New product development failures and causes

New Product Failures

Analysis of Three New Product Failures

Apple Newton

The Newton quickly became a product symbol of what happens when Apple attempted to get away from its strengths of innovation based on exceptional design and strove to create products out of their areas of expertise. The Newton failed because it did not reflect the best attributes of the Apple culture of innovation and quantum leaps in aesthetics, performance and usability (Rosen, Schroeder, Purinton, 1998). This was the first and most significant shortcoming of the Newton. It failed to be in alignment with the product development process inside Apple.

Second, its pricing, which ranged from $700 to over $1,000, was in retrospect higher than many of Apple's lower-end laptops of today. Pricing was also completely out of touch with the reality of the Apple customer base, may of which were more focused on paying for an exceptional user experience in their products and less on the note pad like functionality this very expensive device delivered.

Third, the promotional efforts did help to define the Personal Digital Assistant (PDA) market when this product launched in 1993 (Rosen, Schroeder, Purinton, 1998). Apple product reviewers have been kind to call it prescient, yet the basic functionality of the operating system delivered a wake-up call to Apple which would later pay off in the success of the iPhone and iPad. Speed, deep functionality, integration and connectivity are effortless in the current Apple operating systems, all lessons learned from the Apple Newton failures.

EuroDisney

The failure of EuroDisney is attributable to many factors, not the least of which is Disney's ethnocentric attitude about global growth (Curwen, 1995). Disney ran the entire project from Burbank, California with little initial input from the French partners who purchased the site and also signed up hotel and entertainment partners. The theme park was designed by Americans anticipating what French customers would want. Only after the park nearly failed and had to get a bail-out from the French government did Disney put a Frenchman in charge of the entire park.

Second, the promotional programs, merchandise, selection of rides, and lack of insight into food and drink concessions appalled the French. Disney forbid wine or beer being served in the park, yet these two beverages are commonly found everywhere in France; they are comparable to American soft drinks. The incorrect mix of concessions and services also alienated customers, as did their negative press from the French media. The lack of cultural sensitivity and focus led to EuroDisney only attaining 5% of their anticipated volume on opening day. If all of these problems with the marketing of the concept to the government, selection of leaders, definition of concessions and rides weren't enough, the pricing was outside the range of what many French families could afford. In the first years of its existence, Disney partnered with high-end rail service Eurostar to get families from England, which had a strong conversion rate with the British Pound, to visit. This further angered the French, and also made Disney appear elitist, which is a big problem in France, which prizes its egalitarianism. It has since cost Disney well over $1B to manage their way out of this problem (Curwen, 1995).

Microsoft Windows Vista

Introduced in January, 2007, Windows Vista is easily the worst operating system produced in the last ten years. It is an amalgamation of features, many of which were incomplete at the time this operating system shipped, yet were included anyway to make this product appear more fully featured. The lack of product focus has led to this operating system being recalled by many Fortune 500 companies including Dell, a major Microsoft OEM. The quality problems became so bad that corporations began paying to downgrade their systems to Windows XP (Weiss, 2006).