Actions Speak Louder Than Words -
In parallel with the trial Apple has embarked on a significant PR campaign with Sir Jonathan Ive making claims that Apple is not in the business of making money. Now, we are not sure what fantasy land Ive would like us to believe in, but Apple’s actions on this one seem to rat them out. For starters Apple has one of the highest margins for phones or tablets and we all know about the margins on their laptops and desktops. If Apple was not interested in making money but getting perfect little bundles of computerized joy into the hands of everyone they would reduce their prices by about 1/3 if not more. We might also want to point out that Steve Jobs was obsessed with making and keeping money. He refused to pay certain dividends to investors because he was so concerned with money and this was even after Apple had their pile of cash that they do now. It was not until Tim Cook took office that this changed (mostly because he was concerned that investors would leave with Steve Jobs gone).
Ive’s comments are also belied by the massive law suits filed by Apple around the globe. If these suits filed by Apple are not concerned with making money why the aggressive stance? If we take Ive’s statment as truth then Apple is guilty of attempting to block competition through legal means just to ensure they are the only manufacturer making phones (since it is not about money). No, here the simple fact is that Apple IS in the business to make money and any competition hinders that goal.
Ive also made statements that Apple almost scrapped the iPhone on multiple occasions. Here their own Mythology is hurting them; many of you might remember the stories of how Steve Jobs drove them to complete the project and make it perfect. There are tales of long nights, last minute changes (remember the story about changing the face from plastic to glass?), and the drive to bring this product to market first. Again Apple seems to be convinced that if they say it people will believe it. Fortunately for the consumer market this is no longer true. Apple has told too many fables about the iPhone that they have forgotten them or expect the market to. Apple did not bet the company on this project either. They had a bestselling product in the iPod (which was copied from the Creative Nomad) and wanted to integrate a phone into their media player. It was as simple as that. They took the Nomad and combined it with Windows Phone/Palm OS and kicked out the iPhone, which is what they wanted. Yes the iPhone was a very polished product even for the first generation, but it was also behind the existing smartphones in many core ways. Apple, with Steve Jobs at the helm, was able to spin this and present the device to the consumer market that was already eating up the iPod and who had become addicted to iTunes by that time already. It was (simply put) a way to extend their revenue stream into a new market and it was a safe bet based on their research.
It will be interesting to see what other stories Apple comes up with to try and paint themselves as the good guy and underdog again. We have a feeling that this tactic might not work out as well as Apple thinks considering their own PR about how great they are and how many iPads, iPods, and iPhones they have sold. Still if they did not try to spin this they would not be Apple.
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