We’re about to identify 10 variables that suggest Apple isn’t quite sure what it should do next, or where it should invest in R&D, but before diving in here’s a little tidbit: Apple has been around for decades, and mostly played little brother to PC. IBM ruled the world when Apple was working hard to get Apple II into grade schools across America. Brilliant marketing. Apple unrolled its greatest developments as those 1980s kids became adults; however, is it possible Apple peaked with the advent of the iPhone? Is the company headed in the wrong direction? Let’s consider.
10. The Death of Steve Jobs
Steve Jobs was to Apple what the Pope is to the Catholic Church. Can the organizations function without their figurehead? Sure, but it leaves a lot of wiggle room for conflicting ideas and subordinate chatter. That seems to be the issue with “The Fruit Company” since the death of Steve Jobs in 2011. So far, all we’ve really gotten after his death are a couple of biopics—one that stunk, and one that was fantastic. What we were all probably hoping for were better price points on a lot of product that have been offered by Apple for the last 10 years. The Apple Watch, and the variety of tablets is an example of overkill and over saturating a market that already has too much crap to sift through. Without Steve, Apple is missing the succinct, “No. We’re not doing that, we’re doing this.”
http://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/successful-dropouts Source: Blog.hubspot.com