Apple’s fall from leading to lagging brand or something

Scott Davis writes for Forbes, “To start, I am an Apple fanatic.”

MacDailyNews Take: Uh oh, here we go.

“So, it is with sadness and a bit of disbelief that I now have to admit something that I never thought I would: Apple is no longer a leader,” Davis writes. “Apple has become a challenger that now needs to look up to other leaders across the multiple categories it competes in and figure out what to do next. And the answers aren’t clear.”

Davis writes, “Yes, Apple has the largest market cap in the world (although it continues to plummet).”

MacDailyNews Take: Wrong. Apple’s market cap currently stands at $369.62 billion. Exxon Mobil’s is $400.35 billion.

“In the war for perceptions, the war for coolness, the war for technological ingenuity, the war for who is most clever or who garners the highest degrees of anticipation, Apple is falling way short,” Davis writes. “And if Samsung, Windows, Google Android, Amazon and others have anything to say about it, Apple will never reach that leader perch again.”

MacDailyNews Take: Yes, Apple’s perpetual followers are now somehow leading in “cleverness” and other immeasurable, unprovable intangibles. But, remember, Scott is an “Apple fanatic,” so what he scribbles is gospel.

Davis writes, “In fact, making fun of Apple is becoming a sport for all of the above by making them seem out of date, made for ‘old people’ or just plain old ‘uncool.’ And the tech giant isn’t doing itself any favors with its new “’Made in California’ campaign… I see it as a frantic, faux-patriotic yearning for a time that is long gone, targeted to no one in particular, trying to reclaim a positioning from years’ past with no new innovation to back up the claim (with the exception of the iPad mini, which has already been successfully de-positioned by Kindle and Samsung).”

“Bottom line, brands are built on deeds and actions, not words,” Davis writes. “In fact, I’m left wondering what Apple’s done for me lately and hoping against hope that they’ll follow this benign campaign with the kind of kick-ass innovation that will leave customers and pundits like me gasping for air. You know – making touchscreen Apple TVs or finding a way to slip Siri, along with other technology, into an Apple watch.”

MacDailyNews Take: Yes, it’s the dream of “Apple fanatics” everywhere to smear their paws all over their “Apple TVs” (as if the product doesn’t already exist; without a screen at all, of course).

Davis writes, “Thus, Apple seems to be seriously close to slipping into challenger brand mode here, looking up to the leader in the category and wondering what they can do to usurp a new dominating leader’s position. Whether it is the iPhone looking up at Samsung, iRadio looking up at Pandora/Spotify, or iWatches looking up to Nike, Apple needs to come up with several silver bullets to build back lost relevance and ultimately inspire, influence and compel once again.”

Read more in the full article here.

MacDailyNews Take: Holy Mother of Jobs, there are some severe ignoramuses on this rock!

Regardless, Apple has been taking beaucoup asskickery from all angles. Anytime Apple and their so-called PR department wants to take their thumbs out of their asses and start fighting back, have at it – even if it is at least six months late and counting.