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The Future of Apple.

2 points by jermainc ↗ HN
Since about half a year and now as the iPad2 is launching, I question myself: For how long Apple will be able to march on with success? When might Apple´s decade of decline start and what could be the reasons for that?

A part of the future scenario is of course, that Steve Jobs will hand over his masterpiece to another person. A person, that might not be able to tell the story that Steve Jobs embodies. And connected to that the brand will not be what is it today.

The second part of the scenario is, that the overall penetration with Apple related products will simply get too high someday. Apple is facing what it never wanted to embody: Mainstream. What we currently experience as a holistic matching of a wide ranging product groups, might turn into dislikes of tomorrow.

This would be, what I would call the "microggle" effect, as these other two giants also more and more lost their sexyness by being omnipresent.

Of course, my thoughts are very unfinished, but I would like to know your opinions.

4 comments

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AN447
Personally, I'm sure Apple still have several game changer projects under wraps they could release when the time is right.

With or without Steve Jobs this company is here to dominate the space for the long-term.

jermainc
I agree to your first reasoning. The second one - I´m not sure about exactly that point.
us
Steve Jobs does have kids. I'm sure they're groomed from birth (kidding). All jokes aside, only time will tell if someone else has the chops and vision Steve Jobs does will step up to lead Apple on the same path or if it'll become stagnant. Speculating at this point doesn't really do anything or change anything.
karanjassar
Another way to look at it is if Apple ever moved away from its core, that is, making products that are a perfect blend of form + function combined with their awesome customer support, then certainly that would be the start of their decline.

Another action that personally upset me, me being a fanboy, is their publisher subscription model of taking 30%. That doesn't seem to be in the best interest of their users.