I think constantly about these two business fundamentals. When all facets of a business – operational, financial, product development or innovation and marketing are distilled to the most valuable assets, in the end I believe the essence is found in Innovation and Marketing. So it is that I find myself assessing the merits of all companies based on these parameters – are they Innovative, is their Marketing effective?
In the last two weeks Apple and Microsoft have been front and center in the technology news, no different really from any other two week period in the last 30+ years. But when looked at through the dual lenses of Innovation and Marketing – and reviewing where these companies are today, the arc of their momentum, the trajectories they are on in their respective products, foretells the next few years for each company. Both companies are extraordinarily profitable – Microsoft is widely regarded as the world’s most profitable company. And if the tents were folded up in the Innovation and Marketing departments at both Apple and Microsoft tomorrow, both companies would print money for years on the backs of their current product suites. So I want to explore this across the current AAPL and MSFT products, and use this as the basis of a critical analysis, to build a series of assessment parameters for future development.
By way of disclosure, I don’t currently own stock in Microsoft. I have in the past. I’ve worked extensively with MSFT hardware, software and content personnel on their products. I do hold shares in Apple, but have not worked with Apple, Inc. Most of fortyninegroup’s devices are Apple. My first computer was an Apple II+ clone I built up from raw parts – but that was a couple of years ago! However, I’ve spent more time in the Windows environment than in the Mac environment out of necessity for work purposes. Again, it’s not to suggest that I’m predisposed to favor a particular company, rather, look at them analytically…. look at their Innovation and their Marketing. I’ll add to this post in the upcoming weeks.
