kellie

There is a similar story for another Rochester, New York headquartered company , Kodak.  Kodak invented the first digital camera in 1975.  Unlike Xerox, which was an electronics company from its inception, Kodak was a chemical company from its founding in 1888.  It had the new  challenge of learning how to run and manage an electronics company as well as the strategy challenge of developing a new product that ultimately would reduce film sales, their decades old cash cow.  There was lots of internal resistance to making this change. Ultimately Kodak failed at developing a digital image technology business strategy.  

Innovation isn’t easy.  In many ways it’s easier for younger startup companies, than older mature companies.  Apple is a very mature company now.  Not the young and frisky company it once was.  As a publicly traded company they face the challenges of pleasing Wall Street and share holders.  Don’t underestimate the impact this financial burden has on Apple’s ability to innovate.  There are many comments here referencing Steve Jobs and how Steve was an innovator and Tim Cook isn’t and is more of an operations person.  That may be somewhat true.  But don’t assume that Steve Jobs would have been successful at running a profitable multi trillion dollar company.  That takes a lot of management skills and culture that Steve may not have possessed.  

Certainly, Apple is in a better position for future innovation than was Kodak and possibly Xerox, especially having the benefit of having lived through the tech innovation cycle.  Kodak and Xerox were at the cusp of the technology revolution, so it’s perhaps understandable, if not excusable, that they struggled with reinventing themselves.  Is AI the next technology wave that will require Apple to reinvent themselves?  Perhaps.  Ultimately, the future will require a company like Apple to be as good at developing software as they are at developing hardware.  I would say historically Apple’s primary strength has been developing devices and hardware.  With software development being a second tier capability/strength.  Software capabilities are what will be needed to truly succeed with AI in the future.  Time will tell if Apple is up to the task.