Apple seems like an obvious choice for great strategy. However, being one of the first individuals to use cellphones when they were initially released in the 1990s, this is something else that I’m really passionate about. It was awful using Windows Mobile (the original version) on a touchscreen phone with a stylus. I like having access to my email and calendar on my phone. But I despised the fact that my phone was the size of a house and required ox-like strength to tap the screen before any input would register.
Thankfully, BlackBerry came along a few years later and began to manufacture phones that were not only smart, but also lot more useful. Sony Ericsson, Nokia, HTC, and a slew of other companies all launched decent smartphones before Apple debuted the iPhone in 2007.
When I arrived at work one day, my boss had managed to get his hands on one of the first iPhones to be released in the United Kingdom. I was taken aback. Normally, I was the first to accept a new technology. I was the one who demonstrated what the future will look like. And yet, here was this guy in his mid-fifties, wearing thick spectacles, demonstrating a piece of equipment I’d never seen before.
The iPhone is a masterstroke in this regard. Because there’s no genuine market in selling phones to nerds like me, every smartphone I’ve ever had has sucked in contrast to the iPhone. We’re too few and far between, and we’re either too poor or too frugal to invest in modern technology. Apple could have simply made a phone and sold it to me far sooner than it did. But that didn’t work out. Rather, it waited until the technology had matured to the point where it could be sold to my employer. Someone who isn’t quite as tech-savvy as I am. But he’s also a lot better off financially.
What can we learn from Apple’s experience?
The main takeaway here is that having first mover advantage isn’t always advantageous. A well-executed ‘follower’ approach will always beat a poorly-executed ‘first mover’ one. One of the most prevalent misunderstandings in the startup industry is that the most important thing is the ‘idea.’ The fact is that the most successful businesses in the world are rarely the first to innovate. Nokia, Kodak and Yahoo one of the greatest examples of this.
In fact, being first is probably more of a drawback than a benefit. Why?
- Your target market isn’t properly defined and isn’t even aware that your product category exists.
- If you have a market, it’s most likely the early adopters – a niche market by definition.
- Instead of propelling you forward, technology will keep you back.
- Everyone who comes after you will benefit from your errors because they will be able to learn from them.
People, particularly IT businesses, get carried away with the need to be first. However, you should consider if being a “first mover” or a “smart follower” is the ideal business strategy for you.
