A Steve Jobs email exchange that captures Apple’s strategy

http://qz.com/118293/the-steve-jobs-email-exchange-that-perfectly-captures-apples-strategy/

by peter123 • 13 years ago

84 52 13 years ago

natch• 13 years ago

This hardly captures Apple's strategy. It appears to offer an insight into one step in their strategic thinking for one issue, but the title of the post is quite misleading.

KeepTalking• 13 years ago

I agree. If it tried to tell that apple reacted with panic to the cross platform nature of kindle - I dont think so.

nonchalance• 13 years ago

I'm pretty sure you missed the point of the article.

The focus was mentioned in the email from Schiller to Jobs:

... secondary message [of the ad] that can’t be missed is that it is easy to switch from iPhone to Android.

forgottenpass• 13 years ago

The entirety of their strategy no, but this goes beyond just the kindle issue raised. Vendor lock in is a huge chunk of Apple's strategy.

johnrob• 13 years ago

This absolutely captures their strategy. They are clearly building a walled garden for their own benefit, while selling it as the user's benefit. I can't imagine users complaining about having the option to switch to android.

_yields2• 13 years ago

while selling it as the user's benefit

I disagree.

Facebook, Google, Microsoft have a walled garden, in-fact every company on earth thinks on how to keep customers from leaving.

The difference between Apple and others is that Apple products are far superior, i can't imagine myself using any Microsoft product if Apple provides it.

Terretta• 13 years ago

They are clearly building a walled garden for their own benefit, while selling it as the user's benefit.

On the contrary, I think this highlights that Jobs thinks, "They want to compare? Great, let's force them to really compare."

Jobs: "If they want to compare us to Android, let’s force them to use our far superior payment system."

It's one thing to build a walled garden that's crap but users get stuck with it. It's another to build something you believe is truly superior for users, then forcibly rub people's noses in it.

baddox• 13 years ago

They are clearly building a walled garden for their own benefit, while selling it as the user's benefit.

Unless violence is being used to force people to buy things, there doesn't have to be a big difference between "the company's benefit" and "the user's benefit."

subdane• 13 years ago

Exactly. They aren't giving users real choice. If Apple's payment system (or any other part of their platform) is really superior, why not let users choose and make up their own minds? Because they want to make it painful or impossible to switch and they don't want their platform to be considered a commodity reader for Amazon's content.

noloqy• 13 years ago

They might be selling it as a users' benefit, but in the case of the Amazon app, users are at a loss.

As long as the developers submit themselves to Apple's authority, Apple and its related products could offer superior service. Most developers are still accepting the "Apple way", even in cases where it hurts their own business proposition. The reason Apple has such a strong supplier power is that they have a very strong market share. However, Apple's arrogance will one day contribute to their downfall. Developers choose to develop first and foremost for the platform that offers the greatest benefits; as Apple's market shares are falling, the userbase is less of a reason to choose to develop for Apple first. Also, because alternatives are strengthening on various fronts, developers will be less likely to swallow Apple's authoritative terms if those terms hurt their own business model - even if that means offering a suboptimal service to Apple's customers.

gcb0• 13 years ago

it quite does. if the apple kool-aid everyone here drink was true, his reply would be "let's do better devices at more competitive pricing and nobody would have a reason to change"

but no, they still make a laptop that you can't close the lid while downloading a large file... and try to lock you in with lock-in tactics on the media YOU BUY.

See how well that worked for sony betamax/lasedisc/minidics... blueray... oh, wait.

notatoad• 13 years ago

i think it captures apple's strategy pretty well, and the flaw in their thinking. They see a commercial promoting kindle books on the kindle tablet and an iPhone and see "it's easy to switch", not "you can own devices from two different brands and they will work together". Amazon doesn't make a phone, nobody is going to switch from an iPhone to a kindle, but the concept of owning two devices that aren't from the same brand is totally foreign to apple. Their entire strategy is focused on every apple user owning nothing but apple devices. an iPhone user buying an other-brand tablet is a threat to apple as a whole, not just to their tablet business. Their strategy is to control everything and not allow anything to happen out-of-ecosystem. Playing nice with others doesn't even occur to them.

dm8• 13 years ago

Out of curiosity, why did he think Apple had far superior payment system? I personally think Apple's payment gateways no better than Amazon Checkout or Google Checkout experience.

fleitz3• 13 years ago

On an iOS device they already have your payment details due to the inability to use the device with out providing a credit card. 9/10 times the user is already signed in to that AppStore/iTunes account and thus just needs to enter their password.

