I am thinking the same way along your lines.
Jobs help bring the company back from death but it passed the point were his strong arm control was not healthy for the long term in Apple.
If only there were numbers to support your statement. Once again, there aren't any. If you're this worried about Apple and if you were that critical of Apple under Jobs, then you should sure as hell be worried sick about folks like RIM, Acer, HP, etc. They aren't doing a fraction as well as Apple, yet their lousy, backward strategies somehow go unquestioned.
I am hoping Cooks stop the bleeding in the markets that kept Apple afloat during the dark times instead of Jobs FU to that same group.
Apple doesn't play in dead/unprofitable markets. Apple creates tech for everyone. They either address the wider base or they're asking for trouble. Others address a very wide base as well, but Apple keeps strict control over their licensing which means they can then go ahead and achieve a level of differentiation that is unmatched in the industry.
Those "dark times" of the 90s represent markets that have changed radically over the years. The markets which Apple plays in today and makes their most money from today are
actually the ones that matter for everyone, in terms of future growth.
Right now Apple is pretty much nearly a complete consumer company.
Exactly what they should be.
While that is great for profits
Which is really the only reason to run a business.
at the same time it is very risky
There is virtually nothing in the tech industry that isn't risky. For ways to handle and manage risk, just look at what Apple is doing.
because what is hot today can easily be cold tomorrow.
The business you're in today can be reinvented tomorrow. Everyone must reinvent themselves. Tech is changing. Even specialized, niche markets. There is no niche market that is today immune from the sea-changes that take place in the wider consumer markets. It all filters and branches outward to niche segments.
And those niche segments are also changing, and are being integrated with the wider consumer segments. The average person a few years ago would be hard-pressed to do any advanced level of photo-editiing, especially without purchasing ridiculously expensive software and having to put up with serious learning curves.
Now, in the span of only a few years, look at the kind of power that has been put into Joe Average's hands. It's incredible. You can even do, with some iOS apps, things that were a few years ago only possible with much more complex and expensive software.
The line between "Pro" and "Consumer" has been blurred to an unprecedented degree. Hence, today we have what is known as the "Prosumer." And these Prosumers are growing in number and strength every day. Guess who is serving them? Apple. Apple is one of the major driving forces in the Prosumer market. The Pro market is dwindling. The Prosumer market is expanding rapidly.
The skills that at one point were hard-earned and rare (Pro skills) are being steadily, slowly but surely, acquired by even average users with a little time and curiosity. As tech becomes much more accessible to Joe Average, those skills that were once prized in the industry will eventually become commonplace. What took a lot of skill yesterday can be easily accomplished and on a larger scale today, due to increased exposure and access that Joe Average, and for that matter you and I, are enjoying. It all filters down due to increased access.
While Apple is hot and has been for a while in the consumer market that market can just as easy turn cold on them and they already thrown away any fall backs to keep them going.
You keep saying this. Like, constantly. Why has the consumer market not turned cold on Apple for all these years (while it has chewed up other players)? Apple simply did what was necessary to create great products and keep up development, and re-invent parts of their business when necessary.
You act as if the brain-trust at Apple are completely oblivious that their company must change with the times. This is obvious, elementary stuff.
Want to stave off stagnation? Ok. Do what you need to to
avoid stagnation. It's part of doing business.
This means getting back in to the pro market it.
No, it does not. The 'Pro" market is not the same market that Apple "got out of" years ago. It has changed. And it is no longer a market that can sustain anyone exclusively. At all. Especially with the Rise of the Prosumer. The traditional "Pro" market is slowly dying. It is, rather, changing. It is becoming integrated with the consumer market, and Prosumers are making it happen.
Retreating into what were the specialized standbys of yesteryear is pretty insane and a recipe for serious limitation in the scope and breadth of anyone's business. Because there in time will be no specialized, niche markets at all in consumer tech, and that includes the "Pro" segment. We will all have access to them, with better tools that will be far easier to use.
Getting into the enterprise market and getting some strong hold there.
This I can perhaps agree with. It's already happening. We need to keep in mind, however, that the enterprise market is usually a few steps back from the consumer market, not even counting the fact that it is far different in scope and purpose.
Apple is already making headway here, via tech that is being introduced and pushed at a grass-roots level. It isn't coming from traditional IT departments. The enterprise, in a few key instances, is being forced to integrate the tools that employees *want* to use. There is a silent movement going on, against the dictates of traditional IT departments.
profitable while Jobs was down for the count. So you think Cook is gonna pull a Maximus, "Are you not entertained?! Are you not entertained!?!" Leave marketing to the marketing guys. He just needs to be the man behind the curtain.
