No question … Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) is an innovator and has always had a very unique way of doing business. In the early days of the Apple-versus-PC/Windows debate, Apple founders Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak and Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) founder Bill Gates had very different ideas and ways of growing their respective businesses.
While Bill Gates went on to license his software to many different computer makers, creating the PC and Windows association, Apple opted to produce their own hardware and keep their software in house (and only on their computers). While this made Apple unique, it may also have hurt them in the early days.
Microsoft obviously flourished early on. Apple, meanwhile, had a strong start as well; its IPO generated more capital than any IPO since Ford Motor (NYSE: F) in 1956 and created more instant millionaires than any company in history. But AAPL endured some very tough periods in the 1980s and 1990s. Steve Jobs left the company from 1985 to 1997 but returned to help create a new line of computers that brought Apple back to the forefront of innovation.
Jobs has been very closely associated with the success of Apple and although his health has certainly been an issue, investors seem to have put that fear away of late.
Apple’s saga with Adobe Systems (NASDAQ: ADBE) is the latest example of how Apple and Jobs beat their own drum, with Jobs offering an open letter to the public about how he will not integrate Adobe’s Flash Player software on the iPhone, iPad or iPod Touch devices.
Could Apple’s arrogance hurt them like it did in the early days? Will the other smartphone makers potentially exploit that “weakness” and continue to erode Apple’s market share? Google has begun to poke at Apple’s reluctance to allow Flash, saying the software works great on their devices. I know personally it is frustrating when I can’t view certain sites or media because of Apple’s “flash ban.”
Tuesday, the Wall Street Journal noted that Google’s (NASDAQ: GOOG) Android-based phones have surpassed Apple’s in total market share. Specifically, Android based phones have a 28% market share over the Apple iPhone’s 21%. In defense of the iPhone, however, it is available on only one network in the U.S. and select carriers around the world.
Android-based phones, on the other hand, are available on virtually every network there is globally. Research in Motion (NASDAQ: RIMM) and its BlackBerry have about 36% of the market. Apple certainly has some decisions to make and thanks to an engineer that likes to drink and leave top-secret prototypes at bars (allegedly!), we know a new iPhone is on the way. The question is whether Apple can keep up its momentum.
Regardless of what you think about Apple, they have changed the way we do business and communicate and have become a modern cultural icon. The iPhone has remained mostly unchanged in its three years in existence, yet it continues to be an extremely strong selling product. Apple is older and hopefully wiser now than they were in the ’80s. They have also amassed a global following and created an indelible and innovative image for themselves.