Measure the Right Things in Your Firm
It is very interesting that in the quarter which took Apple to the $1 trillion market cap, it actually lost the second spot (of most shipped phones) to Huawei. This is a clear evidence that value is not just in all metrics. The key to success is measuring the right things. Indeed, Apple is measuring and winning on the rights things: sustained profitability through superior products that command good margins.
China-based Huawei took the second-place spot from Apple in a tightening global smartphone during the second quarter of this year, according to figures released Tuesday by International Data Corporation.
South Korean consumer electronics titan Samsung remained the top smartphone maker, shipping 71.5 million handsets, but Huawei moved into second position with shipments of 54.2 million, according to IDC Worldwide Quarterly Mobile Phone Tracker.
Silicon Valley-based Apple shipped 41.3 million iPhones, claiming 12.1 percent of the global market compared to 20.9 percent for Samsung and 15.8 percent for Huawei
That 12.1% is very huge: it created huge value, giving the company moments in the record books.
Apple became America’s first $1 trillion company.Shares of the iPhone maker rose above $207.05, pushing its market capitalization past the historic milestone. Chinese oil giant PetroChina reached $1 trillion in market cap in 2007, and Saudi oil firm Aramco is valued at $2 trillion, but is not yet public.
It's about the right things indeed, just understand your target market and go after it. You do not need to be all over the place to make a telling impact.
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Apple will remain Apple because you can never rule out 'class difference' in human nature, it doesn't matter if there's so much noise or activism against it; there will always be hierarchical status. Those who are making due with their middle class position are working towards moving to the super rich end of the ladder.
Apple's ecosystem is such that it doesn't need to sell more smartphones than its rivals for it to take preeminent position, rather it's about differentiation, making it clear that if it's not iPhone or Apple services, it cannot be.
Once you understand your market in that light, you do not really have competitors, rather your only competition is to outdo yourself each quarter or year, by continuous innovation.
