Apple has the best hardware-software-service integration in the industry, bar none. So the fact that the new device wars are now actually fought not on hardware specs but on vertical integration accords Apple a unique advantage.
Apple's secret sauce is this realization: That customers want their problem solved, and the way to deliver that with personal computing is through vertical integration. I'm not sure anyone else gets it yet, even Microsoft and Sony, which already have retail stores.
Apple's secret sauce is this realization: That customers want their problem solved, and the way to deliver that with personal computing is through vertical integration. I'm not sure anyone else gets it yet, even Microsoft and Sony, which already have retail stores.