8/8/2019 50753721

1/2

with endless betas. We dont need to

worry about model numbers and versions.

No company has exemplified What yousee is what you get better than Apple.

Posted by Vijay Kumar, Vice President of Finance,Southwest Kidney Institute

Waiting for the iPads Twist by Scott

Anthony.If there isnt any twist, I

expect the iPad to...fall short of the

transformational impact of the iPod and

iPhone platforms.

Its not the iPad, its the category that

will fail should the killer app not show up.

Where the Kindle and the Nook took theone-trick-pony approach, Apple has put all

the capabilities in the iPad that developers

and users now have to figure out how to

put into action. Although the Kindle solved

a problem, it did so without any open

expansion capabilities.

Posted by John McElhenney, Digital Producer,Clarus Agency

Where Most New Product Launches (But

Not Apples) Go Wrong by Julia Kirby.

Apples success isnt all a story of buildinga better mousetrap. Its also about being

really good at making the world beat a

path to your door.

A company that is planning a product

launch should ask not only How can we

capture customers attention and whet

their appetites so as to maximize product

sales? but also How can we genuinely

improve things for the customer through

a better-planned launch? The answer to

the first question is to generate mystique.

The answer to the second is to reach asmany customers as possible at launch

and ensure suffi cient supply so that there

are no stockouts and customers can get

the product without hardship. Focusing

exclusively on the first is likely to result in

a manipulative launch rather than one that

genuinely meets customers needs. Apples

magic perhaps lies in its impeccable focus

on both.

Posted by V.P. Kochikar,Associate Vice President,Infosys Technologies

CONTINUED FROM PREVIOUS PAGE

hardware and focusing on services. But

as the hardware moves offshore, so does

the competitive advantage, and eventually

services will be commoditized. Its easy

to discount a service until its essentially

free; then its nearly impossible to raise

the price. Google did this with offi ce

software, although it charges businesses

for access to its offi ce suite. Facebook is

struggling with a business model that hasno subscription revenue, and its seeing a

revolt from subscribers who refuse to pay

for a social networking service.

Posted by Stevan Eidson, President,Eizon

Apples iPad: What Every Business

Can Learn by Peter Merholz.Apple is

surprisingly cavalier about supplanting an

existing cash cow with a next-generation

product that responds to how the market

is moving.Most companies are just not confident,

disciplined, or financially stable enough to

take the kinds of risks Apple can and does.

Better to innovate yourselves into a new

market than to miss one while a nimbler

competitor discovers the next PC.

Posted by Andrew McFarland, Vice President,CA, Inc.

What also distinguishes Apple from other

technology companies is strict quality

control. It doesnt waste its time or ours

Apples Strategic iParadox by Umair

Haque.The iPad is a revolution waiting

to happen. But the revolutions biggest

roadblock is Apple itself.

If everyone had an iPad and then someonecame out with the iPhone, it would be

regarded as an iPad killer98% of the

same functionality but portable and a

phone, too. So when the chronology is

reversed, why does iPad win big? Who is

the core customer? And why?

Posted by Rodrigo Plantagenet

Apple has always been fundamentally

product-led; thats how it generates real

value. It succeeds in a service-driven world

because services dont produce quitethe same tangible value that fantastic

products doand Apple produces

fantastic products better than anyone else.

Posted by Aditya Anupkumar,PartnerStrategic Planning and Rediffusion,Young & Rubicam

Somehow consultants have concluded that

the U.S. would be better off commoditizing

some focus on the application of testingand on honing the skill of learning how

to listen to your gut. A combination of

experiment and intuition may prove to be

more valuable than expected.

Stuart M. Jackson, CEO,Jackson & Associates

Enter iPadHBR blogs, April 2010

HBR.org covered the launch ofApples much-hyped iPad fromthe strategic, innovative, andmarketing perspectives, and ouronline community buzzed withcommentary and complaints.

HBR.ORG

20 Harvard Business Review June 2010

Interaction

8/8/2019 50753721

2/2

Harvard Business Review Notice of Use Restrictions, May 2009

Harvard Business Review and Harvard Business Publishing Newsletter content on EBSCOhost is licensed for

the private individual use of authorized EBSCOhost users. It is not intended for use as assigned course material

in academic institutions nor as corporate learning or training materials in businesses. Academic licensees may

not use this content in electronic reserves, electronic course packs, persistent linking from syllabi or by any

other means of incorporating the content into course resources. Business licensees may not host this content on

learning management systems or use persistent linking or other means to incorporate the content into learning

management systems. Harvard Business Publishing will be pleased to grant permission to make this content

available through such means. For rates and permission, contact permissions@harvardbusiness.org.