scottie said:
But I don't think the bolded is entirely true.
Apple wasn't the first company to make personal computers, or laptops, but they took the market by storm with some fantastic innovations. Apple was amongst the first to make Mp3 players, but not the first Apple wasn't the first to make smart phones, RIM beat them to it by several years. They took that established market by a combination of superior design and superior marketing, which showed that even if you weren't in big business, you could still benefit from a smartphone. Tablets existed long before Apple made the ipad.
The reason I don't think Apple could make a home console is twofold; * Apples devices seem to do better the more portable they are. In terms of popularity iphones/ipods > ipad > laptops > desktops. This could be because Apple's values and aesthetics, high build quality and ease of use are more desirable in the portable market. * The Appstore approach - $2 games, will likely not work as well for a home console |
I think there is a miss understanding of what I meant by "establish a market" ...
I don't mean that Apple invents a product that has never been seen before (after all, most of Apple's "revolutionary" products are very derivitave of what others have done) just that Apple moves into a market space that is being served very poorly by current competitiors and creates a product that introduces far more interest in the market.
With that said, Apple's success is heavily determined by how long they're in a market without strong competition. The iPod was on the market for several years before major companies addressed the iPod, and because of this the iPod became ubiquitous and Apple retains control of this market. The iPhone didn’t face significant competition from consumer level smartphones for a couple years after release and as a result Apple is only slowly losing market-share to their competition. With the iPad, Apple is facing strong competition months after release and Apple will (probably) bleed market-share rather quickly in this market. In terms of laptops and PCs, Apple is a minor player in both these markets because there is so much strong competition; after all, very few people are willing to pay twice as much for a computer simply to buy it with an Apple logo.
If Apple entered into the home console market they would be in the same kind of position they're in with laptops and desktops; and they would be lucky if they only lost $4 billion to get the same 20 Million customers Microsoft got with the original XBox.
