What’s Coming Next?

Lets review what Apple has done recently, shall we? Because they have been quite active lately. They discontinued one of their most popular products, the iPod Mini, even though it showed no signs of needing to be replaced. Then they unleashed the iPod Nano on an unsuspecting world and it quickly became the newest, bestest, greatest, most wonderful thing since sliced bread. The clouds parted, the sun shone and angles sang when it was released. Not a company to rest on its laurels they promptly released iTunes 5 and with it added a new look to the interface.

But wait, we’re not through yet! Now the fun is really starting because next out the door is the Video enabled iPod, a new version of iTunes (version 6), movie downloads and new iMacs. That rounds out the announcements on the 12th, however we can’t forget the financial reports coming out of Cupertino which indicated that Apple has quadrupled its earnings from last year. Oh, and they are also selling more Macs and iPods than ever before. In short, the look like they are firing on all cylinders with no plans on stopping anytime soon.

So, here is my question. If you are a competitor what do you do? How do you compete? Because Apple has been all over the board lately and they have been succeeding wildly in everything they do. Part of the reason that no one is going to be able to catch them anytime soon is because there isn’t really a company out there that brings the necessary resources to the table like Apple does. The exception being IBM but they aren’t interested in competing with Apple (read Lenovo) and are operating in a different space. Here is a look at some of Apple’s competition.

Any MP3 Player Maker
Virgin, Creative, Rio, Sony it doesn’t seem to matter who is making them they all suck. With the exception of Sony none of the MP3 player manufacturers are going to have the bankroll to compete with Apple in the long run. Additionally, Sony is the only one who could hope to make a piece of software comparable to iTunes. Everyone else in this market is floundering as they watch Apple for cues. This latest announcement detailing the Apple + Disney deal is just the latest nail in the coffin. In fact, whatever meager market share these competitors had can be kissed goodbye in the coming months.

Microsoft
On the software side they could theoretically compete with Apple. But remember, they don’t do hardware (we aren’t counting the Xbox because it isn’t a PC) so they can only control half of the consumer’s experience. Here Apple has the advantage in the “Media Computer Entertainment System” market because they control the entire widget. In the future MS could make the Xbox into a general purpose computer/game system but that will be years down the road. So, in the meantime they don’t have the resources to directly force Apple’s hand or otherwise compete with them.

Dell, HP, Acer etc.
They have Microsoft’s problem on the flip side. They do hardware but no software. Thus they have to depend solely on Microsoft for the software to compete with OS X. Clearly they are SOL. Even if they manage to make a PC as stunning as the new iMacs they will still lose on the software side. A side they can’t control at all. Thus they are in an even worse position that MS.

Music Labels & Movie Studios
They have finally begun to realize that the opportunity for them to seize onto this new wave of technology and ride it to greater profits has passed. Instead they have forfeited their position to Apple, and thus have been locked into Apple’s system for as long as they dominate the market. When will that change? Not any time soon I have a feeling.

Additionally, in the future I think Apple will ultimately force Sony to realize that working with them is so much more profitable than working against them. So, look for Sony to relent in Japan with the ITMS. Furthermore, expect them to quietly phase out their MP3 business as time goes on. And of course they will eventually strike a deal much like Disney did. But that will take a bit of time as yet.

So, with no company around that possesses all of the needed resources around to compete with them, I think that Apple will continue to dominate any new market they become involved with. Only if MS started making hardware would Apple really experience a dangerous competitor. Until then I shouldn’t think they will have any real trouble.