Insight into the Apple Product Launch Cycle
John Siracusa, who’s been on fire lately, distills Apple’s product launch cycle down to 6 general phases. My favorite is phase five, which takes place after a prolonged period wherein Apple/Steve Jobs has been publicly critical of the general idea of the product:
Jobs continues to bash the idea, but starts to change the language subtly. For example, “I can’t imagine anyone actually using such a thing” becomes “All the existing products of this type suck” or “No one has figured out how to do it right yet.”
In the final stage Apple either releases the product (to the great surprise of nearly everyone) or kills it internally.
If you’re a close watcher of Apple, this cycle will seem vaguely familiar. Sicacusa has done a great job of formalizing the process.
