“”We hire people who want to make the best things in the world….” – Steve Jobs
Dreams they say can come true……if you work hard at it.
The late computer wizard Steve Jobs died in 2011, but he never stopped dreaming about creating the “computer for the rest of us.”
That dream was Apple. No! not apple fruit!!
From a dingy garage located in Stanford, Jobs co-founded Apple with the aim of changing the worlds of computing, music and mobile communications.
The iPhone, iPod, iPad and Mac computers are some of the legacies that have broken so many grounds in the geek world….and for the rest of us.
This week, Apple broke higher grounds by attaining a market value of $1 trillion.
Within the business world, this is a huge bomb because no American privately-owned company has ever crossed the trillion dollar mark.
Its shares rose to 2.9% to close at $207.39 in the New York stock exchange.
The story of Apple is a rather iconic one.
From attaining high-grounds to hitting near-bankruptcy, Apple has survived the murky waters of start-ups, fluctuating investor confidence and outright amazement and passion of consumers.
Why Apple has survived
Innovation. That word says it all. And at the heart of this drive was Steve Jobs.
In 1985 an angry Jobs left following a huge fall-out with John Sculley and the board over operational approach and other differences.
Twelve years later, a dying Apple once again turned to Steve Jobs to stop the collapse.
Bringing along ready-to-do-it assistants, Jobs set out to deliver cutting-edge products that wouls out-muscle other competitors and win back sagging consumers.
Build small products that have just about everything in it for users.
The rest they say, is history.
Up came the iPod portable digital audio player in 2001; two years later the iTunes Store rolled in.
Job’s wasn’t even yet started.
He threw in the iPhone handset in 2007 and further disrupted the consumer market scene with the iPad tablet computer in 2010.
Successor’s consistency
The death of Steve Jobs from cancer in 2011 shook the company, with many fearing Apple had lost it’s creative guru.
In reality, he knew his time had come, but not without leaving a worthy successor – Tim Cook.
His hands were full, could he fit in to Job’s shoes?
In 2015 while delivering a speech at the graduation ceremony of George Washington University, Cook said:
“His (Job) vision for Apple was a company that turned powerful technology into tools that were easy to use, tools that would help people realise their dreams and change the world for the better.
“Our products do amazing things and, just as Steve envisioned, they empower people all over the world.”
Having been part of Steve Job’s Apple revival in the 90s, Cook followed the innovative, gloves-are-off approach of his mentor, and indeed Apple has consolidated.
Some of the products that have hit the market under Cook’s ice-cold direction are:
Borrower, Investor
While focusing on improving product features, Cook also ensured Apple never went back to the days of financial slump by turning profits into credit.
This move fetched the company over $200 billion in dividends, which in-turn have been ploughed back into research and development.
What must the Nigerian tech scene do?
The Apple story is no doubt a lesson for Nigerian tech companies – innovation, market exploration, investment drive and service diversification must be the watchword.
Indeed, the Nigerian techies must have a bite out of the Apple playbook!