Why Is Apple So Successful?

My first encounter with an Apple product was 10 years ago when I bought an iPod. My Sony Walkman went through batteries every week, could only hold one cassette at a time, was bulky, and the sound quality was poor. The iPod was revolutionary and my 2005 version is still working.

My second encounter with Apple was in 2010 when I bought an iPad in Apple's Boston store, just a few months after its launch. That iPad is still working and lasts 4-5 hours on a single charge, despite my son's best attempts at trying to destroy it.

My most recent encounter with Apple was when I got my first iPhone. How had I survived so long without it, I hear you ask. Again, I'm impressed. 

All of my Apple products are sleek, cool, easy to use, robust, durable and expensive. Apple produce quality products which sell at a premium price - this is one of the reasons why they have become the most-valued company ever in corporate history (and Carl Icahn thinks that Apple stock is still a bargain - click here). Amazingly, they have managed to become thus without having to raise much in the way of debt finance.

My colleague, Rob Gilles, has recently published an op-ed piece in The Conversation, where he argues that Apple's success is down to the power of networks. You can read Rob's article here.