The following excerpt is taken from Apple’s “Think Different” Campaign:
“HERE’S TO THE CRAZY ONES — THE MISFITS, THE REBELS, THE TROUBLEMAKERS, THE ROUND PEGS IN THE SQUARE HOLES. THE ONES WHO SEE THINGS DIFFERENTLY — THEY’RE NOT FOND OF RULES. YOU CAN QUOTE THEM, DISAGREE WITH THEM, GLORIFY OR VILIFY THEM, BUT THE ONLY THING YOU CAN’T DO IS IGNORE THEM BECAUSE THEY CHANGE THINGS. THEY PUSH THE HUMAN RACE FORWARD, AND WHILE SOME MAY SEE THEM AS THE CRAZY ONES, WE SEE GENIUS, BECAUSE THE ONES WHO ARE CRAZY ENOUGH TO THINK THAT THEY CAN CHANGE THE WORLD, ARE THE ONES WHO DO.”
Steve Jobs became Silicon Valley’s icon not only for his “go-get-it” attitude but also because of his sheer resilience which he adhered to till his departure. From obtaining an internship at HP to getting fired from his own company, his tenacity to place Apple above everything else is what has indeed placed the company on the trillion-dollar landmark.
But even with the legacy of creative impulsiveness that he left behind, the company’s growth has been ‘moderately great’ at best as cheaper smartphone and electronic manufacturers are now on the rise in most of East Asia challenging the landscape of global markets.
For many year’s customers haven’t been observing any significant moves in terms of innovation when it comes to the ‘iPhone manufacturer’. Every new model seems to be a replica of the older version excluding the ‘in-built camera’ that happens to step up a notch in order to justify the ridiculous price tag.
However, a recent Financial Times report summarised Apple’s recent updates as the Silicon Valley giant is coming up with its own beta version of a ‘search engine’.
Rather than pay billions in advertisement revenue to its existing rival Google, this step can significantly reduce Apple’s marketing expenses and free up additional cash for its shareholders.
Recent reports stated that the United States antitrust authorities along with the government have filed a lawsuit against Google for “misusing its power to shut its competitors in search ads”.
While Apple had been focusing on its service revenue streams earlier on, this has presented a brand new opportunity to the ‘tech giant’ to explore a space that would not only cut costs but also help it to become the ‘next leader’ in the search engine game.
According to a Financial Times report issued back in August:
“Apple has accelerated work to develop its own search engine that would allow the iPhone maker to offer an alternative to Google. For context, this behavior has been witnessed for a while as people have been observant about the feature popping up in beta versions of iOS”.
The report also pointed to the fact that “search volume is rising incredibly from Apple’s crawler”.
Over the course of the last fiscal year, Apple’s service revenue amounted to $53.8 billion, up from $46.3 billion in 2019, all while its number of paid accounts reached new highs clocking in double-digit growth.
Towards the end of the third quarter of 2020, their paid subscriber base grew by more than 35 million in comparison to Q2.
All of this should point to the fact that the culture of ‘innovation’ is well and truly alive within the organization, as the ‘iPhone manufacturer’ is quietly shifting its focus on building a more service-oriented revenue platform as opposed to simply relying on their smartphones and MacBooks.
Recent reports also mentioned that Apple hired Google’s head of search, John Giannandrea, two years ago in an attempt to enhance its virtual personal assistant, Siri, something that has been an integral part of the iPhone since its inception.
This move is also a signal to potential competitors about Apple’s intention in trying to enter the ‘search engine’ field and while improving Siri’s search activity and artificial intelligence algorithm could just be an excuse, the US government’s move to break up Google’s monopoly no longer requires Apple to work undercover.
Google has been successful so far in painting an image in their user’s mind about what the ideal search engine should look like and how it should be able to connect an individual to the rest of the world all while addressing their queries.
However, these steps are the hallmark of a ‘creative giant’ which Apple has also long been accustomed to being with regards to keeping their customers hooked onto their devices.
And if what Jobs said about creativity and resilience is deemed to be correct, the company should be able to ‘connect its customers to the world’ with their ‘potential search engine’ in no time.
“You gotta act. You gotta be willing to fail. You gotta be willing to crash a burn. With people on the phone or starting a company, if you’re afraid you’ll fail, you won’t get very far.”
About the Author
This submitted article was written by S I Ahmed, an academic & a former investment analyst. Currently a Ph.D. candidate at Aston University. Enjoys writing on a variety of topics to satiate curious minds.
