The consumer electronics market in 2012 can be easily summed up as Ferraris and Fords. Apple, of course, is the Ferrari of the tech market, while the competition is the Ford.
I’m not talking about speed, obviously, but rather their outlook on similar markets.
Apple builds quality products — I don’t think anyone can dispute that. Ferrari builds incredible cars, and like Apple, they put a great amount of work into the details of their respective products.
The rest of the PC, tablet and phone manufacturers are like Ford. They mass manufacturer as many different models as they can, often confusing customers more than helping them. These companies also tout market share, out of date features, and price as selling points for their products.
Apple trumpets workmanship, design, functionality and integration as its selling points. That has led to mass adoption of its products in at least four major consumer markets.
While there was a time that Apple products were more expensive than its competitors, that’s not really the case anymore. iPhones, iPads, iPods and Macs are all priced in line with its competitors and in line with what people can afford, and are willing to pay.
Apple refuses to play the games of its competitors, which usually come in two ways:
1. Racing to price their products as low as they can
2. Adding as many features as they possibly can to say they have it.
It’s far easier to continue adding features to a product than to simplify its use while including the features that people want. As far as price goes, Apple doesn’t have to play in the race to the bottom — people want their products and will pay a fair price for them.
Like a Ferrari, Apple’s products are coveted by the people who buy them. For a long time users refused to switch out their white iPod headphones because they wanted everyone to know they had an iPod. Users show off their iPhones and iPads, because they are proud of them.
When your customers are proud to carry your products, you have won.
Fords, like Android phones, Dell and the rest of the industry mass produce copycat crap hoping people will buy it. These products lack innovation, design and thought.
In my opinion, Ford is actually doing a pretty good job of improving their cars from where they used to stand in the market. I think it would be better to compare it to Hyundai =P
Actually, Hyundai (and Kia since Hyundai bought them) has an excellent reputation for attractive, quality cars.
The first thing I thought when I saw this was how Ford sued Ferrari because they used the same name for a “vehicle” – one was an F1 car, other a pick up truck. So easy to mistake!
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-12417757
Bitter.
yeh, the Hyndais made in Alabama, the Sonata/Accent and Voloster and actually really well thought out and fantastic cars
So Jim, what do you drive? A Ferrari? Ferrari’s are extraordinarily expensive, impractical, unreliable and get horrible gas mileage. Are those trates you want to attribute to Apple? Most of us would be far better off driving a Ford that’s economical to own, gets great mileage and will get you to work and back in comfort and safety for decades. If your comparison was accurate I’d have a Windows 7 machine and an Android phone and tablet but I don’t. I have all Apple devices. I think you need a better analogy.
The core problem with these car analogies is that we are talking about an exclusive product that few can purchase (Ferraris) against an inclusive product that many millions can own (iPhones). Ferrari (or Mercedes or [insert your favorite expensive car maker here]) makes a very high-end product that is priced at the very high end and can realistically only be purchased by folks with high end incomes or bank accounts.
What would be more appropriate is if there were some car maker known for making affordable cars that were very highly polished and offered very real and significant advantages which are difficult to quantify. I’m guessing each person would have a different idea as to what car maker that might be.
The real challenge in talking about Apple is that Apple isn’t really “like” other companies. There are no easy comparisons. That in and of itself speaks to what makes the company and its products so fascinating.
Ferrari is a luxury brand. Apple is a premium brand. What’s the middle ground between Ferrari and Ford?
From what I read in the car mags lately, the “car maker known for making affordable cars that were very highly polished and offered very real and significant advantages which are difficult to quantify” is, well…Ford. The Fiesta, Focus, and Fusion have all been very well received, are perceived to have excellent design and build quality, and are reasonably priced, especially considering what you get. Sounds similar to Apple.
A more apt comparison is that WIN PC’s are Chryslers and Apple is BMW. It’s apt as BMW has the highest by far margins. While Chrysler sedans are nice, the are not the 300 series and never can fetch that premium pricing. It’s a combination of things. The main problem with WIN PC’s is simply the WIN OS has so devalued the experiences that users who are simply unwilling to apy the falt out minimum for the WIN OS – ook at netbooks, the ONLY regression in tech – slower and smaller everything – why? rck bottom pricing … why are people willing to pay up to $1,500 for a MB AIr but not a WIN PC? the OS is the major factor. What doesn’t hurt is world class design, UI, Os and free tech support for life. So, if the difference is a few hundred, it’s the MB all the way ANd now Apple has closed to gulf to $499 with an ipad that is killing the netboks. So when it’s a $200 difference, people in numbers are choosing the ipad – so unless PC sellers can make an ultrabook around $399 to $499, sales won’t top netbooks as buyers who can afford more will either buy an ipad or a MB Air … also because consumers know taht PC manufacturers cut corners on eveything down to the wiring … so why save a few hundred for a much less secure OS, poorly made coponents, no in store tech support for life and the marketing issues of having to answer why they are buying a mock MB Air … so lots of strikes against them being anything other minimal sellers and after the massive investment? the price cutting will begin in 2 weeks and then more component and support cuts. WIN PC’s – a slow march towards the bottom.
Yes, because comparing a company responsible for possibly the most aggressively mass-marketed consumer product in history, the iPhone, to a company who produce rare exclusive products for the elite rich is of course a completely sensible and balanced thing to do.
I like your car analogy. Look at the twats that drive Ferraris, people who buy the badge rather than the car.
And thus it flies in the face of the analogy referenced in the article, and puts us back to square one, I guess.
Jim, this is an interesting analogy, but maybe not completely apt. Ferrari vs. Ford has a different meaning for me because I remember when Ferrari and Ford were locked in battle in endurance sportscar racing back in the late 60’s. Ferrari had dominated endurance racing. I remember well because I watched the broadcast of the 24 Hours of Le Mans back when ABC used to broadcast racing on World Wide Sports. I watched those Ferrari-Ford battles and have vivid memories when Ford GTs first beat Ferrari 1-2-3 at Le Mans in 1966. Ford won again in 1967, 1968, and 1969. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ford_GT40
Of course, those Ford GTs were designed and built in England with some help from Carroll Shelby. Wasn’t quite a Detroit effort and had little to do with Ford’s production cars.
Maybe you mean Porsche vs. GM?
Did you ear this somewhere and elaborate on it?
Matthew@rudvs.com