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October 29th, 2009

What's the key to Apple's success?

Posted by Adrian Kingsley-Hughes @ 1:56 pm

Categories: Apple

Tags: Apple Inc., PC Ad, Microsoft Windows Vista (Longhorn), Product Marketing, Operating Systems, Microsoft Windows, Software, Marketing, Adrian Kingsley-Hughes

Apple’s weathered the economic downturn like almost no other company, pulling in massive profits without having to resort to deep price cuts. But what’s its secret?

Over the past few weeks I’ve been asking a group of Mac/Apple fans why they thought Apple was doing so well. Here are four possible reasons for Apple’s success:

  • Constantly improving, innovative product line
    Apple doesn’t have a huge product line, but the company is constantly tweaking it. Most of the product updates are well thought out and offer the end user extra value. This is attractive to both new and existing customers.
  • Advertising
    Apple has a massive ad budget and this allows it to spread the word to a huge audience. When this comes to Macs, this is allowing Apple to aggressively go after those disillusioned PC users. Those funny Mac vs. PC ads are serious business.
  • Customer satisfaction
    Apple consistently scores very high in customer satisfaction surveys (the company usually tops the list). Happy customers not only re-buy, but tell others that they are happy, therefore generating further sales.
  • Vista sucked
    Given how Vista was widely considered by many consumers to be a failure, this has handed users over to Apple on a plate. After all, for users who were sick of Vista, or just wanted to give the OS a wide berth, Apple is an obvious choice.

What's the key to Apple's success?

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Thoughts?

Adrian Kingsley-HughesAdrian is a technology journalist and author who has devoted over a decade to helping users get the most from technology. He also runs a popular blog called The PC Doctor. See his full profile and disclosure of his industry affiliations

