Part 2 of 3

Apple is the undisputed leader among technology companies for creating products that border on art. They create products that are not only a delight to use but also provide a strong visual and emotional attraction. How do they do this? By making the customer experience a top priority. This article continues the discussion from Part 1 - Innovation Lessons from Apple – Finding Market Gaps.

3 Popular Theory Viewpoints

In previous articles, I’ve spent a lot of time looking at the MP3 player market, and especially the success of the iPod.  (See Innovation Lessons from Apple – Parts 1-3)  An article recently came out from the Wharton School of Business titled “Pushing Zune: Is Microsoft Pushing an Uphill Battle?”.   Is it making progress; does it have a chance; should Microsoft continue investing?   This was too intriguing to pass up, so this article looks at the Zune strategy from 3 popular marketing theories to see how these questions might be answered.

The Product Life Cycle (PLC) is a fundamental concept in Marketing that defines specific characteristics of products and markets at various points in their evolution.   Less common is the discussion of the company evolution and characteristics at different stages, also known as the Organizational Life Cycle (OLC).   This article discusses the stages of the OLC and specifically how it relates to high tech product development and delivery organizations, from start-up through mature companies.

Part 1 of 3

Apple has been hitting home runs since the 2001 release of the iPod, then iTunes Store, then iPhone, then the App Store. How do they do it? One place to look is in their level of investment in R&D… are they outspending others? As it turns out, Apple’s R&D expense as a ratio of gross profit is only 10%, compared to 12% for HP, 15% for Oracle, 17% for Microsoft, and 21% for Google. So… HOW DO THEY DO IT?! This article is the 1^st of 3 parts to discuss three key activities Apple does well to create innovative products.

Part 3 of 3

With the release of the first iPod, Apple had an immediate hit on its hands. They repeated this with iPhone. What activities did they engage in on each of these products to ensure continued success? The primary method was to compete with themselves, and before their competitors did. Two key activities were continuous improvements and line extensions. This article continues the discussion from Part 2 - Innovation Lessons from Apple – Obsessing on Customer Experience.