Apple also reminds me a bit of Ford. Henry Ford was, and arguably remains, the greatest mass-market innovator of all time. But he, and the Ford Motor Company, were eventually out-competed by Alfred P. Sloan who rolled up many minor brands into what became General Motors.
Henry Ford became arrogant. When told by his salespeople that customers wanted a variety of colors in their Model T's, he famously answered: "Our customers can order their car in any color they want, so long as it is black."
Steve Jobs was like that too. How innovative was the Iphone a decade ago. But he limited it to running only on AT&T, a carrier that most people of that day detested. He practically invited the Android consortium to come in and clean his clock, taking most of the market share with an inferior product.
Even now Henry Ford and Steve Jobs remain iconic legends of America's greatest business people. Even now Ford and Apple are the only cars and Iphones I would ever buy. What wonderful, well-crafted, and reliable products they are. But they have expanded to fill their universes of buyers and have no new worlds to conquer. I've learned to cherish their products, but to steer clear of their stocks. |
