Apple’s Product Line Is a Mess
The company used to stand for something. Now it’s just chasing profits.
Remember the days when Tim Cook would brag about how Apple’s product line could fit on a single table? It would be much harder to make that claim today.
There’s no arguing that Cook has delivered for Apple’s shareholders. The company’s share price has soared, profits are generally on an upward trend, and Apple recently became the first public company to hit a $1 trillion valuation. Cook has also funneled plenty of Apple’s cash into stock buybacks to boost its share price and increase the dividend. And his several-year campaign to get the U.S. government to slash corporate taxes finally paid off late last year, freeing up even more money to enrich wealthy shareholders.
Consumers, on the other hand, haven’t been quite so fortunate. The company’s prices keep going up as wages stagnate for most Americans, creating a need for differentiation between cheaper and more expensive products. No longer do the barista and the corporate executive use the same iPhone — today, there are high-end models, consumer models, and a long line of old products the company keeps around to fill every niche and price point.
Whatever your opinion of Jobs, particularly in light of new details on how he treated his first…
