Comments:"How Disruptive Innovation Theory predicted the rise of the iPhone"
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Clayton Christensen’s Disruptive Innovation Theory is a foundational concept to understand for anyone looking to do well against entrenched competitors. It can be applied to nearly every industry and is very useful when going through the product development stage with any startup. It will help you resist falling into the trap of simply trying to build a better version of a competitor’s product. Low-End Disruption is most often discussed in conversations about Disruptive Innovation, but this article focuses on New-Market Disruption.
The iPhone is a perfect example of a New-Market Disruptive Innovation when you classify its competitive products as smartphones.
The original iPhone performed poorly along the smartphone market’s traditional dimensions of performance. You can see some examples of this from reviews given to it at the time of launch:
PC Mag Review
“Pros Fun new interface for navigating multimedia. Huge screen looks amazing. Terrific Web browser. Syncs well with PCs and Macs. YouTube function is great. Functions flow seamlessly into each other. Built-in speaker for voice calling and music. ConsPoor business e-mail and PIM connectivity. Bad audio quality on phone calls. Tons of “GSM buzz” on nearby speakers. Virtual keyboard hard to type on. No phone functionality with iPod speaker docks. Bottom Line It’s the best portable media player ever. It’s possibly the most fun we’ve ever had with a handheld device. It browses the Web like a champ. But poor phone call performance and missing messaging options make us unwilling to recommend it as a phone.“http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,…
Engadget Review
“But getting things done with the iPhone isn’t easy, and anyone looking for a productivity device will probably need to look on.”http://www.engadget.com/2007/07/…
Additionally, the iPhone performed extremely well when compared to other smartphones along dimensions that were not traditional measures of performance in the smartphone market. Examples of these dimensions would be multimedia performance, simplicity of use, and internet browser functionality. This is one of the critical elements of a new market disruptive innovation. Each time the iPhone was mentioned in conversations with technologically savvy Smart Phone users they derided its lack of file system access, an sd card, or the ability to interact with its core system. If Apple would have formed focus groups or solicited feedback from smart phone users, the simplicity and appeal of the product would have been torpedoed. This is something to consider when stepping out to speak to your potential marketplace.
For many consumers, the iPhone was their first smartphone. Another classic signal of a New-Market Disruptive Innovation. The fact that the price was higher than other smartphones does not preclude it from being a disruptive innovation. However, pricing often confuses those who equate Disruptive Innovation with Low-End Disruption. Low pricing and disruptive innovation are a wonderful pair, but they both don’t always need to be present.
So, the moral of this story is: If you are attempting to disrupt an industry, don’t put too much faith in what high-end buyers and industry-media say about your product. Your target customer’s opinion is the most critical point of feedback.