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Apple’s products are often seen as being priced “at a premium”. This is mostly a matter of perception, but in certain categories Apple’s products are priced above the industry average (though probably still affordable to sufficiently large populations). As a result, when competitors launch lower-priced products there is a tendency to expect Apple to react and reduce its prices to compete.
This expectation was evident when AT&T had an exclusive on the iPhone. The assumption among many (expressed in comments here as well as elsewhere) was that a switch to multi-carrier distribution would result in a price reduction and consequently a reduction in margins.
It was evident in the iPod and the Mac businesses over the years as prices for competing products collapsed.
It is also evident with respect to the iPad where expectations are that the Kindle will cause a reduction in the iPad price (and presumably in the margin).
However, the data we have from Apple on their pricing shows no concessions to competitive price pressure. The following chart shows the historic prices that Apple was able to obtain for its main product lines:
Last year I suggested that Apple could reach $100 billion for 2011. That was based on the addition of about $20 billion during 2010. Apple added $38 billion to reach $97.6 billion at the end of 2011.
The following chart shows the composition and scale of Apple’s cash holdings.
At the closing price, Apple’s market value is equivalent to 4.3 times the value of their cash.
Once upon a time there were some innovative farmers that developed a new hybrid crop that could satisfy the hunger of a growing population. This crop grew best in large farms which had to be situated far from where people lived. The food was so tasty and production could scale so quickly that it became necessary and possible to build a novel way to deliver this food to the population. The farmers built their own transportation network, which they called a “railway”.
This network of rail was itself very efficient and soon overtook the ability of restaurants and small shops to absorb the produce. In order to keep the pipeline of food filled, the farmers (now with their own railways) bought most restaurants and grocery stores. They transformed them into more efficient food retailers and the result was even more consumption and demand for the food.
To keep the population happy, the farmers constantly devised new food hybrids and new recipes for the restaurants. The food design process became a profession, even an art form. The farmers employed the best and most creative minds when it came to food. They created unique recipes that became instant hits and were widely consumed. They invented “star foods” and “blockbuster dishes”. The process of churning out these hits was so highly honed that farms became factories of ideas.
My thoughts were expressed 20 months ago in a private email.
I did not get a response.
Scrivener calls itself a “content-generation tool”. That’s an interesting definition for a job to be done. The process of writing is not a linear flow of text composition. It’s often based on research, reference, fact checking, linking (citation), etc. It’s then a lot of re-organizing, re-defining and editing.
Most software is only fired up after much of the hard work is completed.
Scrivener lets you compose and structure long and difficult documents based on material from multiple sources. Adopted by novelists, screenwriters, journalists, lawyers and academics alike, the program allows users to split the editor and view documents, PDF files, multimedia and other research materials next to each other.
A virtual corkboard and outliner help with structuring or providing an overview of the draft. Collate, read and edit related text without affecting its place in the whole using Scrivener’s Collections feature. Close out the world in Full Screen mode. And when you’re finished, export to e-readers or the most popular word processing programs for submission.
If I’d be writing a book, this is what I’d use.
The motivation behind Asymconf and an archaeological expedition into the ancient history of personal computing.
5by5 | The Critical Path #22: Asymconf.
I had a huge headache while doing this.
Asymconf is the Asymco experience. Live.
Attendees will be treated to an engaging, participatory experience. Using the case method, you will be guided through four probing questions pertinent in modern market analysis.
If you would like to take part, please register your interest here.
—Horace Dediu & Indrek Vainu
Yesterday’s post described the history of personal computing platforms over the past 37 years. It showed a distinct shifting of “eras” between traditional personal computing and the emergent mobile computing represented by device-based platforms.
Underlying these lives (and deaths) of platforms were the growth (and decline) of fortunes of companies and people. I hoped that by observing these patterns insight could be gained into the conditions for success or failure.
The following graph shows the companies which were predominant (in the top five ranking by shipments[1]) during each year of the industry’s history and the volumes they were able to obtain during that period. I also added Nokia and RIM as examples of the challengers coming from mobile devices.
It’s a difficult graph to interpret.
Thanks to Jeremy Reimer I was able to create the following view into the history of computer platforms.
I added data from the smartphone industry, Apple and updated the PC industry figures with those from Gartner. Note the log scale.
The same information is available as an animation in the following video (Music by Nora Tagle):
