To Apple, a global phenomenon in consumer technology, the website says that “the most innovative company must also be the most diverse.” Apple’s innovation of products throughout the years has earned it the reputation of a global powerhouse and one of the most creative and ground-breaking brands in the world. The Boston Consulting Group listed it as the top innovative company in the world in its 2015 report on the most innovative companies over the decade prior. However, other rankings of innovating companies, Apple is sometimes nowhere to be found. Susan Adams for Forbes writes and contemplates on whether or not Apple is, in fact, the most innovative company in the world. She describes the methodology of Forbes’ and BGC’s surveying, the latter of which fails to account for future innovation and technological trends. Apple has certainly revolutionised the consumer technology and the digital world itself, but as far as product innovation, its products have not modified or improved over time. There has rarely been a deviation from offerings aside from the nearly two-year-old Apple Watch, its last introduced ‘new’ product. Recently, Apple has come under criticism for its lack of innovation, specifically after the death of CEO Steve Jobs. Under his tutelage, Apple released music players, computers, tablets and personal accessories that have dominated the technology sector. Its flagship products have simply been updated and revolutionised to align with consumer wants and needs and cultural standing. Apple’s innovation appears to be in “small, steady improvements over time,” but is lacking in complete and total product introduction. Although it consistently tops lists of innovative companies year after year, consumers, technology buffs and analysts have been unhappy with the direction that Apple has headed with Tim Cook at the helm. Although the newest iteration of the iPhone, the iPhone X, has been lauded for its size and face recognition capabilities, the price of the phone keeps people from purchasing it and not receiving any other additional features or changes that are worth the price. News has surfaced that Apple may be planning to stop the phone’s production due to low sales figures.
Apple’s reputation of being one of the most known and revered brands in the world is due in part to its innovation, yet also to the consumer loyalty that has resulted from that innovation. Its marketing approach and approach to its customers is product-oriented rather than customer oriented, the latter of which includes working around and paying attention to the needs, wants and preferences of the customer market that it wishes to target. Rather unorthodox in its behavior, Apple has stated that it does not use customary surveys, focus groups or other typical methods of market research. To those at Apple, it is insinuated that it is Apple’s job to know what the customer wants out of a product, not the customer, which explains the preoccupation of making great products. Consumer research is useful for brand line extensions, yet there are consumer insights that research cannot provide. Apple stays ahead of the competition by ignoring it entirely and through using ethnography, or observing customers in Apple stores and seeing how they use their devices. Despite its recent criticisms, Apple has remained as one of the most lauded and praised companies by commanding the consumer market and making people want their highly technological products through branding it as a luxury exclusive that is unlike any other phone there has ever been. Samsung, a top competitor, is right on its heels, yet in several areas, Apple continues to edge it and other phone manufacturers out.
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The role that Apple’s people have in several parts of its operations are consistent with its increases and calculated moves in spending for research and development and market. Apple’s culture, especially in its earlier years, was described as “dysfunctional” by some, as employees were not encouraged to share ideas and were not receptive to change or taking any new ideas. To this day, Apple does not receive or even welcome product suggestions from others, as nearly all of them are not forward to channels who can incite change within the organisation. Clearly, Apple figures that its methods are tried and true and due to its reputation, the company may be on to something. Apple has always had skilled and bright people, yet its culture inhibited their minds from contributing to the innovation and creativity that the company is known for. Today, Apple’s success is due to deliberate action and a changed company culture from a time where employees were just cogs in a machine. In the days were Apple was struggling to maintain and create a stronghold in the market, change was necessary. Apple soon came to realize the potential in people and their ability to solve complex problems and adapt to an environment that desperately needed change, like many others before and after it have had to realize. Today, Apple is filled with the same kinds of bright and bustling people; an Apple employee is given clear-cut direction and the freedom necessary to create world-changing products. The atmosphere in which this space is created is one of nurtured creativity, even if it means less and restricted access from others. This is done to fully bring out the creative spirit, not to put them in prisons; it eliminates the extra work of eliminating pressures that get in the way or disrupt experimentation and idea creation.
Apple was founded by Ronald Wayne, Steve Wozniak, and Steve Jobs, the last of whom became the face of Apple and its brand as it grew to become the world’s largest information technology company that has amassed more than a cult following, yet a loyal devotion of followers and customers. Steve Jobs was an is a strong part of the brand’s corporate identity. Jobs’ process of creativity and innovation was also marked by a departure and return to the company, which faced dire straits in terms of development and market growth. According to Jobs’ biography, the name of the company was conceived after a trip to an Apple farm; the name sounded unintimidating and fun-spirited. In addition, the fact that it started with an A meant that it would often be near the front of listings. Brilliant designers and engineers are part of Apple’s technical process, yet it was Steve Jobs’ innate creativity and propensity to always move forward, knowledge of investing and know-how of motivation to make people do the work to be great. Jobs had a vision for the company to do more than just create computers, but make their lives easier and more simple rather than complex. His keen knowledge of design contributed to his ability to improve things that would improve life in simple ways. Jobs was a visionary who was integral to Apple and its success, yet it soared due to his energy and excitement for Apple, although it may have cost him in other areas of his life. In the time since his death, Apple has been regarded as merely existing. Jobs’ magic and innovation were and are irreplaceable and inimitable. Steve Jobs brought Apple up from the ground up twice and motivated the company’s team into creating the world’s most excellent products that personified such excellent performance.
- Thomke, S.H. and Feinberg, B., 2012. Design thinking and innovation at Apple. Harvard Business School Publishing.
