“Some 15 years ago, Steve Jobs’ introduced a novel strategy for Apple to follow in all its products: all computer users would be divided into two segments: professionals and consumers,” David Morgenstern reports for ZDNet.
“For each segment, the company would offer products in two categories: desktop and mobile, which at the time meant portables (laptops),” Morgenstern reports. “Surprisingly, this simple grid continues — with some slight modifications — with Apple’s latest lineup. The forthcoming new version of the Mac Pro, announced this week to ship in December, will finally give Mac professionals a chance to fit into Apple’s classic strategic grid. They’ve been waiting a good while.”
“The introduction of the new Mac Pro will restore the classic grid introduced by Steve Jobs at the Macworld Expo in San Francisco. His spare division of the market and Apple’s product strategy appears to mostly be holding,” Morgenstern reports. “Of course, mobility must now be subdivided into three platforms: laptops, iPads and iPhones. So, the four-square grid would nowadays be a long rectangle with 8 slots, still with only the two segments (professional, consumer) but now with four platforms: desktop computing, laptop computing (mobile desktops), tablets and smart phones.”
Read more in the full article here.