To say that Apple is one of the most formidable (if not the most formidable) software and electronics company in the world is an understatement. If the company’s history is anything to go by, especially in the last decade, it has proven itself not only as a giant but also as a trendsetter—a world-leader in technology. The company has not only produced the iOS, which is consistently one of the most-used OSes in the world, but it has also produced electronics that has the rest of the electronics world rushing to take up the trend.
What Apple has Done
As a leader in the tech industry, Apple has produced devices that have started trends. While they may not have been the first to develop these devices, Apple has elevated them to a degree that prompts progress from other electronics companies. The iPhone is one fine example. The iPhone, since its release, has made a name for itself: it has been the phone of choice in both casual use and business phone for years. When it was first launched, it was initially seen as the “phone”-equipped version of the iPod Touch, but those impressions faded rapidly when the iPhone proved that it could do so much more than just take calls especially as the App Store began to fill with software for touch screen technology.
The iPad is the next trendsetter. Industry experts have proven that measuring the success of the tablet computer trend could not even be possible without taking the launch of the iPad into consideration. True, tablet computers have been around before the iPad was launched, but the iPad took tablet computing to a degree that steadily outmatched others of its kind. With the arsenal of apps and its reliable performance, it continues to be the most coveted tablet computer in the market today. If you want the most for your money, tech websites still put the iPad at the top of the tablet list despite the heavy improvement and development of tablets from competing brands. And this is years after the iPad had been launched
R&D is key
How Apple managed to stay the market leader in both the smartphone and tablet computer fields in spite of the many competitors developing their own smartphones and following their lead lies on the fact that Apple is constantly improving its products. Research and development in Apple continues to reach for higher goals in terms of what the iPhone and the iPad could do, and all the rest of the Apple products bear hallmarks of this effort.
Staying ahead of the competition is Apple’s focus now that they have the gold standard of the market and, in order to do that, they need to further improve on Research on Development. This is perhaps the reason why the budget was bumped up from 1 billion to a cool 3.4 billion. This promises not only continued improvements from Apple, but brand new possibly-trendsetting devices as well.
