Apple Inc, is a company that epitomizes what innovation and re-invention is all about. By using innovation the company has been able to turn itself around from the poor position it was in of 2000 to the far more attractive and appealing position it is currently in as one of the most innovative and forward thinking technological firms in the market today.
Essentially Apple Inc. was able to turn its fortunes around by being highly innovative in the digital media market which was still only present in the underground computer networks and communities for the late 90’s. Apple was able to foresee the mammoth market that digital media could expand into, furthermore Apple was able to develop a product that was highly innovative in the iPod, and then its follow up service the iTunes store, which facilitated the distribution and legal purchasing of media online.
Looking at Tidds 4 P’s we can say that the initial implementation and sale of the iPod was indeed a product innovation; previously apple had only been a computer hardware and software manufacturer; however the iPod saw Apples first foray into personal audio and marked the start of Apple marketing its Macs as the centre of a digital lifestyle, gone were the Play, Pause,Stop buttons that you would see on a typical portable music device (like a portable CD player ). These buttons were replaced by a single wheel on which you could slide your fingers over to perform the play, stop and pause actions. Thus was born a new user interface which facilitated the true needs of the end user, enabling them to interact with the device in a whole new way, which not only allowed you to listen to your music, but also "wear" your music. A truly innovative creation the iPod concept quickly permeated into the pop culture and the iPod ...