For a brief period of time
Apple has been able to dethrone Exxon Mobil from the number one position in
terms of market capitalization to become the most valuable company. Apple’s
stock price has varied between $705.07 and $385.10 from Aug’12 to Aug’13 (a 45
percent change) and it clearly shows swing in the sentiments of investors. Now
everybody has started asking the obvious questions about the future of Apple.
Will Tim Cook and company be able to come up with the visionary products that
catch the fancies of the customers? Will they continue to lead the technology
market? Is the leadership at Apple as effective as the leadership of Steve
Jobs?
A couple
of decades ago Apple was just an overpriced beige box manufacturer with an
obsolete operating system. Michael Dell had once said that the company should
be sold as scrap and the money returned to its shareholders. But Steve’s
return was marked by a unique vision. He lead a team of immensely talented
engineers to create the future market for iPod+iTunes, iPad
and iPhone. Now Apple is the new Microsoft and it controls
everything from the hardware to the operating systems to the apps. It has
become the number one technology company in the world. There is no company which
can match the style, design sense, attention to detail, marketing and
manufacturing precision of Apple.
Times have changed. Apple can no longer profit
at the same pace in saturated markets. To keep the behemoth breathing and
killing, Apple needs to create a new market- a virgin territory, a new gold
rush. It appears that wearable gadgets may be the answer. Apple has been
registering the ‘iWatch’ trademark across the world. The most important feature
of the gadget is the ability to see new messages without taking the phone out
of one's pocket. Tim Cook, Jonhathan Ive and Co. are very brilliant and capable
people. But the question is, can they do it without the Wizard of Oz, the snake
oil salesman and the amazingly brilliant Steve Jobs?
In recent times Apple
has undergone a significant brand makeover, shaking off some of unpleasant
characteristics associated with Jobs and taking on bits of the personality of
its new leader, Tim Cook.
By contrast, Apple
from the outside has appeared more open under Cook, thanks to a number of
meetings and trips to appeal to the various stakeholders i.e.consumers,
investors, politicians etc. iPhone 5’s Maps app was marred by flaws such as
missing features, misplaced businesses, landmarks and even towns as soon as it
hit the stores. Cook apologized for this error publicly and with surprising
humility which could have never been expected from Steve Jobs.
Apple has nothing much on the product horizon and new products are
not expected until 2014. There is nothing to lure the investors or customers but
Cook, Jonathan Ive and their latest signing Paul Deneve, the CEO of luxury
goods house Yves Saint Laurent Group, are together capable enough to bring back
the favorable sentiments. A constructive and sensible use of cash pile can do
wonders for the company .Let us hope that Apple does
not have same fate as Sony,
a wonderful company, with appealing products and awesome design, but still
struggling to sell phones tablets and computers just like any other
company.
References:
Contributed by : Sushant Singh;PGP 2013-15. He can be reached at pgp13115.sushant@iimraipur.ac.in
