S teve Jobs was a busy man at the Apple Expo in Paris last week. In addition to delivering the keynote at the event, and introducing new PowerBooks during that keynote, he also granted several interviews to UK newspapers in attendance. Another such interview surfaced over the weekend in the Independent. In this interview, Mr. Jobs is quoted as saying that his company would like more market share, and that Apple is the innovation leader in the industry. He also offers up the standard BMW/Ford analogy in discussing market share later in the article. From the Independent.
We would like to see our market share grow," Steve Jobs, Appleis chief executive, admitted to The Independent on Sunday last week at the Apple Expo held in Paris. But he argued: "Our strategy is to innovate. We are the innovator of the industry. Most of our competitors try to copy us. Our strategy has worked really well for us."
Others agree. "Apple is not going to be a vendor that can buy market share, or one that can easily enter new markets," suggests Ranjit Atwal, PC industry analyst at the research firm Gartner. "It is concentrating on its existing markets, and on making sure its average selling price and revenues make it viable. Volume isnit its game."
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"If you went to BMW and asked them why they donit outsell the Ford Taurus, they would say they donit want to make that sort of car," says Mr Jobs. "Apple has 25 million customers around the world, and our goal is to give them the best personal computer that we can, with the best operating system and some of the best applications."
There is a lot more information in the full article, as it talks about the G5, the iPod, and many other issues related to Apple.