Think Different: Product Concepts That Drive Apple's Success

Apple's unique "DNA" - and its marketplace advantage - derives from the combination of its "category-killer innovation" and expertise in how to "make complexity simple" .

Apple Concept: Category-Killer Innovation

"Category-killer innovation" is when you fundamentally change both the rules of the game and the customer's value proposition in a product category. It requires that you "Think different.".

It means that you innovate new ways to do old things … or do new things that have never been done before … in a way that does a order-of-magnitude better job in solving a customer problem and making the customer's life easier and better. It is thinking outside of the box ... beyond just making small, incremental changes.

Recent Apple examples of "category-killer innovation" include the iPod, iPhone, iPad and iCloud.

Apple Concept: Make Complexity Simple

You "make complexity simple" when you move technology out of the way … and technology includes not just hardware and software but also obtuse jargon and confusing terminology

As Steve Jobs said "the best technology is invisible - things work like magic".

You achieve simplicity when you focus on the few most important concepts or features that add the most value - rather than believing you have a better product if you include every feature you can imagine.

Simplicity is about clean, uncluttered design. It is about making things intuitive so you don't need lots of explanation or a thick instruction manual to figure something out.

Apple Success

Reliance on these fundamental concepts have differentiated Apple in the marketplace, enabled it to establish a leadership position in mobile technology and placed Apple on a trajectory to pass ExxonMobile and become the most valuable company in the USA.

Continue reading to learn more about
 Apple product concepts applied to ski instruction