Fast Company Begins Open Season on Apple

By Jennifer Hopfinger
December 12, 2007 03:25 PM

Any business journalist who has ever written anything remotely negative about Apple can attest to the extraordinary indignation of Mac fanatics. No other company seems to have such a defensive following, capable of producing so many reporter-bashing emails. I understand the passion. I love Macs. I've owned several of them. I'm on my third iPod. I want the iPhone for Christmas. And I hope Apple continues cranking out cool stuff for me to buy. But Fast Company raises questions about Apple's future that are important enough to endure the barrage of criticism from Mac lovers that will surely follow.

It's hard to rain on Apple's parade these days because times have never been better for the company--sales, earnings and stock performance are all through the roof, iPods and iPhones are booming in popularity, Macs are gobbling up market share and the new Leopard operating system has been greeted with much more enthusiasm than Microsoft's Vista. But Fast Company reminds, in its December issue cover story, "Open Season on Apple," by Adam L. Penenberg, that the higher you climb, the farther you stand to fall. The article reports on industry competitors who are feverishly working to bring Apple down with PCs and gadgets that are just as slick and just as stylish.

Penenberg points out the limitations of Apple's products--PCs are cheaper, some MP3 players have better audio--nothing new here. And he concedes that Apple products are coveted because they're simply gorgeous: "It's the interface--the user's interaction with the devices--and the exquisite wrapping that have separated Apple products from the great unwashed."

But beware: "The company has built up expectations that will be by no means easy to satisfy. You don't have to be a contrarian investor to see that Apple's 2008 may be a good deal tougher than 2007, especially when you consider that it introduced three new products this year (iPhone, touch-screen iPod and Leopard), a hard pace to match going forward." In an interesting sidebar, Penenberg looks at some of Apple's recent patent applications--including a potential universal home entertainment remote control device--to get a clue into how the company might maintain that blistering pace.

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Copyright © 2008 Donald W. Reynolds National Center for Business Journalism