Apple and iPhone, a look from a technology life cycle

In 1984, Apple introduced the Apple I, the first line of computers that changed Apple and the computer industry. From that on, not a lot of people had heard of Apple computer but instead Compaq, Toshiba, Sony, Dell,... Sales of Apple's PC and Mac have been up in recent years, due to my own hypothesis that a lot of users who use iPod and especially iPhone have been getting more acquainted with the interface that is claimed to be user-friendly. Thanks to that, Apple's sales of PC and Mac are up, leaving the business unit alone, I'm not sure if they can reach the sales of $22bln for Mac FY 2010. (Source: Apple keynote for new Macbook air, iLife,...)

In late June 2007, Apple introduced a 'revolution' in Phone, the iPhone (which has come to iPhone 3G, iPhone 3GS, iPhone 4 just from 2007 to 2010). iPhone has been a huge success for Apple so far in the smartphone industry. However, success in one phase of the technology life cycle does not guarantee success in the next phase (Stoelhorst, Building Resource-based Competitive Advantage Over a Technology Life Cycle). The thinking becomes more interesting when assessing which phase of the life cycle the smartphone industry is in (refer to the four phases in Stoelhorst's). Will Apple maintain its competitive advantage when the industry comes to the next phase? Or will Apple's start with the iPhone for the smartphone industry end up like the Apple I for the computer industry in 1980s? The question is to be observed in the next 5, 10 or 20 years. Yet, over the next writing, I would like to look and analyse Apple from a resource-based view on its competencies and its capabilities.