Sustaining Market Leadership Is No Easy Feat
Gone are the days of a monopolistic rule where leaders in a given segment could afford to not innovate once they reached the pinnacle. For example, Microsoft long enjoyed its sucess in personal computing, Google in the browser and search world, and Apple in the mobile computing space. Today, a sustained win that can bring about complacency is not possible. If Amazon thrives in the web services and cloud world, so does Microsoft to provide competition. If Apple thrives as the preferred player in the mobile space, so does Google. In addition, there are several smaller ventures trying to give the bigwigs a run for their money. They are also working on building an edge for themselves in newer areas, such as IoT, augmented reality, driverless cars, and drones to keep their innovation pipeline strong.
Specifically looking at Apple and its iPhone track record, the organization has come under a lot of scrutiny in recent times as to whether it is becoming a victim of its own success. iPhone 7 just launched with a lot of expectations, and Apple continues to showcase its sales numbers as being the best ever. Yet year after year, questions arise as to whether the market is exhausted and if the user base will show the same enthusiasm as in the past. Surveys asking users if they'll make the move to the new model are already out there. Questions that linger are mainly around whether the camera upgrades, design, and display updates are sufficient enough for a large user base to switch and warrant the price of the new device.
In management studies, FDH (Fat, Dumb and Happy) is a syndrome that adversely impacts innovation. No matter how successful an organization may be with a specific suite of products, in today’s market dynamics such success is short-lived if you are not already thinking about “what next?” The “what next” has to be two pronged in approach, not only aligned towards the industry and end user needs, but also towards trying something radically new to pull the industry in that direction. In addition, the focus on end user satisfaction with the current set of live applications, its engineering, and its quality also has to be top notch.
Sustaining market leadership in today’s dynamic environment is no easy feat. While it has the benefits of attracting top talent, allowing better access to funds, enabling greater geographical reach, and the ability to influence the market, the downsides include constant scrutiny by analysts, high visibility among end users and competition, and forcing the organization to constantly give its best. All of these things help build a market with a mix of healthy competitors, making it truly a survival of the fittest.
