Apple's market capitalization is getting closer and closer to the three trillion dollar mark. Analysts have sorted out Apple's strategic advantages and core barriers countless times, and it seems that all wall Street is waiting for the birth of the world's first "3 trillion stocks". Overseas well-known financial website investortopedia published an article pointing out the three major weaknesses of Apple.
Ecosystem closure
Since the first iPhone came out in 2007, it has not supported any third-party apps. Many fans see Apple's tight control of software and services and its firm closure of the ecosystem as the company's main strength. But overall, this puts an additional burden on Apple's development cycle, as software, security, and many other details become its internal responsibilities.
According to Andrew Beattie, apple's biggest revenue comes from hardware. Closed ecosystems force them to participate in almost all businesses, such as operating system updates and managing third-party applications. This is in stark contrast to Samsung, which has been able to focus on hardware iteration and device design innovation by accessing the Android ecosystem.
Innovation is stuck in the air
The iPhone13 made a big fuss about memory and screen refresh rates, and AR/VR headsets and car-building projects were slow to progress. Apple's most criticized in the past 5 years is the lack of product innovation.
The market has extremely high expectations for every new apple product. Beattie believes this could ultimately prove to be the company's weakness. High consumer expectations mean apples can't deliver experimental products or services, and any failed innovation will damage its brand image.
This situation makes it difficult for Apple to innovate quickly in the field of services like Google, or to iterate quickly in the field of hardware like Samsung. Apple had to rely on the advanced awareness of its leadership and employees to make its products lead the market at a relatively slow iterative pace.
But Beattie pointed out that although Apple leads in most product lines, its lead has not expanded. The products of Samsung and other companies have firmly bitten Apple with rapid hardware iteration and design upgrades. This will be a potential threat to Apple.
Management lacks leadership
Jobs has been out of office for more than 10 years, and apple's core product to drive revenue growth is still the iPhone. After the Jobs era, Apple's main product, the Apple Watch, did not reach the height of the iPhone.
Apple's current CEO, Tim Cook, is a qualified manager who, under whose leadership, Apple's market capitalization has risen from $349 billion all the way to near the $3 trillion mark. But there is a significant difference between running a company that has established a dominant position in the market and running one of the most innovative companies and keeping it the most innovative in the world.
The article concludes by mentioning that Apple needs to go back to the pace of innovation of the Jobs era, otherwise the company will not be able to meet the high expectations of its core customers. If the brand is eroded, competitors will continue to narrow the gap between their products and Apple, and Apple will no longer be able to maintain a high premium in products and services.