Monday, June 27, 2011

Distribution Strategies


Apple and the iCloud

One of the key areas of diversification for every major technology corporation today lies in exploration and extraction of value from cloud computing.  This new phenomenon has different meanings for users and businesses, both of whom are exploring opportunities in being able to scale their operations by outsourcing data and IT requirements.
The Apple iCloud is the beginning of a new stream of Cloud Computing solution that will enable users to access software as a service and break from the realm of proprietary technological solutions that seldom seem to satisfy our true needs. The cloud will create an environment where you potentially never have the chance to lose access to your data and all Apple products from Macbook to iPhone as well as the iPad will have automatic synchronization between the cloud and their devices.  For example you can buy a song from iTunes on your iPad and arrive at home to see it already synced to your Macbook.


The iCloud offers Apple the opportunity to keep their status as the most popular destination for user content management by offering storage for music, documents and photos taken from any Apple device. This is a direct threat to services offered by Google and Amazon especially in the music space where Apple has the attention of the top 4 music labels because of their dominant position with iTunes. Their strategy towards integrating their services with the cloud will provide users with wireless uploading and convenience when using Apple devices. Apple also has licensing rights with the labels so there will never be an issue of infringement or piracy making it more secure for users to store their music on the cloud.
Whilst Google and Amazon have definitely obtained a first mover advantage, Apple’s penchant for a friendly user interface and their sheer scale and critical mass with their product portfolio (Macbook, iPhone, iPad) could edge out competition shortly. The iCloud will generate competitive advantage for small businesses that can use it for storage along with also being able to develop private clouds where they could have a network of documents, data and other information to propagate worldwide access for management. Management of enterprise servers and IT teams would be limited providing resources to small businesses as well as users to concentrate on core competencies while paying a fee to Apple for storage and management of such services. 
It isn’t only music that Apple’s iCloud is looking to dominate. Consider instant messaging, an area where Blackberry’s Messenger became synonymous with instant chat. Apple’s introduction of iMessage will allow users to send messages to any device features iOS (Apple’s OS) and allow group chats using the iCloud. In a general estimate the number of iPhones, iPad’s and Macbook’s unquestionably exceed RIM’s smartphone users, and thereby we see another platform for instant messaging being developed. The document management system by iCloud will allow users to store photos, apps and will be a direct competitor to the Google Chromebook challenging the dominance of Google in the cloud space. Given Apple’s reputation for security and their persistent desire to provide a great consumer experience; the iCloud will be a disruptive force that will distort the industry and could perhaps be a leading indicator that will make cloud based computing more acceptable.
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