John Gruber:
I’ve always been interested in Apple’s products because of their superior design; the business side of the company was never of as much interest. But at this point, it seems clear to me that however superior Apple’s design is, it’s their business and operations strength — the Cook side of the equation — that is furthest ahead of their competition, and the more sustainable advantage.
Good insight here. A company that could possibly match the economies of scale that Apple has introduced is Samsung. They make almost every core PC part, even processors. It wouldn’t be that big of a leap for the company to spin-off to be a scaled PC manufacturer. Nevertheless, Apple’s marriage of production and design is unlike any we have ever seen in the computing industry.