Thus when buying on iOS it's always easier to use Apple's system because you're already half signed-in and they already have your credit card.

But yes, if you re-enter your credit card details then they are pretty much the same except for having to re-enter your details.

Oletros5• 13 years ago

Well, you don't need to reenter your payment details if you want to buy an Amazon book or a Google book. They also already have them

nickconfer• 13 years ago

Three reasons.

1) Apple has more active credit cards than Amazon.

2) If someone were to purchase a book on an iOS device it is more likely they have an active credit card on their account than an Amazon account with an active credit card.

3) One payment system is easier for customers to understand and trust.

Steve's wording here may have indicated better technology in his mind, but I doubt that is true, given amazons incredible focus on taking credit card payments accurately and quickly. Reasonably though the reasons outlined above would be good reasons it was better overall, even if it really wasn't consumer friendly in the end because of the lock-in.

MatthewPhillips• 13 years ago

#1 #2 state the same thing, and although it may be true, I can't think of any way this makes the payment system "far superior". Is Amazon something you only use once and it's a hassle to have to enter in your credit card?

#3 is not something anyone believes, even you.

I'd counter with iTunes hysterically bad receipt notifications. Typically you get a receipt between 3 days to 2 weeks after you buy something. Every time I receive an iTunes receipt I have to strain to remember way back when I bought the thing the receipt is for.

etler2• 13 years ago

Amazon is huge. Do you have anything backing your first claim? I wouldn't feel comfortable claiming either side has more cards without a source.

etler2• 13 years ago

I would argue that Amazon and Google are better because I can use their payment system on things other than my phone as well. Whenever I'm on a new site that's selling something, I'm very relieved when I see the amazon or google checkout logo. Other than having to sign up once (which there's a good chance you already have if you've ever bought anything on amazon, and google wallet is spreading more), I don't see how apple's system is better at all, let alone "far superior".

gte910h• 13 years ago

At the time of writing, google checkout worked in like 8 countries, and had tons of issues

Xorlev• 13 years ago

If anything, the inability to purchase (easily) from the Kindle app really pushed me to stop using my iPad and start using my Android products.

Haven't looked back.

warcher• 13 years ago

It's a large reason why I won't touch any of Apple's media offerings. If they're not running the Netflix/Amazon model, where they've committed to making it available on all the major platforms, it's a non-starter for me. I really like a lot of Apple's products at the moment. It hasn't always been like that. It seems naive to believe it will stay that way forever either.

salem• 13 years ago

This touches on one of the big issues with the agency model, Apple's 30% cut of IAP, and the rule requiring all digital goods purchases go Apple IAP made Apple the only bookstore on apple iDevices, outside the browser. IMHO, when the iPhone was the leading smartphone in the US, that wasn't a walled garden, that was a market leader leveraging that power to take another market in an anti-competitive way.

c0mpute• 13 years ago

How are these emails being leaked? Part of the ebook case they had? Otherwise I would imagine companies would take their email seriously...

Perhaps a good practice for companies to completely delete emails after a few days? (Its impractical, but maybe there is a need?)

dsaber• 13 years ago

I've always believed it's time for Apple to embrace running some of their software on other platforms. Not only would it take the competitive advantage away from other companies providing multi-platform products, but it would also show confidence in their products that users will ultimately use their products for the best experience. Sure, some products may not make sense on other platforms (e.g., Mac OS X), but many others do make sense.

In many ways, history is repeating itself here with Microsoft and Apple 20 years ago.

abalone• 13 years ago

It says a lot about their attitude, but I wouldn't say Apple's strategy is 100% predicated on switching costs. Not even close. They entered the phone market as an underdog, for one thing.

As for attitude though, it does perfectly capture what they consider "superior", i.e. stuff Apple does (platform-mediated payments), not necessarily stuff that benefits users (portability).

airencracken• 13 years ago

So the gist is that Apple is all about vendor lock-in.

Well, no surprise there. That's been the case for a long time.

jeffehobbs• 13 years ago

.epub in a Dropbox folder forever. Screw all these guys.

A Steve Jobs email exchange that captures Apple’s strategy

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