How many people have you heard say that Apple’s best days are behind them?
Well, I can tell you that it is the buzz in Silicon Valley, big time, and just about everywhere else too. A few days after the second anniversary of Steve Job’s passing, the chatter seems even more pronounced.
People seem quite convinced that the innovation in the market today is Steve’s last bit of work now just seeing the light of day, and that the innovation pipeline beyond that is thin indeed. There are the inevitable comparisons to Apple’s PC days, claims made more robust given Android’s open platform design and leading market share. Add to that Apple’s disappointing stock performance, and the fact that Apple “missed” the NFC opportunity now two years in a row with respect to its handset strategy, and the watercooler pundits are all but patting themselves on the back that they have predicted correctly the second demise of Apple.
Well, we don’t think they’re right and the little slide deck that is attached gives you 7 reasons why Apple is the last company on earth that should be written off as a loser in mobile commerce.
Apple’s “closed” platform is one of my main reasons that Google bought Motorola and Microsoft bought Nokia – both feared Apple’s success and wanted to replicate it. And, to say that Apple is suffering because of their “closed” platform strategy is to ignore that fact that their app store generates far more revenue than Google’s Play and that developers choose iOS first given its lack of fragmentation and the 525 million plus iTunes accounts holders they can sell to.
Apple has also released APIs to get brands engaged with things that they can ultimately use to drive commerce – and I predict will – such as Passbook last year and more recently iBeacons.
But those are just a couple of reasons why Apple could turn out to be an amazing force in mobile commerce and even the “Black Swan” that everyone loves to talk about and imagine. So, check out this little presentation and our 7 reasons and then let me know what you think!
[You may not be able to see the slide show below if you are using Safari. If you’re having trouble viewing, try using Internet Explorer or Chrome.]