苹果的竞争战略

    至于Android系统，搭载这个系统的手机数量十分庞大，在出货量上仍占据第一的位子，但这个生态系统的健康程度却令人怀疑。我采访过的大多数Android开发者都表示，Android始终难以向高价值的开发者提供持续的利润和收入。部分原因是由于Android的应用商店过于分散，Android设备的形状、大小不一，甚至还存在着许多不同的Android版本。谷歌显然正在着手解决这个问题，不过尚未取得实质性的进展。而苹果采取的将设备、软件和应用商店集成一体的战略使得苹果能够比谷歌更快速、更广泛地促进市场创新，因此谷歌不得全力应对。

    Android系统的另一个难题是如何赢得能为它带来高利润的用户。现在这些高利润用户往往选择使用iPhone或iPad。平板电脑方面表现得更为明显，你见过多少出门带着Android平板的？在今天的PC世界中，最能给厂商带来利润的用户是Mac用户。而在能智能手机世界中也正呈现出同样的态势。

    苹果的声明对创业公司意味着什么？苹果的举措可能会在地图、支付和忠诚消费回馈计划（loyalty program，一种刺激用户重复消费的回馈机制，如积分卡机制）等领域对一些早期的成功公司形成压力。不过我的第一感觉是，苹果并不是要故意扼杀这些创新公司的努力。这个观点可能和主流观点相悖，因为更主流的观点是，苹果、微软、谷歌或Facebook这样的科技巨头往往会模仿或是收购好的创意，把它们纳入自己的生态系统里，从而造成扼杀创新的结果。

    我的观点是，苹果在地图和支付等领域的扩展和提高是一个平台对该生态系统的创新进行管理的必然结果。苹果作为这个平台的所有者，自然在商业上有丰富该平台的兴趣，以便使平台变得功能更强，更能吸引开发者参与构建，同时也吸引更多的用户进行消费。我们可以看看任何的主流平台，比如Xbox、Facebook、谷歌、Twitter、微软的Windows服务器或亚马逊（Amazon）的网络服务，他们为了吸引消费者、游戏玩家、发展社交或企业用户，无一例外都扩展了平台的涉足领域和功能，使平台的功能变得更强大，以吸引更多的开发者和生态系统供应商，进而提供更深入、更有用的终端用户体验。

    因此没有一家创业公司无须继续创新就能偏安一隅。随着苹果继续提高iOS平台的功能性，创业公司也必须持续创新，否则就会陷入困境。在大多数案例中（并非全部），比起一家科技巨头能否把它的平台扩展到某一新的领域，我更担心的是一家创业公司在执行上陷入失败，或是没能持续创新。要记住，苹果的iCloud的目标就是要干掉Dropbox，苹果的音乐社交网络Ping的目标就是干掉音乐网站Pandora，或是阻止像流媒体音乐服务Spotify这样的音乐服务商出现。我这里并非在批评苹果的创新，只是想说，能够做好执行和创新的创业公司仍然能够继续繁荣发展。

    On the Android side, Google's unit share leadership continues to provide the advantages of being #1, but the ecosystem's health is questionable. With most developers I speak with, Android struggles to deliver consistent profits and revenue to high value-add developers. Part of this challenge is due to the fragmentation of Android App Stores, form factors, and even different OS versions running on devices. Google is apparently working to address these issues, but material progress has been slow. Google has to turn on the jets here, as Apple's strategy of having an integrated device, software, and app store ecosystem enables Apple to drive innovation into the marketplace more quickly and more broadly than Google.

    Another key challenge for Android is winning high profit users who today tend to choose iPhones or iPads. On the tablet side, in particular, how often have you actually seen a user with an Android based device in the wild? It's rare. In today's PC world, the most profitable users are Mac users; the same dynamic is starting to take hold in the smartphone world.

    What do Apple's announcements mean for startups? Apple's moves potentially pressure some successful earlier stage companies in spaces such as maps, payments or loyalty programs, but my first take is that Apple is not specifically trying to suffocate these efforts. This may be a contrarian view, as the more common narrative is that tech behemoths, such as Apple, Microsoft, Google, or Facebook copy or buy out good ideas built in their ecosystem and, as a result, stifle innovation.

    My perspective is that Apple's move to extend and improve these areas is the natural order of things for a platform owner managing the innovation of its ecosystem. The platform owner, Apple, has a business interest in enriching its platform, making its platform more functional and more attractive for developers to build against and ideally for users to consume. You can look to any mainstream platform, whether targeting gamers, consumer, social or enterprise -- XBOX, Facebook, Google, Twitter, Microsoft Windows Server or Amazon (AMZN) Web Services for example -- all expand the footprints and capabilities of their platforms to make them more functional for developers and ecosystem providers, for the purpose of providing a deeper and more useful end-user experience.

    So no startup can stand still. As Apple continues to raise the water line on its platform's functionality, startups are going to have to continue to innovate or they'll struggle. And in most (not all) cases, I worry more about the risk of a startup that fails to execute and continue to innovate, than I do a tech giant extending its platform into a space. Keep in mind, Apple's iCloud was supposed to kill Dropbox, and Apple's Ping was supposed to crush Pandora (P) or stop a Spotify before it come out. This is not a critique of Apple's innovation at all; I'm merely saying that startups that execute and innovate can continue to thrive.