If anyone has been paying attention to the tech headlines in the last couple weeks they'll have noticed that some rather big things have been going down. These events have drastically changed the face of the Technology industry as we, and most tech companies, know it. While seemingly unconnected these events do have one root cause and that cause is Apple. The company that in 1996 was on the verge of bankruptcy has been looking stronger than ever as of late and after the last fortnight is beginning to look ever so slightly stronger than god him(or her)self.
The Story;
So lets take a look at the events of the last two weeks;
Wednesday Aug 10th - In a barely published IP suit in a German court Apple wins a temporary injunction to ban sales of the Samsung Galaxy Tab(the iPad's largest rival) across the EU(excluding the Netherlands), claiming that Samsung had "slavishly copied the technology of both the iPad and the iPhone." The Australian release of the device is also held back due to a similar suit.
Incidentally Apple surpasses Exxon Mobil to become the worlds most valuable company, and for the first time manages to hold the spot.
Monday Aug 15th - The first big splash was caused when Google sealed a deal to effectively swallow(read as buy if you wish a more accurate term) Motorola Mobility(the half of Motorola that designing and manufactures mobile phones) for £7.7billion ($12.1bn).
Thursday Aug 18th - HP, the company credited with laying the foundations of Silicon Vally and the largest manufacturers of PC's in the world, announced plans to stop making PCs, tablets and phones, in order to refocus on software. To this HP added that not only is it considering selling it's entire 'Personal Systems Group'(This includes its PC manufacturing devision) but it is also discontinuing the WebOS platform, and with it all WebOS devices. This includes the HP Touchpad which was released after a huge PR campaign a mere two months ago. On top of all this HP also secured a deal to buy Autonomy(a British software company) for £7.1bn($11.7bn) which is roughly 164% of the companies market value.
24 August 2011 - With a second, also less that brilliantly publicized, IP suit, this time in a Netherlands court, Apple wins an injunction that in seven weeks time will prevent Samsung from selling and distributing the Samsung Galaxy S, Galaxy S II and Galaxy Ace mobile phones in most EU countries(including the Netherlands this time).
So what does this all mean for Apple?
What it basically means is that without really doing much Apple has had a very very very good two weeks.
Even though the Google takeover move of Motorola Mobility puts Google in a stronger position to compete with Apple it was still a defensive move. A move that in hindsight is unlikely to allow Google to create the same design-manufacture-retail operation that Apple currently practices and with Google's stock value dropping by 10% since the announcement it would appear investors see it this way as well.
With HP's announcement less than a week ago Apple has managed to make one of the once great hardware giants drop to its knees and beg for mercy. By closing down it's gigantic(but only a little bit profitable) PC manufacturing division HP is not only agreeing with, but also acting on the prediction of Steve Jobs 18 months ago, that was that the iPad was "part of a revolution that would take us beyond the PC".
The final bit of good news for Apple is that HP's discontinuing of the Touchpad, and all other WebOS devices, only a few months after its launch combined with Apples continued victories in the IP courts against Samsung(and other manufacturers) could quite possibly devastate consumer confidence in non-Apple tablets. Think about it this way if the HP Touchpad, a tablet produced by one of the most reputable hardware companies ever, can go down in flames only a few weeks after launch, and the only true rival to the iPad has been shown to be merely an equally priced copy then who would really want to invest their hard earned cash in an iPad alternative?
My thoughts on the matter, and the point of this whole thingy;
As much as I do love Apple, and believe me I do love Apple <3, it is in my oppinion possibly becoming way to successful for the good of the consumer. It's getting to that point that Apple is beginning to develop a monopoly that seriously threatens continued development in the home tech industry. After all if there are no companies left with the resources to produce products that are serious rivals to Apple products then there is no real reason for Apple to continue to develop it's products at such a fast rate. Which ultimately is bad for us as consumers as not only will we have less choice when buying our shiny electronic gadgets, but we may end up having to fork out more cash for them(if there is no real competition then competitive pricing goes buy buy), and then still receive a product that could have been so much better but isn't as there was no need for it to be.
So I'm hoping, and so I believe are a lot of others, that Apple might actually suffer a set back(god forbid) during Samsung's EU Galaxy Tab injunction appeal. Before we all become victims of Apples success.
Hiya again people, this was the first in my new 'Weekly News Blast' in which I plan on covering a sometimes obscure, occasionally random or possibly major piece of news that occurred during the previous week. I hope you all enjoyed this first attempt.
Your thoughts on the whole affair :P;
I'd love to hear your views on the topic so please by all means post them in a comment, and lets see what the world thinks about Apples continued success.
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