An Inside Job

Following the passing of Apple’s technology pioneer, Steve Jobs, many are speculating how this will affect the mobile TV landscape and if it will loosen Apple’s grip on mobile market share.

It’s no exaggeration to say the loss of such an extraordinary man will shake the Apple machine to its very core. The feats and unrivalled innovation from Apple’s iconic former CEO were on a scale so grand that it is difficult to envision how Apple can outdo or even match his genius.

While shares have stayed reasonably steady following Jobs passing, when Jobs resigned as chief executive in August, the stock fell 0.7% which was a worrying sign for Apple. A conglomerate of Apple’s undoubted depth and quality is by no means a one-man band but Jobs represented a cultural phenomenon that spanned the globe.

The scenes broadcast of memorials all over the world showered with iPad’s lit with a digital flame resembled the deaths of cult hero’s, religious leaders and superstars. Steve Job’s was all three to the Apple generation and is irreplaceable in every conceivable way.

The ‘iMan’ opened up channels for mobile TV capability in so many ways, with a plethora of portable devices such as the iPad, iTouch and iPhone now common place in every other jean pocket across the globe. Bloomberg is reporting in excess of 200,000 preorders for the iPhone 4S flooding into AT&T within 12 hours, breaking the company's sales records of Apple products, indicating Apple, as of today, is prospering more than ever.

Apple is almost notorious at this point for being 3 steps ahead of its rivals in the mobile game, but for the first time in over a decade competitors may feel like they can grapple with Apple long term.

Taipei-based research firm TRI recently did a study confirming that apple’s long term dominance could be under threat. The report was keen to state, however, that Apple's eclectic business model, will unlikely be challenged in the next two years given the immature development of Google's Android and Microsoft's Windows 8 platforms, but like a Formula one car - even a minute slip in standards could see the wheels fall of the Apple cart.

It's hard to copy such a unique business model and match (Apple's) highly competitive hardware price. But with the Steve Jobs era passing, it may have an impact on Apple in the long term." - Topology Vice President Simon Yang.

If you put your ear close enough to the ground earlier this year you could hear the whispers of ‘Apple TV’ from Jobs and his Apple think-tank - whether this was a smart move or not, it seemed Apple would continue to push the modern boundaries of innovation.

With any such plans seemingly shelved in the wake of Apple’s forced reshuffle, it will certainly be interesting to see where Apple goes next. With a $76 billion fortune Apple are certainly in no need to take any risks. With competitors only mimmicking not evolving - a minefield of branding, instead of innovation, will most likely be left.

Perhaps not ideal for the consumer but we have been spoiled over the last decade, and it will give many of us the chance to catch up with the constant labyrinth of innovation. Even developers have yet to take full advantage of the monopoly of technology made available.

Mobile TV technology, which has been touted as ‘the game changer’ for quite some time, is still just threatening to breakthrough, if Apple or a competitor can unlock this potential Pandora’s box it will be another nod to the invention of Steve Jobs, who has crafted a playground of innovation and imagination for all of us to play in.