Summary
1. Apple may have come to fame as a toy company but they are determined to make a play at the enterprise computing. 2. iPhone started off as a cool phone but now they plan to get market share away from RIMM.
Analysis
Steve Jobs is very pragmatic in his approach, especially with the new product like the Video IPod, iPhone etc. He is very particular about the product’s look and feel. Look at all the successes Apple has had over the last few years.
What Steve has done over the past 7-8 years is to get Apple established as one of the major players when there were already so many players in the home business and enterprise market. He may have done this by making a bunch of great toys but this was enough to change Apple into one of the most valuable companies today. With the iPhone, he is now embarking on capturing market share in the enterprise market. I personally think this strategy is an excellent one.
The one thing that I think Steve should do is to open up the OS and not force everyone to think “Apple” only. This will allow creativity and innovation and in the final analysis, will make Apple stronger. I think we all know that Windows is here to stay and not everyone is going to a Mac or a Safari. Apple has taken baby steps in this area by opening up the application download for the iPhone. Soon enough, we will get richer applications that will eventually lead to revenue for both the developers and Apple.
Bottom line, one should not be hasty enough to dismiss Apple as a “toy” company alone. Apple has shown that they can prevail. They are now entering the enterprise computing market and will succeed.
