With its growth phase grinding to a halt, investors are ditching Apple’s former orchard for greener pastures. Unfortunately for Tim Cook, this means he is no longer perched atop the world’s most valuable company. Apple’s market cap lead over runner-up Exxon has been steadily eroding since the dizzying highs of September 2012. Now the also-ran oil megacorp is snubbing its nose at Cook &Co., taunting the familiar old schoolyard chant, “Slow and steady wins the race!“.
It would be silly to suggest Apple is in its death throws. They’re still hammering shut the crates on the company’s best quarter ever. Yet the parallels to Microsoft during its meteoric rise in the late 90’s before leveling off are all too apparent. This is what happens when bean-counters usurp the visionaries in growing companies.
Innovate -> Saturate -> Litigate -> Stagnate
Unless Apple can find a way to bring something new and exciting to market again, they’re doomed to repeat history as so many companies have before them (GM, IBM, Blackberry – we’re looking at you). Releasing catch-up products like like the iPhone 5 and iPad Mini is a consequence of the company slipping into a reactive development phase, willing to fall in line rather than stand at the head of it.
So without a new game-changer to tip the market on it’s ear, poor old Apple will have to settle for being a gigantic, successful and extremely profitable company for at least the next decade. Not bad for second place.