How did Steve Jobs turn Apple around?
When Steve Jobs took the reins at Apple in 1997, the company was in tough shape. It had a bewildering array of products, no clear strategy, and was losing tens of millions of dollars every quarter.
Steve Jobs introducing the iPhone in 2007. (David Paul Morris/Getty Images)
Jobs acted decisively. He cancelled 70 percent of Apple's products and laid off more than 3000 people, turning a $1 billion loss in 1997 into a $300 million profit in 1998. Then he started work building products that became Silicon Valley legends:
- In 1998, Jobs unveiled the iMac. It sported a colorful, curvy look and was one of the most affordable computers Apple had ever made.
- In 2001, Apple released the iPod music player. Customers loved its elegant click-wheel interface. More importantly, the iPod worked seamlessly with iTunes, Apple's jukebox software for the Mac, making it easy to get music from CDs (and, later, from the iTunes music store) onto their iPods. By the end of the decade, Apple had sold more than 200 million iPods.
- Jobs announced the iPhone in 2007. It sported a revolutionary touchscreen interface that transformed mobile phones in much the same way the Macintosh had transformed personal computers 23 years earlier. Apple has sold 500 million iPhones.
- Apple expanded on the iPhone's success in 2010 with the iPad, a tablet computer based on the same software. Apple has sold 200 million iPads.
All of these products were crafted by Apple's top designer, Jony Ive. Jobs found a soul mate in Ive, and would visit Ive's studios on a daily basis to discuss the designs of forthcoming products. Jobs was a perfectionist, frequently rejecting work that wasn't up to his standards.
Jobs was a genius at marketing. He marked his return to Apple with a "Think Different" ad campaign that associated Apple with unconventional thinkers such as Albert Einstein and Mahatma Gandhi. He introduced new products at keynote addresses that became major media events in their own right. And he developed a chain of Apple Stores that ensured that Apple's products would be presented in a favorable light.
Jobs was also one of the savviest negotiators in Silicon Valley. He pulled off a major coup in 2003 by convincing the "big five" record labels to allow Apple to sell their music in the iTunes Music Store, helping to cement the popularity of the iPod.
Hi! I am UmEr Wa(Arshad), A part time blogger and love blogging. I am blogging since start of 2014. My main aim of blogging is to provide knowledge and my self experience to everyone. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0.- Way2hackie
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