the notion that once you get to try an Apple product, it’s hard to want anything else. Apple’s retail presence has never been that of Windows machines. With these retail stores they control their retail presence and are in a much better position to make sales by having qualified sales reps talking to customers. Who also happen to love the products they sell, something I’m not sure many other computer retail sales reps can say.
There is a great deal of skepticism by other analysts as to whether or not these strategies will lead to more computer sales for Apple. I believe it definately can and will. However the bigger question is does Apple see it's PC sales as being the biggest money maker in 5 years, or do they view selling more high margin products and consumer electronics products. Even though I believe Apple's strategies will help them sell more PC's. A more important point is that these strategies will help them sell more products that aren't PC's as well.
As I look closer at what Apple has done to get them to where they are today, I truly believe many of the building blocks are in place to expand their market share. They have succeeded to become a brand people are excited about. One thing I always loved about Mac users, myself included is the passion for the brand. Those that use a Mac love it and would never consider anything else. I believe as Apple continues to innovate and create technology products they way they should be, more of the world will buy Apple products.
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