What Now?

Apple comes and goes as the world's most valuable company, depending on the daily share prices but what now? What now that Apple have achieved unimaginable heights of success that even Steve Jobs could not have predicted ten years ago? What now with a bank balance bigger than, well bigger than anyone has ever imagined, unless you have a key to fort Knox? What else can Apple come up with, that will keep them flying high? Nokia was big, so was Microsoft and not to be picking on the Canadians but what about Nortel or RIM, all global leaders at one time. Can that happen to Apple?

So many challenges from design to manufacturing to brand equity to consider every day, while keeping the competition at bay. Not to mention, keeping the customer satisfied. It seems unimaginable that Apple will continue to innovate at such a high level, especially with their biggest fan gone to geek heaven. The market will ask harder and harder questions of the company and the analysts won't let themselves be out guessed in their predictions for much longer. Imagine Apple missing three earnings quarters because the analysts have them rated so high it becomes impossible to maintain their growth status? Questions on the merit of Apple's achievements and the worth to society will spring forth if there are slip ups in design and profit.

Apple has an opportunity like IBM, who just celebrated 100 years as a company, to be that pillar upon which future generations grow with and prosper with. Apple's ubiquity can be assured if they take that IBM long term view and contribute to society and the economy on all levels and from all sources. An example is the side bits, as some techies have called the "Apps economy", responsible for more than 450,000 jobs in the US alone. The "Apps economy" shows no slowdown in the hiring process of developers as all technology embraces apps over heavier operating systems. With Apple paying $4 billion dollars to developers over the last four years alone, their worth to the US economy strengthens and likely will increase as demand for better IT processes increases.

So with a strong management set, left behind by Jobs, and continued innovation on tried and true products, with the occasional Apple surprise, it's a company that can withstand business pressures and march to the beat of it's own drum.

Yet the money still worries a lot of the market and many suggestions have been made as to appropriate uses from buying a global telecom network to obscene share dividends. I have a favourite suggestion and it's about saving the world. Imagine a company able to say they saved the world from financial ruin? Imagine a company gaining such cache and how much brand integrity and equity it would engender? Not hard to imagine that company lasting 100 years.

So Apple, use the $100 billion and pay the debt of the eight European countries constantly threatening to push the world over another GFC precipice. Pay the money, take the thanks and be in profit by the end of the next quarter. After all, would anybody by any other product, other than Apple for the rest of history? Worth a shot, don't you think?