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* Under the visionary Steve Jobs, Apple has reinvented or transformed
at least four industries -- music (iTunes and iPod), computers,
telecommunications (iPhone) and retailing (especially music retailing)
* With only 3% world market share in cell phones, the iPhone is more
profitable than Nokia, with 10 times the global market share
* With only 8% world market share in computers, Apple is the most
profitable company in the Silicon Valley and one of the most
profitable in the world, with 20% of every dollar of revenue going
direct to the bottom line
* Apple's New York City retail store is the most profitable store in
the world on a per square foot basis, far more profitable than
Tiffany's
* Apple now has a larger market capitalization than Microsoft and on
the S&P 500 is second only to Exxon Mobil
* Three men started Apple in 1976 in a bedroom, Steve Jobs, Steve
Wozniak and Ron Wayne, and Ron Wayne sold his 10% share of the company
eight months later for $800 -- if he had kept it he would have been
worth at least $25 billion
* Uniquely among international technology companies, Apple's product
ethos combines the "heart of an engineer and the soul of an artist"
* Fortune Magazine has named Apple the most admired company in the
U.S. three times, in 2008, 2009 and 2010
* Apple in 1983 was the first company to introduce commercially a
computer with a Graphical User Interface (GUI), the Apple Lisa, but
priced at almost $20,000 (in today's dollars), it was a failure
* Apple bounced back with the Mac in 1984, and the Mac remains perhaps
the only major product introduced with a single TV commercial, Ridley
Scott's famous "1984" ad that ran only one time in Super Bowl XVIII
* Apple has reinvented itself several times since its founding,
overcoming serious management, technological and product failures
* Apple has led the way beyond the manufacturing economy and the
information economy to the creative economy -- it designs and markets
its products at its huge campuses in Silicon Valley, while jobbing out
manufacturing and assembly operations to more efficient lower-wage
countries in Asia, with some engineering operations in Paris and Tokyo
* Apple is considered one of the premier marketing companies in the
world, with its focus on stylish, highly designed and even beautiful
products that also offer differential operating advantages over
existing competition
* Apple's most successful products include the Apple IIe (the longest
running computer in computer history), the Mac, the Mac PowerBook,
iMac, iPod, iPad and iTunes, but it also has had a number of failures
including Lisa, Apple III, Newton, digital cameras, TV appliances
* Apple's computer products are highly successful and highly
profitable despite having only an 8% operating system market share
* Apple has successfully expanded from being a computer company to
being a consumer electronics company
* In the worst recession since the Great Depression, Apple grew
revenues to over $40 billion, increased profits by 39%, built a huge
new campus in Silicon Valley and went on a hiring binge, adding over
2,300 employees to its 34,000-employee base
Possible lessons for Belize businesses (and businesses everywhere)?
* You don't to be huge to be successful
* You don't have to be huge to be highly profitable
* A leader with vision can make all the difference
* Strong, even breakthrough marketing is vital
* Creativity and design make a huge difference
* You can't be "just as good as" the competition -- you have to offer
a real differential advantage
* If you fail, reinvent yourself
* Constantly innovate and introduce new products and services
* Don't limit yourself to just one field or industry
* New ideas can transform companies and entire industries
* Don't give up -- success may just around the corner
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