Apple Research
QNT 561
October 21, 2013
Apple Research
Learning Team B identified that Apple, Inc. as the company of interest for further research. Apple offers products such as Mac computers, iPod, iPad, iTunes, iPhone and Apple TV. These products have been introduced to the market and extremely been popular. The Apple innovation dilemma identified is that no new Apple products have been introduced to the market since 2011. Apple is no longer creating new features associated with their products. They have been moving towards the mass-market model, appeasing the market's late majority instead of being the innovators of old focusing on the early adopters. Being an innovator usually entails selling fewer products because you are only appealing to the early adopters and early majority. This is a strategic question that needs to be addressed because as companies become more stagnant, other more agile companies can and will overtake their position as market leaders in their particular industry. The team will discuss the dilemma, provide a purpose statement for the necessary research, and draft research questions addressing the problem and purpose statement.
The Apple Innovation Dilemma
The purpose of this research is to understand Apple’s innovation dilemma. The reason why we look to Apple as an innovator is because, “Apple introduced mainstream consumer electronic hits that fundamentally altered the way we live” (Jay Yarow, October 2013), but today there seems to be an air of stagnation. “It looks… like there is not a clear cut solution for Apple’s innovation problem” (Peter Cohan, February 2013, para. 9). For a company that launch the iPhone, iTouch, Apple TV, and the iPad from 2007 to 2010 and then to stop delivering any new products, this has made the consumer and the shareholders believing that Apple has an innovation problem in developing new or improved products. Before Steve Job’s death in 2011 he was quoted as touting Apples newest...