No, I do not believe Apple had reason to worry about market cannibalization.
The iPod was a new product. The line was segmented well, with each having clear differences in form factor, eg you wouldn't be confused between what a nano might be useful for vs Touch. This is in contrast to electronic manufacturers that flood the market with an entire spectrum of product capability.
The iPhone and Ipad are again entirely different product lines that share the same codebase. This is not very different to Windows everywhere espoused by Ballmer. The difference is in how capable the entire organisation was in execution. Although Apple is immensely profitable, it is because it focusses on creating highly desirable products in niches that are only profitable through vertical integration.
I recall Jobs lamenting the fact that they barely make any profit on their l
Laserwriterswhile HP makes all the money off toners. Apple today judiciously avoids this type commodity computing markets.
The main take away is to sell clearly differentiated products. Give them different names and use cases so that consumers cannot be confused over what each product does.
The iPod was a new product. The line was segmented well, with each having clear differences in form factor, eg you wouldn't be confused between what a nano might be useful for vs Touch. This is in contrast to electronic manufacturers that flood the market with an entire spectrum of product capability.
The iPhone and Ipad are again entirely different product lines that share the same codebase. This is not very different to Windows everywhere espoused by Ballmer. The difference is in how capable the entire organisation was in execution. Although Apple is immensely profitable, it is because it focusses on creating highly desirable products in niches that are only profitable through vertical integration.
I recall Jobs lamenting the fact that they barely make any profit on their l Laserwriterswhile HP makes all the money off toners. Apple today judiciously avoids this type commodity computing markets.
The main take away is to sell clearly differentiated products. Give them different names and use cases so that consumers cannot be confused over what each product does.