Really bad article, the author doesn’t seem to have any idea what blue ocean strategy is about. It’s not about making “bold moves” in an unchanging market. It’s about cutting down cost through focusing on what really matters to an under looked consumer audience. That audience being one the competition isn’t even focusing on. Also low cost wasn’t just Nintendo’s choice, that was a major factor in the definition of Blue Ocean. Apple cuts down cost in some areas to compensate for quality and user experience, keeping the cost. They do this because they make luxury items.
Yellow Tail Wine and Nintendo’s Wii were text book examples. They both found an untapped audience, novice consumers who don’t know nor care for over the top quality. In Nintendo’s case, hard core gamers valued graphics and performance as quality. To Yellow Tail it was Wine enthusiasts and their interest in vineyards, vintages, and hints of whatever.
Apple products are novice, but they aren’t cheap. The Chromebook is a better example of Blue Ocean. It does only what an entry level consumer wants in a laptop. It browsers the web, writes documents. Google said “hey, pretty much everyone who owns a MacBook but isn’t an artist or techie could use this”. Like MacBooks it doesnt require expertise, it offers a similar user quality experience, but unlike them it’s affordable because it doesn’t have unnecessary hardware specs and Swiss watch leveled build quality.
I don’t blame the author for not reading the whole ass book. But for god sakes, at least read the wiki page about it, don’t use a gaming magazine as your source. Because he clearly took the Wii example in the magazine and ran with it. He thought he could map it onto Apple products because what, they get rid of stuff and are innovative like the Wii was?
I’m glad I’m not the only one who found the battery ramble irrelevant.