Honza Dvorsky He needed about five years ago Johny Ive, head of design at Apple, to add a new feature to the MacBook: a small green light next to the front camera. That would signal her on. However, due to the MacBook's aluminum body, light would have to be able to pass through the metal - which is not physically possible. So he summoned the best engineers in Cupertino to help. Together, they figured out that they could use special lasers that would carve tiny holes in the metal, invisible to the eye, but allowing light to pass through. They found an American company that specializes in the use of lasers, and after slight modifications, their technique could serve the given purpose.
Although one such laser costs approximately 250 dollars, Apple convinced the representatives of this company to conclude an exclusive contract with Apple. Since then, Apple has been their loyal customer, purchasing hundreds of such laser devices that make it possible to create glowing green dots in keyboards and laptops.
Apparently, few people have ever stopped to think about this detail. However, the way in which the company solved this problem is symbolic of the entire functioning of the production chain of Apple products. As head of the manufacturing organization, Tim Cook has helped the company build an ecosystem of suppliers that are under Cupertino's complete control. Thanks to negotiation and organizational skills, Apple receives huge discounts from both suppliers and transport companies. This almost perfect organization of production is largely behind the ever-growing fortunes of the company, which is able to maintain an average 40% margin on products. Such numbers are unparalleled in the hardware industry.
[do action=”quote”]Confident Tim Cook and his team may once again show us how to make money on television.[/do]
Perfect management of the entire production process, including sales, allowed Apple to dominate an industry known for its low margins: mobile phones. Even there, competitors and analysts warned the company against a specific style of selling mobile phones. But Apple did not take their advice and only applied its experience gathered over 30 years - and encouraged the industry. If we believe that Apple will really release its own TV set in the near future, where the margins are really in the order of one percent, the self-confident Tim Cook and his team may once again show us how to make money on televisions.
Apple began with this emphasis on the organization of production and suppliers immediately after Steve Jobs returned to the company in 1997. Apple was only three months away from bankruptcy. He had full warehouses of unsold products. However, at the time, most computer manufacturers imported their products by sea. However, to get the new, blue, semi-transparent iMac to the US market in time for Christmas, Steve Jobs bought up all available seats on cargo planes for $50 million. This later made it impossible for other manufacturers to deliver their products to customers on time. A similar tactic was used when sales of the iPod music player began in 2001. Cupertino found that it was cheaper to ship the players directly to customers from China, so they simply skipped shipping to the US.
The emphasis on production excellence is also proven by the fact that Johny Ive and his team often spend months in hotels while traveling to suppliers to check production processes. When the unibody aluminum MacBook first went into production, it took months for Apple's team to be satisfied and full production started. "They have a very clear strategy, and every part of the process is driven by that strategy," says Matthew Davis, supply chain analyst at Gartner. Every year (since 2007) it names Apple's strategy as the best in the world.
[do action=”quote”]The tactic makes it possible to have privileges almost unheard of among suppliers.[/do]
When it comes time to make products, Apple has no problem with funds. It has more than $100 billion available for immediate use, and adds that it intends to double the already massive $7,1 billion it is investing in the supply chain this year. Even so, it pays over $2,4 billion to suppliers even before production begins. This tactic makes it possible to have privileges almost unheard of among suppliers. For example, in April 2010, when the iPhone 4 began production, companies such as HTC did not have enough displays for their phones because the manufacturers were selling all production to Apple. The delay for components sometimes goes up to several months, especially when Apple releases a new product.
Pre-release speculation about new products is often fueled by Apple's caution not to let any information leak before the product's official launch. At least once, Apple shipped its products in tomato boxes to reduce the likelihood of leakage. Apple employees check everything - from the transfer from vans to airplanes to distribution to stores - to ensure that not a single piece ends up in the wrong hands.
Apple's huge profits, which hover around 40% of total revenue, are spot on. Mainly due to supply and production chain efficiency. This strategy was perfected by Tim Cook for years, still under the wing of Steve Jobs. We can be almost certain that Cook, as CEO, will continue to ensure efficiency at Apple. Because the right product at the right time can change everything. Cook often uses an analogy for this situation: "Nobody's interested in sour milk anymore."
Great article ;)
I think that Epl has already reached the peak, now it's going to slow down.
The bet on the own system was bad, and with the arrival of the Surface tablet, the iPad also ended.
I bought an iPad for my parents - it's a super-awesome thing for seniors, but I don't like explaining to them that this video can't be played, that a Word document can't be saved without buying another application, etc. We'll sell the iPad as soon as the Surface is available.
Apple's only weapon is the iPhone 5 - if it fails, Apple will have big problems!!!!
The parents, or rather the son, are inconsolable, that they are not or are not able to take an hour to tell each other what they need and what they don't need on the iPad and install the programs in question there? Or is it just about the fact that there is nothing else to criticize about the iPad, so I'll come up with this crap, because you've already agreed with it enough.
was the bet on your own system wrong? Apple is its own system, I think there is nothing that could better describe what Apple is about. DELL, MS, SAMSUNG, MOZILLA, GOOGLE have all turned the boat around and are working hell on their own HW+SW because they understood, on the contrary, that this is the right way.
Sorry, I forgot about AMAZON
Well, if you've ever used Windows, you also know that you can't play this and this video without an Application + Codecs, or that you can't save a Word document without buying other applications (MS Office), so I wish you the best of luck with the MS Surface Tab + Office for x thousand CZK and + another million applications to make something work properly for you. Not to mention the fact that Windows runs on it and they tend to slow down over time, it will certainly be a very interesting (for Applists, read: unusable, slow and fart) device in half a year's time.
Well, if you've ever used Windows, you also know that you can't play this and this video without an Application + Codecs, or that you can't save a Word document without buying other applications (MS Office), so I wish you the best of luck with the MS Surface Tab + Office for x thousand CZK and + another million applications to make something work properly for you. Not to mention the fact that Windows runs on it and they tend to slow down over time, it will certainly be a very interesting (for Applists, read: unusable, slow and fart) device in half a year's time.
Surface with Win. I think the battery lasts about 4 hours ;-)
So buy it and enjoy it in good health... I'll stick with my favorite Apple (respect Apple)
If you think that parents can control windows better than IOS, then you are wrong. The problem is that Apple didn't realize that my parents are downloading DivX videos from the torrent and I want to play them on the iPad, but that I just rent them in the app store. The same Office is competitive. However, as someone writes here, the application solves a lot of things.
Unfortunately, I had the opportunity to test several tablets, namely the Acer A100 with Android 4,0 and the A501 with 3.2jka, and the problem appeared immediately. And even a full USB port didn't change it.
Apple is "top of the top" in marketing, sales and especially in creating brand addiction.
How many "tricksters" and "know-it-alls" have already claimed that a product that will be this or that "Apple killer" has now come into the world.
Not even Samsung, Google or perhaps Microsoft can fundamentally harm Apple, because they are nothing more than a commodity, that is, with them, the customer looks only at the Price, Quality, Service and Parameters of the product.
But APPLE is a cult, an addiction, simply the dream of every entrepreneur to get his company under people's skin so that they become the most loyal customers.
Not even one of the so-called competing companies can do this!!! Apple has competition only within itself and does not have to fight like some shunt with the price to win a few more customers.
Nicely written.
Very good article. Thank you
Here in Europe, does he also allocate the 40% to transport or how is it possible, when he has such excellent contacts, that we have enormously high prices here?