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“Apple again off course, but this time not Steve jobs to save her”

The browser edition of Business Insider’s Dave Smith wrote an article about why Apple faced a serious problem due to the expansion of the product line. In his opinion, Apple already passed through this stage 20 years ago and overcome it helped only the return of Steve jobs and his decision to drastically reduce the range of the company. Vc leads the journalist.

By the time of the return of Steve jobs at Apple the company was in poor condition. Despite the success that came to the company in the early 80-ies after the release of the Apple II and Macintosh computers, a decade later, revenues have fallen, and in 1996 sales decreased by 30% compared to the previous year.

“This happened due to the fact that Apple released too many products. Although the company had a dozen varieties of Macintosh, she could not convey to consumers, what is their difference from the competition. Simply put, she couldn’t focus,” writes Smith.

However, the arrival of Steve jobs changed everything. By September 1997, he slashed the range of 70%, abandoning the production of printers and server equipment. “You are talented people. You don’t have to waste time on such lousy products,” he said to one group of developers.

“The sudden change of strategy saved the company. Reducing the product line, Apple had to lay off three thousand employees, but it saved her balance. And, by January, jobs announced the first profitable quarter over the past few years. Apple did something you’ve never done: and it worked,” says Smith.

A change of strategy

The return of Steve jobs to the company caused serious changes in its internal culture: now the developers needed to focus on a small number of products, but to make them as efficient as possible. Jobs and head of design team, jony Ive has been careful to not have anything extra, and products, business and marketing become the epitome of this philosophy.

“As a result, the company has achieved unprecedented success. iPod, iPhone and iPad instantly conquered the world and changed the way people interact with technology. Apple has become the largest and most valuable company in the world,” writes Smith.

“But in 2011, jobs died, and Ive his spiritual partner and successor, less and less frequently seen in the company. Many believe that soon he will leave. Judging by the advances Apple, without jobs and Ive, the company may experience problems,” says Smith.

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History repeats itself

Now Apple is releasing 46 different versions of their products, ranging from smartphones and tablets, to watches and computers. “It’s not the number of products and number of detected problems and malfunctions. Without them, none of the Apple’s new release,” writes the editor of Business Insider.

iPhone

Many owners of iPhone 6 and iPhone 6s complain about a problem disconnecting the device, even with a high battery life. “This is what’s happening right now, but Apple failed to understand what the reason of this faulty, or the company does not want to disclose this information,” says Smith.

Apple has a programme of replacement, however it does not cover all users affected by this bug, writes the editor of Business Insider: “According to employees of the company, the problem became one of the main problems for retailers”.

MacBook Pro

The battery life was less than advertised. “Apple promised that the device will work up to 10 hours without recharging, but many buyers noted that the battery only lasts seven to eight hours.

“In addition, the new model there is no slot for SD card and MagSafe connector, so the connector can break if someone stumbles on the charger cable. Also, the device was much more expensive than the previous model, which also was not pleased buyers and fans,” says the editor of Business Insider.

AirPods

Apple has released the first batch of wireless headphones in October, they appeared on the market only by mid-December. In addition, they were much more expensive EarPods — the usual wired headphones: 12 990 rubles against 2390 rubles. “They look ugly and easy to lose. Besides, people best place to buy headphones with wires,” writes Smith.

Apple Watch

The second generation of Apple’s watches does not differ from the previous version: “Now the device is waterproof and it has a GPS module. But it’s still a massive watch with ugly and unintuitive interface,” – noted in Business Insider.

Apple TV

According to Smith, the device has a very uncomfortable remote control: “It is small, and the touch pad is very sensitive. The remote control gets lost and is triggered at the slightest touch. Besides, he’s got too many buttons. I’m surprised that Apple approved the design of this product”.

Adapter

“For the new iPhone required an adapter for wired headphones. For the new MacBook need different adapters, for example for SD cards and Lightning connectors. Adapter is inconvenient to carry and they are very easily lost. This creates additional inconvenience,” writes Dave Smith.

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Problems with the software and is

According to the author, many of the programs and services of the Apple are outdated and require reprocessing.

  • Apple Music. “Service is not convenient, despite the fact that the interface has been updated in 2016. In addition, unlike Spotify, it’s hard to find interesting music from similar artists,” writes the editor of Business Insider.
  • iTunes. According to Smith, when too many sections and menus, eliminating the possibility of intuitive use.
  • App Store. “The platform is in disarray, there not interested in looking for new applications. It is not personalized, that is not suggests new apps based on your installed,” says Dave Smith.
  • The standard Apple apps (Mail, “Weather”, “news”, “Trick”, “Health”, “Clock” and “Calendar”) are inferior to the counterparts from third-party developers.

The author also notes that the decline in the quality of advertising campaigns Apple: “Marketing was one of the favorite aspects of the jobs. The company introduced some of the best advertising campaigns, such as “1984” or “iPod Silhouette”, or Think Different”.

“But the latest ad campaign Apple became, frankly, not so good. Can you point to any factor: the lack of originality, style or humor, but the fact remains: over the last five years Apple had not provided a remarkable movie,” said Smith.

The author argues that the current Apple products suffer from the fact that the company focuses on future projects: “it is Reported that Apple is working on glasses virtual or augmented reality, as well as the system for self-governing automobiles. These projects require hundreds of employees, but the results of their work will appear only after many years.”

Instead, companies should focus on optimizing the current products and services: “iTunes requires deep processing, and a three year old Mac Pro no longer meets the needs of target customers. And it is amazing that Apple did not prepare even a small update in order to maintain the performance of the device.”

Is there a way out?

According to the editor of Business Insider, despite the fact that Steve jobs is no more, and Jonathan Ive may leave the company, Apple can still fix problem: “it’s All about focus. Need to reduce the number of ongoing projects and to provide good governance remaining. The company will have to make difficult choices and to abandon the least successful products”.

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iTunes

“It took me a decade to bring to perfection my music library in iTunes, but with the advent of the Apple Music and Apple TV I do not see reasons why Apple should continue to post content on this platform,” writes Smith.

According to the author, companies should be replaced with the iTunes Apple Music and rebrand the iTunes Store to continue to sell digital copies of films, music and other content.

MacBook

The author also believes that Apple should combine the MacBook Air and MacBook: “In this case, when you choose a laptop, you are going to pay attention either for compactness or performance, that is, to choose between MacBook Air and MacBook Pro. Now, buyers difficult to understand than a regular MacBook is different from the MacBook Air”.

Apple Watch Edition

“Selling a more expensive version of the Apple Watch is a good way to create excitement around new product category. But now the Apple Watch is already more than two years, so it’s time to kill the series Edition. When the design team spends time and money on a model that does not differ from the normal hours is a waste of resources,” writes Smith.

According to the author, the company should alter the interface of the Apple Watch or create a more functional version of the product, not to produce similar goods, but in the case of precious metals.

Project “Titan”

A few years ago, Apple CEO Tim cook approved the creation of a self-driving electric car. However, according to recent reports, developers are faced with several challenges, the company lost several important employees and performed a reversal in the direction of software development for unmanned vehicles.

“Maybe this is a premature statement, but I think that this project is not worth the effort. Instead, companies would have to reallocate resources and focus on existing products — iPhone, iPad and Mac,” writes Smith.

To implement the project “Titan”, the company should wait for the appearance of new technologies that will reduce the cost of production. “Or Apple needs to completely abandon the project because it tries to cover too many fields, ranging from the production of TV sets and ending with devices augmented or virtual reality,” he concludes.

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