The Apple Appeal
What is it about Apple that generates excitement, controversy, and massive reactions at the same time? How does a company achieve a valuation so large that it outstrips the GDPs of entire nations? Why do consumers buy Apple products and services in droves, year after year, when there clearly exist better alternatives?
Over the years, experts’ reasons have been varied and numerous —
- A cult like brand image with innumerably many loyal customers.
- A lock-in type product and service ecosystem that diminishes the need to switch to competitors regardless of how satisfactory the consumer is with the product or service.
- A genuinely well-designed, reliable, and easy-to-use-and-repair product and service ecosystem that helps ease the interactions with technology in day-to-day lives.
- Amazing first party and third-party software, services, and accessories with impeccable integration in existing setups.
- Well-defined and constructed marketing campaigns, supply chains; visionary leaders and management towards products that consumers find attractive; well-crafted brand image and focus on customer is far more intense than competitors.
And the list continues.
However, I think most have missed their mark with the true reason. While all the above listed, factor a fair amount in its success, the true reason behind Apple’s enormous appeal is their focus on reducing confusion or in other words streamlining choices that consumers do not need to make.
Most of the “tech community” online, complain about Apple’s lack of choice. From something as basic as providing customization options for making the device feel more intrinsic to a customer, to monopolistic strategies like the AppStore, default apps and so on, Apple has a complete and tight control over user experience. It is extremely refined to the point of spoon-feeding, and the attention-to-detail it receives perplexes the general enthusiast community as they would rather Apple be at the bleeding edge of technology than focus resources on matters as inconsequential as these.
However, this lack of choice and decision-making is what makes Apple’s products extraordinarily attractive because it offers consumers something that is precious — clarity in choice. With no significant issues of reliability and security (with obvious exceptions from time-to-time this is true for most of their products and for most of their customers), increased focus on “privacy”, clear leg up in performance and among the best products in their spaces, they are already great options. Now remove the need to worry about technological specifications, concerns about security updates, OS updates, support for their hardware and serviceability of their gadgets, the deal just gets a lot sweeter. To top it all off, an incredible interconnecting functionality between products, services, and accessories common to their ecosystem and it becomes a no-brainer-choice. All this is predicated with the understanding that they will charge a premium and you retain their products for quite a while.
When everything is already decided, you only have two choices — you love it, or you hate it. There is no middle ground. Perhaps, an argument can be made that from time-to-time there exist swingers who like to experience the best of both worlds. To enthusiasts in the tech industry, Apple’s approach to its products and services is all but a war on the essential freedoms of customization, modification, and choice which they cherish dearly. Yet, for the rest 90% of the population, Apple’s way just works giving them just the right amount of choice and functionality while removing unnecessary extras from their experience.
An argument can also be made for the progress of Android and Windows. It can be pointed out today, that more-or-less they too work the same way Apple does. However, the differentiation comes from the reliability, durability and the countless other factors that contribute to clearly elevate Apple above the dreary and unrefined fragmented product ecosystems from its competitors. With their record-breaking revenues and profit margins over the past two years, it is clear — the consumers have spoken in their favor.
Note:
This article only considers the US for Apple’s success. For a worldwide focus, it is clear Apple isn’t as appealing in developing markets as well as in some developed markets.
