In a presentation at Apple’s Worldwide Developers Conference in San Jose, Apple CEO Tim Cook really did address a lot of issues. Subjects included many perceived problems which analysts have been muttering not very quietly about for years.
Cook’s address included a lot of long-standing bugbears for Apple.
Privacy is now a top priority, integrated into Apple’s working policies for its products and services. This is a truly huge and truly contentious issue, which Apple has now, apparently after some corporate soul-searching, been able to address. That’s good news for consumers and regulators, who have been pressing Apple to manage privacy a lot better than it has in the past.
The company is starting to think beyond the iPhone. iPhones are still popular, but they’re not the sole basis of Apple’s business. The legendary, expensive toy and major revenue driver has been great for making money, but the rest of Apple’s many products and business ventures have been overshadowed. Apple is now moving into streaming, consumer services and even an arcade game service.
The good news for Apple
Apple’s strong revenue came in the face of falling iPhone sales, which is a reliable indicator of a much better scope for underlying business in its overall operations. The news that “not everything is about iPhones” will be a major encouragement to Apple’s stunningly loyal computer users, too. (Ever hear of a reformed Mac user? Of course not. it’s one of the most loyal customer bases in history.)
The move to privacy and more diversification is long overdue. It’s more than likely Apple has been working on these initiatives for quite a while, but a big diverse company needs more time. These moves will reassure both their customers and the market.
Image repair
Apple has never been seen as a typical “no new ideas” company, and this series of moves is good image repair. Steve Jobs always presented Apple as a strongly new, ideas-focused company, and that image was the driver for many of Apple’s early successes.
As a phone company, Apple is reliable on the hardware and software fronts. The iPhone has been Apple’s major product for so long people may actually have forgotten how innovative the company can be. The iPad, for example, was and is a great bit of engineering and design. The host of other mobile devices and new computer software has been buried for way too long.
Let’s hope the new, more adventurous Apple succeeds because it will pull the entire market up with it.
