An #Innovation Amateur's Opinion: "Apple's Future – Apple Watch, Apple TV, and/or Apple Car?"

With the iPod release in 2001, Apple emerged as the top technology company worldwide. Under the leadership of Steve Jobs, Apple revolutionized the following three business sectors: music, smartphones, and tablets. Until his death in 2011, the company maintained industry-dominating stature through sector disturbing inventions. Corporate strategy transitioned to successor Tim Cook, including future transformation directives. In 2015, Cook announced the following business sector trio with revolution intent: watches, television, and cars. Case study Apple's Future reviews the new direction to determine holistic success by dissecting the individual industry execution.

Revolutionizing Watches

The Smartwatch marketplace exploded in 2015, with the Apple Watch dominating half of the competitive landscape. Among the competitors were Google, Motorola, Sony, Smartwatch, operating on the Android mobile platform, and Samsung and LG, operating on proprietary platforms. Andriod Wear, by Google, leveraged third-party applications and introduced superior voice recognition technology. Functionality between the 4,000 Wear apps and Google Now were advantageous Andriod features but were weakened by their limited ability to customize data. Pebble, a crowd-sourced funded startup, devised the autonomous Pebble, connecting Apple and Andriod cellular devices. Waterproof and battery life features were unique to the Pebble; however, the minuscule storage capacity and basic functionality deterred interest. Samsung, the market leader in 2014, designed proprietary OS Tizen as an open platform with the intent to cross-pair to various Galaxy devices. ?Most Samsung watches relied on Tizen, but Gear Live used Android Wear to diversify the offering portfolio.

Inspiration to revolutionize the watch industry derived from a study exposing the smartphone user data points. Usage metrics revealed that nearly two-thirds of the 100 average daily interactions were functionally simplistic and led to distraction. Delivering prioritized content the user could consume with a glance via wearable technology created opportunity value in productivity and convenience; thus, conceiving the Apple Watch vision. By design, the Apple Watch humanized the connectivity experience; whereas, product personalization enabled fashionable self-expression. Differentiation of The Watch started with the product launch, which was entirely online and reinforced with a 38 million dollar advertising campaign. Accruing variance, true to individualistic methodology, appeared throughout the vast technical specifications within all collections.

Revolutionizing Television

In 2015 the television marketplace was in rapid transition, which forced Cook to reimagine the Apple TV strategy. The competitive landscape drastically shifted as technological advancements redefined the industry. Before holistic flux, the tv industry operations split into autonomous sectors: programming networks developing content and pay-TV operators dispensing media through subscription-based services. Traditional distribution platforms included broadcast, cable, and satellite TV, generating a linear viewing format. Broadband internet accessibility emerged as a significant disruptor, instigating "cord-cutting" or customer migration towards the new alternative. ?Streaming distribution platforms included subscription video-on-demand (SVOD) access, generating an over-the-top (OTT) viewing format. ?Cable and satellite-based content restricted to television set consumption, codependency dissolved through the internet availability on various smart devices. Programming networks and pay-TV operators abandoned traditional distinctive functionality, pivoting to synergetic or direct methodologies.

Inspiration to revolutionize the television industry started with Steve Jobs and his pursuit of designing the most straightforward user interface. During the era of linear viewing, the Apple TV product was a literal television set. Incremental innovations and low manufacturing margins led to the evitable project extinction. As over-the-top viewing normalized, Apple analysts opportunistically launched a subscription-based service online with the intent to stream video directly on computers, mobile devices, and Smart TVs. Apple TV, a new generation recreated as a set-top box, surfaced as an intermediary tool transforming the traditional television set into a smart device. Industry revenues exponentially escalated as invention diversification unleased revenue potential.

Revolutionizing Cars

In 2015, stimulation of the automotive marketplace intensified due to Tesla's advocacy for the electric and self-driving car industries. An unpopulated competitive landscape enriched by uncapped potential lured Apple to consider immersing into the infant sectors within a historically tricky industry.?Predating Elon Musk, the electric vehicle footprint credit belonged to Nissan Leaf sales, and the autonomous driving technologies were merely Google prototypes. Musk elected to merge the technologies within the Tesla design, provoking industrial evolution with a centralized effort and incentivized talent pool.

Inspiration to revolutionize the automobile industry accumulated as resource scarcity and environmental concerns fostered a culture searching for sustainability, lobbying for change, and demanding action. Public concern reinforced with procedural reconsiderations repositioned the electric and autonomous vehicle industries as a priority field and glorious return on investment for contribution. Apple market penetration rumors through acquisition or proprietary invention became a trending topic Cook dismissed, emphasizing CarPlay as the newest extension of the iOS platform. Through CarPlay, Apple applications seamlessly integrated into the driving experience, continuity of intelligence further ingrained in human activity.

In summary, I believe the direction Cook steered the company honored the curiosity of Steve Jobs. Recorded statements validate the founder's intrigue in watches, television, and cars. Directionally, the rationale of selecting these three industries is substantial; however, the execution instruction ambiguity leaves the discernment of success as a relative concept. Qualitative and quantitative metrics for each venture are available, but the contrast to opportunity expense is debatable from both perspectives. The Apple Watch is a reliable and profitable revenue source, but implied market caps stunt scalability. Future profitability hinges on balance between research expenses against feature value additives.?The Apple TV currently on the market is an entirely different product from the original offering. Deciding to pivot to a subscription services model reduced risk and offered a route to longevity, even in a fluid field. Apple Cars were initially the most aggressive gamble, with manufacturing as the riskiest component. Pivoting to CarPlay was a brilliant acknowledgment of Apple's strengths and most efficient allocation of resources. The future success of the Apple brand is contingent on lifestyle connectivity; thus, endless industry expansion guided by practical rationale will be the key.?