THE ECOSYSTEM WAR
My ecosystem addiction and now I see what Apple, Google and Amazon are up to!
Barring my first Nokia 2200 in 2008, followed by a few years of Blackberry, I have been an Android girl from One Plus to Xiaomi to Nexus (each handset brought to its inevitable doom each year by these buttery fingers). That is until 2016, when I switched to iPhone 6, thanks to husband’s Apple fandom.
One thing led to another and before we knew, we had an iPad (what else would one take on flights and travels?), I then felt compelled to buy an Apple Pencil (although still new to doodling, it seemed like a fun little tool for just under a hundred). Apple watch was my new year gift (as was my new obsession with closing circles). Apple TV was a must now (streaming videos from our iPhones was never easier and I loved how the remote matched our minimal decor). And who doesn’t have a pair of those ridiculous AirPods these days (I was never much for jewellery anyway)!
And then when I recently decided to get a new personal laptop, it was a no brainer to go for MacBook. It didn’t even occur to me to compare other products in the market. The thought of buying a PC didn’t even cross my mind, although I have always used Windows and much more used to that experience over MacOS. And that’s when it struck me — that’s the point of it all, isn’t it!?
It is a race to create an ecosystem; and that’s the game all the biggies have been playing. Cover all the bases — from devices to platforms to the very internet that they all run on, that it becomes a part of your life so inconspicuously, it doesn’t even seem like it’s there — archetypal of great products I say! It’s about making consumers so used to an ecosystem that it appears vital to your existence, that getting out of it feels like hard work. So why would I, even think about getting a PC (although cheaper and equivalent config.), when I can airdrop my stuff across all my Apple devices. This seemingly rudimentary convenience suddenly had an eventful relevance in my life as I surprised myself with my willingness to pay a massive $$ premium. Wait, am I that customer? I am certainly not! Wait, am I? What would my mother-in-law think of my exorbitant spends! :O
So that’s how I realized first-hand, the power of an ecosystem and what this whole Google, Amazon, Apple war is all about. It was then, that I could peer at the tale behind hardware companies’ yearning to make softwares and software companies’ hankering to get their hands dirty with hardware operations.
APPLE
While the end goal might be the same, the path taken to get there is evidently different across the three giants. As an onlooker and a consumer, Apple’s (a hardware company) strategy seems to be that of leveraging services to lock-in consumers to its extended hardware range and gain market share as iPhone and MacBook stagnate in growth (think free Apple TV content as a lure to buy the device itself or who knows, free Apple Music subscription soon actuating an investment into HomePod for the best sound experience?).
Google (a software company) on the other hand is making swift headway in its endeavors to get more hardware out there with a host of new introductions with my favorite being Home Hub, as it helps to inch the company closer to the ecosystem goal. I won’t be surprised if they venture into white appliances soon. With Google’s software game being much stronger (superior features and functionalities) but the hardware positioning a bit under works, it will be interesting to watch this bout between these two Silicon Valley neighbours.
AMAZON
However, Apple’s and Google’s premium positioning and refusal to play into commodities leaves ample space for players like Amazon to explore the base of the pyramid. Taking advantage of this wide opening, Amazon’s strategy seems to be that of undercutting everyone on prices with its private label appliances and a heavy banking on voice recognition technology. The end state as I imagine, would be Amazon microwaves and refrigerators auto-heating and freezing your food at your voice command (the food that Alexa auto-ordered via Amazon Fresh in the first place). This is but of course, a start. Their limited success with Fire Phone is definitely a problem to be solved, limiting remote connectivity and controls.
(Without straying too far from our focus three, is FB Portal headed towards the same fate as Amazon Fire? Missed the “tornado” anyone? Food for thought.)
IN SUMMARY,
So many different paths, but all with the ultimate vision of having a software and hardware ecosystem so comprehensive, seamless and integrated that your food gets re-heated and your house gets cleaned at the sound of your voice, that your home security is guaranteed no matter where you are, that the most appropriate music plays automatically in your parties, that your organic food is auto ordered and delivered at your doorstep, that you find a friend in your Alexa/Siri/Google/Cortana (yes MS gets a mention) who completes your sentences, and who knows, might fill in for your therapist tomorrow — you get the picture!
And that’s the momentous battle that these giants are in for — to get you so dependent on whichever ecosystem you self select into, that getting out of it will not seem like an option. Once booked, the incremental effort to get the customer out of an ecosystem is huge. Once hooked, it’s easy to upsell yet another device that you might not need but yet you think you do. These ecosystems is how companies make money — retention is the name of the game, upgrades are due every two years ensuring repeats as the vicious cycle continues.
Meenu
P.S. With gloomy tech-slavery thoughts and Black Mirror snapshots in my head, I am off to pick up yet another piece of technology. A girl needs her MacBook after all and my mom-in-law would understand.
Related
Originally published at theproductphilomath.com on November 19, 2018.
