Emulating Apple--successfully

I wrote the other day about companies like J.C. Penney and Yahoo supposedly following the Apple playbook but not doing it well.

That got me thinking about companies that blatantly pay homage to Apple--and succeed at it. One is Nest Labs, started by the former head of Apple's iPod division, Tony Fadell. Nest makes a so-called learning thermostat that easily could fit in as an Apple product. I wrote about Nest last fall and also in my book, Inside Apple. The Economist just celebrated Fadell as the "Podfather" in a lengthy article. Where Nest has succeeded--it is private, so its success so far is according to Nest--is by sticking to some Apple basics: a narrow product line to start, simple messaging, disruptive product that customers didn't know they needed.

Another key to Apple's success is how it presents its products. Amazon held an event in Santa Monica, Calif., last year to announce its holiday line of Kindles. It was so like an Apple event that I think one of the key differences was that Jeff Bezos put his text on the opposite side of the screen from where Steve Jobs used to put them. (I covered some differences and similarities between Bezos and Jobs and Amazon and Apple in a cover story later in the year.)

Which brings us to Samsung. Apple has accused Samsung of copying its phones, and that claim is being bitterly disputed around the world. What won't be disputed is that Samsung too is emulating Apple's presentation style. It sent out invitations to the media for an event Thursday night that proclaimed it is "Ready 4 the show." It's no secret: Samsung will release its widely anticipated Galaxy S IV. Get it? (Apple loves these winks in its invitations too.) It chose New York, not the Bay Area, and the nighttime, not mid-morning. But it will be interesting to see to what extent Samsung matches Apple in presentation style.

Imitation is, after all, the sincerest form of flattery.

Photo: Courtesy Apple; Verizon Wireless