jgphoto1

Buying Apple Today: Like Buying Microsoft in 1998?

"The basic premise is that a company can gain a huge competitive advantage for a limited amount of time and earn these "abnormal profits", but eventually, the rest of the market will catch up."

The same sentiment was fairly common three years ago. And in the three years before that. Since the iPhones launch two years ago how many "iPhone" killers" have been predicted.

As corporations go Apple represents a fairly rare anomaly. First they create great products that stand strong against the competition in and of themselves. Apart from being intuitive and looking good they share a superior proprietary software that sets them apart from all of the self anointed contenders.

Finally those products talk to each other. It is a family of products. An ecosystem that unleashes a level of possibility, satisfaction and ease of use for the end user that is unlike anything they have experienced prior. Once inside the ecosystem they are compelled to stay and deepen their relationship to the system by taking advantage of more of it's components. They are compelled not by force, although to be sure there would a level of cost and discomfort in leaving the system, but by desire. They want to be there.

That ecosystem will continue to grow deeper and broader in the years ahead as Apple refines existing products and adds new ones. A consumer who purchases to an Apple for the first time represents a strong likelihood that over time they will own several and when it is upgrade time their will be no thought of another brand.

What we see today is only the tip of the iceberg in terms of the ecosystem, integration and spectrum of products. Add in current market share potential and brilliant end to end execution (management) and you have formula for tremendous and sustained growth potential for many years to come. Imagine Apple with a Microsoft market share, a diverse product line and a corporate DNA that continues to focus on innovation and quality. Ten years.