Apple's brains are starting to drain away

Money matters. No matter how much Silicon Valley types talk about the joys of working for an innovative company, at the end of the day it's really about money. That's why startups and mature companies alike offer stock options as a perk to lure the best and brightest. It shouldn't be a huge surprise, then, to learn that the collapse of Apple's stock price is beginning to hurt morale at the company.
Although it's probably more a trickle than a flood, it appears that rank-and-file engineers and developers are leaving Apple as their retirement accounts melt like snow in the drought-stricken Sahara, says Trip Chowdhry, principal analyst of Global Equities Research. "Recruiters are seeing more and more employees from Apple applying for jobs at Google, LinkedIn, Facebook, and even HP," he says.
[ Apple's perceived innovation has also taken a hit -- Galen Gruman tells why it's not necessarily true. | Stay ahead of the key tech business news with InfoWorld's Today's Headlines: First Look newsletter. ]
Apple is hardly suffering a near-death experience, and anyone who says so isn't worth listening to. The company makes a lot of money, sits on a huge pile of cash, and sells millions of products every month. But it is suffering a crisis of perception. And like money, perceptions matter.
Consider the very cool reception for iOS 7. Admittedly it's still in beta, but the outlines of the new mobile OS are clear, and it's not going to be a smash hit. (My colleague Galen Gruman agrees, seeing it not as a "oh my God" upgrade but as a smart evolution of Apple's underlying services business, part of a long-term direction from a tech company that still thinks in the long term.) Even if it's better than the digerati give it credit for, there is a perception that Apple has lost its innovative edge and iOS 7 is a symptom of creative fatigue.
Apple is a victim of its own successIn a sense, Apple is a victim of its own success and the wildly optimistic expectations of fanboys and investment bankers alike. The company created great products that quite literally changed the world and for years seemed to have a lock on the mobile market. As a result, Wall Street, which so often lacks a sense of proportion, vastly overvalued the company.
Just 10 months ago, Apple's stock was trading at $700 a share, a frothy valuation that could probably never be supported by a realistic sense of the company's earnings potential. As of this week, shares are worth about $420, a plunge of 40 percent. I believe that the current price is too low and is yet another example of Wall Street's naive herd mentality.

http://www.infoworld.com/d/the-industry-standard/apples-brains-are-starting-drain-away-222475

Apple’s Business Unit Strategy

Admiring Apple for only its well-designed products and clever commercials is only scratching the surface. Apple is actually a great case study on brilliant business modeling. Apple treats every product as its own business unit. What this means is that every product line could exist as its own standalone store. Even though all Apple products fit into each other in some way, every Apple product also has to standalone in terms of generating revenue.
Apple’s free iTunes software is a good example of business unit success. The iTunes software isn’t just an application that plays music. The iTunes software is the gateway to the iTunes Store where consumers can subscribe to podcasts, purchase ebooks, and download applications. Since it also runs on Windows, you don’t need to own an Apple device to use it. In fact, you don’t even need to own an mp3 device to use it. Although iTunes is free, it has literally generated billions of dollars in revenue.
The iPad is another good example. To upgrade its operating system and to backup the software, you will need to actually sync it to a computer using the free iTunes software. In the end, however you actually don’t need to own a computer to own the iPad because the iPad is a computer all by itself. The iPad has its own line of applications that can be purchased and installed straight onto the iPad through the built in Apple App Store. Books and music can also be purchased straight onto the iPad using the built in iTunes Store application. In this sense, the iPad is a portable cash cow for Apple. And let’s not forget the billions of collars in commission that Apple gets for every iPad accessory that is on the market.
Take a look at your own products and services, and examine if they could standalone as a business unit. Think about the kinds of accessories that could go with your product, or how you could provide add-ons to your services. Even your website should stand up to this scrutiny. Just like the Apple website, your website should be its own revenue generating business unit, and not just a collection of words. Look at your business through the Apple lens to see how you can maximize revenue for every product and service in your business.