"Get Apple."
Not a movie title - at least not yet - but I suspect it will be the
theme for the high-tech office in 2011.
Apple has surfed over economic slowdowns with a combination of
successful products and services. Originally named Apple Computer (to
avoid confusion with the Beatles' Apple Records), the company dropped
Computer from its name in 2007 to reflect its broadened product
range - not just smartphones and music players, but music and book
sales and more.
Generally, Apple hasn't been the first to market any particular
product or service - there were music players and smartphones available
before its iPods and iPhones, for instance. Microsoft has been
promoting the Tablet PC since 2001 - nearly a decade before Apple's iPad launch.
And not every Apple product is a bestseller. Apple TV, for instance,
remained a modest seller despite several years on the market, although
the latest version seems to be changing that.
Nevertheless, by building easy-to-use connections between personal
computers; devices like phones, tablets, and music players; and online
services, Apple has repeatedly shaken the high-tech market.
Expect 2011 to be the year when Apple's competitors gear up to
strike back. Among the battlefields:
- Ultralight laptops. Apple released new models of its slim
and light MacBook Air laptops late in 2010. Look for increased
competition from the likes of Toshiba, Panasonic, and Lenovo in
2011.
- Smartphones. Phones running Google's Android from a variety
of manufacturers are evolving rapidly, adding features and approaching
the iPhone's ease of use. The range of apps available from the Android
Market is growing with an increasing number of paid apps making it a
more attractive platform to developers. Microsoft's Windows Phone 7 had
a relatively lackluster late 2010 release, but that company is nothing
if not persistent, and its phone operating system (like Android,
available from multiple manufacturers) has some promising features. HP
hopes you won't count Palm out of the running, with the launch of
version 2.0 of that company's Pre smartphones, while RIM is also
updating its BlackBerrys to a new operating system version.
- Tablets. Samsung's Galaxy Tab, released late in 2010, has
already sold over a million units; RIM's PlayBook tablet is expected in
the spring, along with a Palm-powered HP tablet. A host of competing
models will show up in 2011, most running some variety of Android,
though some will sport Windows 7. I've been working with a Galaxy Tab
for the past few weeks and have found it a very usable competitor to
Apple's iPad.
It's not all about hardware, though. Apple's bricks-and-mortar
stores have proved popular with consumers. As of late 2010, the company
had more than 300 stores worldwide. While PC manufacturers like Dell
and Gateway failed at their branded retail outlets, HP opened its first
North American store in Vancouver in December.
Expect "app stores" to similarly proliferate, following the examples
of Apple's iTunes and Google's Android Market. Ironically, Apple is
among the imitators with its Mac App Store promising one-stop software
shopping for users of its computer platform.
Licensing issues - especially outside the US - have limited
competitors to Apple's iTunes for music, TV, and video sales. Expect
increased competition in 2011.
It remains to be seen how successful all these attempts to knock
Apple off its pedestal will be.
Always a Step Ahead
For years, Microsoft and a host of PC gadget makers tried (and
generally failed) to compete with Apple's iPods. Part of the problem:
Apple is a moving target. By the time competitors can bring a product
to market, Apple has a next generation device on the horizon.
Apple's competitors can generally provide more features at a lower
price, but Apple has succeeded by realizing that many customers are
prepared to pay a higher price, as long as fewer features translate
into less of the frustration that too often accompanies products in the
high-tech office (and the high-tech home).
First published in Business in Vancouver, January 4-10, 2011, issue
#1106.