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  • Talkback
  • Most Recent of 110 Talkback(s)
Well said, and may I add...
I am both a Mac and a Windows user. I enjoy reading the ZDNet
articles on both sides, and what is interesting is that the PC or
Windows based articles do not have a bunch of Apple people post... (Read the rest)
Posted by: rpsin Posted on: 11/09/09 You are currently: a Guest | | Terms of Use
RE: What's the key to Apple's success?  DannyO_0x98 | 10/29/09
One word: QUALITY  theo_durcan | 10/29/09
Yes, exactly that, QUALITY and lots of it  Mikael_z | 11/01/09
Choice  robertmro | 11/01/09
Not absent but. . . .  The_Curmudgeon | 11/02/09
RE: What's the key to Apple's success?  a1by | 10/29/09
RE: Apple's use of the rumor mill  Prime Detailer | 10/29/09
In my opinion  dchase@... | 10/29/09
An interesting question  Economister | 10/29/09
Good points  oncall | 10/29/09
No premium, no closed system either  Mikael_z | 11/01/09
FYI:  macadam | 10/29/09
Could it be that...  Userama | 10/29/09
Well, .....  Economister | 10/29/09
It was a dig against geeks...  UrbanBard | 10/29/09
No digs required (nt)  Economister | 10/29/09
In other words...  bigsibling | 10/30/09
Some people like both style and substance.  UrbanBard | 10/30/09
No  frgough | 10/30/09
Beautiful  tikigawd | 10/30/09
You Too ?  Jkirk3279 | 10/30/09
Yeah, this sounds "easy"  NonZealot | 10/29/09
Posts like these are getting SO tiresome. Go away. (nt)  Economister | 10/29/09
Why?  tikigawd | 10/30/09
He just points it incessantly and it gets very annoying. [nt]  olePigeon | 10/30/09
The problem.....  James Quinn | 10/30/09
No, easy is upgrading in place to a 64-bit OS  frgough | 10/30/09
What do you do that makes you want to post here?  djchandler | 10/29/09
It's an open forum  MacCanuck | 10/30/09
Get real.  UrbanBard | 10/29/09
wait..what...really?  bigsibling | 10/30/09
They do just work, but Apple is not Microsoft.  UrbanBard | 10/30/09
Not very green of you.  The_Curmudgeon | 11/02/09
Careful, planned obsolescence...  Feldwebel Wolfenstool | 10/29/09
RE: What's the key(s) to Apple's success?  djchandler | 10/29/09
WOW soo original  oncall | 10/29/09
Now you know how I feel.  djchandler | 10/29/09
Depends on your definition  oncall | 10/29/09
Typical  Economister | 10/29/09
IT is the last refuge of the...  Rick_K | 10/30/09
let's see.  Rick_K | 10/30/09
Outside of the IPhone....  storm14k | 10/29/09
Oh come on...  James Quinn | 10/30/09
RE: What's the key to Apple's success?  kpbpsw | 10/30/09
What about the Apple Store?  Ben_E | 10/30/09
Something done right  ExCorpGuy | 10/31/09
Key = Microsoft  David Blomstrom | 10/30/09
Recently...the iPod  The Star King | 10/30/09
The Key? People love to hate Microsoft  ddmattison | 10/30/09
Bulls**t...That's the key to Apple's success (NT)  Scrat | 10/30/09
Another well thought out and argued comment by Scrat:P  James Quinn | 10/30/09
Profit by division  dpatjhh | 10/30/09
Profit by division  dpatjhh | 10/30/09
Accounting rules have a big impact  frabjous | 10/30/09
Retail 101  ebhb2004@... | 10/30/09
RE: What's the key to Apple's success?  nmaiers@... | 10/30/09
An Honest Question  Zonny | 10/30/09
RE: What's the key to Apple's success?  HiTech Marketer | 10/30/09
Time is precious  oncall | 10/30/09
Why are all you Windows Zealots so threatened?  jgpeters | 10/30/09
RE: What's the key to Apple's success?  JohnPapola | 10/30/09
Levi??s VS Designer Blue Jeans  duclod | 10/30/09
Luck, good hardware, better marketing, competitions lack of self promotion  Boot_Agnostic | 10/30/09
RE: What's the key to Apple's success?  mdando@... | 10/30/09
It's simple: Apple makes the superior products.  Douglas Ward | 10/30/09
RE: What's the key to Apple's success?  hankeester | 10/30/09
RE: What's the key to Apple's success?  magnificentnile | 10/30/09
The Apple Store  twodales | 10/30/09
The Real 4 reasons  shaunehunter | 10/30/09
It's more like the RDF they have generated  omdguy | 10/30/09
Then don't buy from Apple you smug tool  jgpeters | 10/30/09
Wow, name calling in the first sentence, nice!  omdguy | 10/30/09
Putting the name calling aside  oncall | 10/30/09
Fair enough, you have valid points  omdguy | 10/30/09
Overpriced is another opinion.  James Quinn | 10/30/09
Well, I'll give you that pricing is an opinion, but...  omdguy | 10/30/09
Here is MY reason....  James Quinn | 10/30/09
We all know what has been said about opinions.  Rick_K | 10/30/09
Maybe the fact that you have never bought a Mac..  jgpeters | 10/30/09
On the contrary  omdguy | 10/30/09
You confused me when you wrote this...  jgpeters | 10/30/09
All I can say is...  Rick_K | 10/30/09
Pot, kettle, black...  Rick_K | 10/30/09
The real key to Apple's success...  Rumpled_Foreskin | 10/30/09
RE: What's the key to Apple's success?  dave@... | 10/30/09
Great product sells itself.  HollywoodDog | 10/30/09
Locling the software to thir hardware and having no competition.  No_Ax_to_Grind | 10/30/09
I just skimmed the surface of the replies here...  James Quinn | 10/30/09
Well said, and may I add...  rpsin | 11/09/09
What's the key to Apple's success?  bmig2 | 10/30/09
They copy Apple products because...  lehnerus2000 | 10/31/09
RE: What's the key to Apple's success?  abartsch | 10/30/09
It's simple. PCs are just machines.  abartsch | 10/30/09
Macs = John Stewart. PCs = Rush Limbaugh. Even simpler.  abartsch | 10/30/09
Now you are just being mean to the PC:P  James Quinn | 10/30/09
Jon Hodgman isn't a racist and addicted to pain killers. [nt]  olePigeon | 10/30/09
John Hodgman is ALSO a Mac User IRL, olePigeon  drprod@... | 10/30/09
Yeah, Pretty Much, abartsch  drprod@... | 10/30/09
Posta Duble  drprod@... | 10/30/09
Except Limbaugh is a long time Mac user  otaddy | 10/31/09
Law of averages.....  James Quinn | 10/31/09
I would agree!  otaddy | 11/01/09
Design, understanding the market, leading  Ken_z | 10/30/09
RE: What's the key to Apple's success?  stand3 | 10/30/09
Neanderthals  theo_durcan | 10/30/09
RE: What's the key to Apple's success?  paulkocz | 10/31/09
People only knows Windows  theo_durcan | 10/31/09
While all of the above is true...  JasonJD48 | 10/31/09
Apple customers are upper middle and rich.  bran.murray | 11/02/09
From last dinosaur to tin-pot dictator  cquirke | 11/03/09

What do you think?

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