Most would agree that Apple is one of the most innovative and successful companies involved in new product development. However even they have had their fair share of Bloopers, so lets take a look at some of them:-
The Mac TV was released in 1993 and was Apple’s first attempt to integrate the functionality of a P.C with a cable ready T.V. Unforthunately it’s slow bus speed of 16 MHz made for a slow P.C compared to it’s rivals and a very expensive T.V at over $2000. Needless to say it flopped and only 10k were produced.
Apple’s first attempt at a portable computer was the Macintosh portable. Released in 1989 it was way ahead of its time, and so it should have been at a whopping $6500. It weighed in at a hefty 7.2kg and had an active matrix LCD screen which was fantastic but the major contributor to its cost.
In 1995 Apple licensed its PIPPIN technology to Bandai to make a PC based game consol. The only problem was the competition, SEGA, SONY, Nintendo and PC based systems were already dominating the market. Only 42,000 PIPPIN units sold and it was withdrawn from the market.
O.K, you get the picture. Even the most innovative companies have their fair share of commercial failures. Typically this may run as high as 8 failures for every 2 successes, following the well known Pareto rule.
Less successful companies will have an even higher failure rate and in many cases this will lead to their ultimate demise.
So how should an organization skew the playing field to ensure a higher success rate ?
That will be the subject of the next post.
Until then, just remember, failure breeds success.
is vital to maintain a companies revenue growth. All products have a similar lifecycle which ends with declining revenue although the timescale between introduction and extinction may be anywhere between a few weeks to decades.