Apple Innovation Innovative Strategy at Apple Inc.

Apple Innovation Innovative Strategy at Apple Apple Inc. is a company that is known worldwide as one of the most visionary and innovative companies in existence. This reputation is in spite of the near failure of the company during the mid-1990s, after its founding in 1976. What sets Apple apart from its competitors is the unique CEO and founder, Steve Jobs, who set a path for Apple that was based on excellence in both technology and design.

The mission statement of Apple is surprisingly simple; saying "Apple is committed to bringing the best personal computing experience to students, educators, and creative professionals and consumers throughout the world with its innovative hardware and software offerings. The visionary statement of Steve Jobs, however, is more telling of the principles that guide Apple. It goes, "Man is the creator of change in this world.

As such he should be above systems and structures, and not subordinate to them." (About.com, 2012) This sentence outlines the rebel spirit of the founder and the unique way of Apple. Apple sees itself as a force for technology and design in a world of beige boxes and ugly interfaces that were created for programmers, not for consumers. The big difference with Apple is their ability to seamlessly offer the consumer everything they need without error or delay.

The downside of this approach is Apple's tendency to control everything about their systems, now allowing for modification or outside applications. This goes along with Steve Jobs' idea that Apple's engineers know what is best for the consumer, and that limiting choices is actually good because it increases quality and ease of use.

Windows and the PC still control the majority of the computer marketplace because of these principles, but that is a difference that is important to note in Apple's values statements for the amount of control it offers to consumers. Apple is not just a computer company, as it has changed the world in many ways from the cell phone, to the television, to personal computers, to music, and even to the Internet itself. The strategic accomplishments of Apple are many, but three stand out.

The first is music; in the late 1990s, all Internet music was delivered through several various outlets, with no central way to organize or even to pay for new music. Illegal downloading flourished as a result, and the entire music industry was unsure of what actions it could take to remedy this situation. iTunes changed this by providing a centralized music downloading and listening program for PC and Mac, as well as ownership over the music that could be transferred to new computers and software.

With iTunes came Apples second big innovation, the iPod, which was the first big and easily accessed mp3 player, and came at a reasonable price. The iPod solidified Apple as a game changing player in the mobile computing space, and drove innovation for the future. The iPhone,.