How Steve Jobs turned Apple Around

If you have been following news of late, you would have noticed how Apple toppled Microsoft to become the most valuable technology company . Its been quite an turn around for Cupertino based company which was forced to get investment from its Arch rival Microsoft in 1997. I decided to profile Apple's turn around, because there are not many companies that make a comeback , once they start to go down. When Steve jobs returned to Apple in 1997 , Microsoft had become a monopoly in the Desktop PC's, with nearly 95 % running on Windows; Apple was relegated to a niche market. So how does one turn around a fortunes of a  falling company

1.  Focus on your Strengths:

Though Apple had lost out on the Desktop market, Steve brainstormed  to identify the areas where Apple was still making profits and not losing out. Simple enough to put your money where the value comes from.This included Desktop Publishing and Multimedia industry where the Macs where more prevalent and preferred to Windows. He shutdown projects like Apple Newton, CyberDog and Opendoc  to cut costs and put his resources on where Apple was still making money Macs. There are two ways to build a software product , you either develop it from scratch which requires lot of resources and time, second is to go out buy a start up which already has the technology rebrand it has your own and sell it. And the later is what Apple did when they bought NEXT operating system. This later evolved into  Mac OS X powering iMac.

2. Keep it Simple and Innovate :

When designing products what most engineers tend to focus is on features. As a engineer, there is always a tendency to pack as many features as you can into the product.  On the other hand , you will find Apple products doing only a few things, but those few things are done so well, that even your grand ma could use it. What engineers tend to forget at times is that most people who use Computer are not geeks or Computer Science Graduates and have no idea how things are done by the Computer , as far as they are concerned they want their work get done. This is where Steve plays critical role of end customer at Apple. All products where he had shown a personal interest in iPod, iPhone and iPad tend to be so easy to use , but not Apple TV( Apparently Steve is not a big fan of TV ). To emphasize have a look at the PC and the  iMac when it debuted in 1998.

The Speakers and the big box have all been removed  and made into one Monitor with built in speakers and sockets , LAN ports attached to it. Of course , iMac does tend to look more artistic than your typical PC as most Apple's products usually are. Then there is the iPod, before it, the Sony walkman used to to be associated with Portable Music.  But walkman had no software,no playlists, cannot download music,cannot watch videos. You have to admit Steve took a leaf out of Bill Gates book here, adding software to what was a plain old machine. What iPod , iTunes together made was a great synchronization software. It was the software that put an end to the iconic Walkman.

3. Vision and Execution:

When your at the top of the ladder, leading an company, its not only important you know the current trends, but also anticipate changes , so that your company is prepared to ride the change. Companies which fail to do this tend to become part of history . If you look back at 2003, Digital Conference where Steve Jobs and Bill Gates were both  being interviewed; Steve talked about Mobile phones , how they are going to be ubiquitous to our modern day life. Perhaps it was hint, at the things to come. Its not surprising that the same person who on seeing Point and Click GUI , envisioned every Computer to be running it had the same vision about touch screen interface. Origins of Apple's iPhone lie in Newton ( Apple touchscreen PDA in 1995 with hand writing recognition), perhaps Newton was way ahead for its time, what Newton failed to do, iPhone did it for Apple. Contrary to what most people think, Apple didn't get it right , the first time. Initially the iTunes software was tried on Motorola's Rockr phone, but Steve was extremely unhappy how the design turned out, the device could hardly store 100 songs. The alliance was terminated, Apple put in nearly 150 million USD investment on the iOS software, which included a failed version ( code named Purple 1). The iPhone as we know it is Purple 2.

4. Shock and Awe:




If you haven't yet seen a Steve Jobs presentation, your missing something. Its interesting to observe how Apple product launches work, months before the launch most blog and tech sites are rife with rumors of the impending product. They are highly secretive about anything they do. On the D-day, you have Steve presenting his keynote to a crowd that goes berserk. If you have observed his keynote over the years,First of all there is a single theme to the event characterized by one product. Consider the MacBook Air launch, where Steve took out the laptop from a envelope. Whether your a computer guy or not, what immediately strikes you is the fact , its world's thinnest notebook.  Second of all, when never business people are asked to present something , they cram as much information as possible into slides with text,charts and Graphs ( Not to blame them , but that's what MBA's are taught to do by B- schools). On the contrary, a Steve Job's presentation will hardly contain 20 words for the entire session. There will be strikingly artistic pictures of the product, followed by a word or two to convey the information. Finally  its his speech, where small ideas are hailed as breakthrough's and new products are touted to be revolutionary with anticipation building such as the iPhone launch , where he started of by talking about  launching three products(  Music Player,Phone and the Internet Communicator ) but it eventually turned out to be one, the iPhone. As one of Managers puts it , perhaps Steve learnt how to mesmerize people during the time he spent in India exploring spirituality like our God men who trick people into worshiping them. By the time session is over your already convinced of buying the product and even prepared to pay a premium price for it. The success of Apple's marketing lies in making their products seem lustful, a cool status symbol that people are willing to pay for.


5. Expand and Diversify:

Once  your company profits are sustainable, the next big challenge is expansion. Its important for a company to diversify its revenue stream so as to avoid being a one trick pony.  This is the process of moving into auxiliary business areas, that complement your existing products. Microsoft is a good example of this, they started with Windows, added Office suite and later expanded into database with SQL , web server with IIS , gaming with X-Box and finally mobile with Windows Mobile.  Irrespective of how many those turned out to be successful, they tried to expand their revenue stream.When Apple iPods became a raging success , it could have well being happy with its success.  However, Apple moved into other hand held device markets to capitalize on the iPods success. iPhone was a direct result of that to move into new markets. Before you knew it in two years, Apple had become a trendsetter in Mobile phone industry. Apple products were targeted at consumers rather than Enterprise IT Departments. I don't know whether its a good or bad strategy, but the results seem to speak for themselves , Apple being the only Tech company to  buck the negative growth trend, to increase revenues by 50% year on year at the height of the recession in 2009. This was followed by further entry to Tablet market, iPad ( a crossover between an iPhone and e- reader )or rather a market which Apple seems to have created. Though Microsoft had its hand with Tablets way back in 2001 with Windows XP, it never really caught on. The ability to succeed where others have failed before you, proves greatness of a company. Steve has inculcated enough of it into Apple since returning to it in 1997.


As Steve himself puts it, 'I skate to where the puck is going to be, not where it has been.' And we've always tried to do that at Apple. Since the very very beginning. And we always will. Its only befitting that Fortune Magazine chose , Steve has the CEO of the decade quoting "After creating more than $150 billion in shareholder wealth, transforming movies, telecom, music, and computing (and profoundly influencing the worlds of retail and design), what should Steve Jobs do next? Given his penchant for secrecy and surprise and his proven brilliance, it's a fair bet that he'll let us know when he's good and ready." Not bad for a college dropout.!!

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