The Biz of Coding

New Strategy for Apple — Design Center for Tech World

by Ujwal Tickoo on April 5th, 2006

This post continues from my previous two posts on Apple’s Boot Camp and What makes Apple Cool.

Design — not hardware or software, in my view, is the Core Competence of Apple. Apple wows the world not because of its Macintosh sales numbers, nor because of the dominance of its Operating system or software. It wow’s the world due the design of its products.

Year after year, Apple’s products win Industrial Design awards. Jonathan Ive has risen to world-wide prominence after leading the design of crowd wow-ing iMacs and several other Apple products.

What if Steve Job’s signed up HP, Microsoft, DELL, IBM, Creative, Samsung, Nokia and several other players for Apple to create (and charge a premium for) new design innovations for their software and hardware? That would allow the Apple to focus on what it does best — design.

Supplying cool design to several vendors in the world with an "Apple Design" Logo will expand Apple beyond its limited user base, help it focus on its core strength, and perhaps help it grow as a unique Technology Design firm. What consumers could get would be cooler than ever before mobile phones, music players, computers, printers, laptops and all kinds of digital toys — designed by Apple — but sold by Nokia, DELL, HP or Samsung.

This brings me back to my previous post on Apple’s Boot Camp software. If you can run Windows XP on cool Intel Macs — do you really want a PC from DELL? Boot Camp if successful can attract PC buyers who are:

• willing-to-pay a slight premium 
• want Apple-Microsoft compatibility 
• want cool Apple computers and laptops

If you wonder what will then become of Apple’s existing Mac, Software, Music and OS businesses — my answer is — spin-off the new design consulting business of Apple into a separate business. Let the old businesses compete with the rest of the world in their own — while perhaps being the early adopters and presenters of Apple’s Design Innovations. Do you agree?

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POSTED IN: Apple, DELL, Industrial Design, Jonathan Ive, Microsoft, Mobile Phones, Nokia, Samsung, Steve Jobs, iPods