Financial-+Timeline-Culture+and+Leadership

All, Here is what I have for financial and timeline. I added Culture & Leadership because tha is tied into the pressure to design and launch products.

I could not find the specific costs or budget for the original Ipad but have the increases in R & D. I could not get a definite timeline either but put a tentative one together basd on interviews with Steve Jobs and articles about the Ipad. The tablet idea was actually first but Apple chose to pursue the phone and picked back up with the tablet project in late 2007 –early 2008.

Financial. I researched Apple’s Annual Report Form 10-K for 2010 filed with the SEC.. In 2010t the original Ipad was introduced and the report contained R&D expense information that would include Ipad however it is not broken down per product

During 2009 Reasearch & Development (R&D) costs increased 20% or $224 million to $1.3 Billion. This was primarily due to an increase in headcount in 2009 to support expanded R&D expenses and higher stock based compensation expenses.

During 2010 R&D expense increased 34% r $449 million to $1.8 billion in 2010 compared to 2009. The increase was due to anincrease in headcount and expanded R&D activites.

The Company believes continual investment in research and development is critical to the development and enhancement of innovative products and technologies. The increase in R&D costs is a positive sign that means Apple is looking to the future and focusing on developing new products. The increase in headcount is a sign that Apple is bringing on personnel for R&D and design. This means they are looking to the future.

Source: 2010- Form 10-K: []

Timeline:

We can’t talk about the Ipad without talking about the Newton. The orginal Apple tablet was the Newton Message Pad introduced in 1993 and it failed miserably due to poor performance and it did not last long.

In the early 2000’s Steve Jobs challenged his team with the question if they could get rid of the keyboard and come up with a multitouch display. About 6 months after giving the team the assignment they had a prototype. Steve Jobs loved it and handed it off to another team to work on the user interface and they had the inertial scrolling working along with a few other features. Steve Jobs said “ "My God, we can build a phone out of this." They stopped working on the tablet idea to focus on the phone. After the IPhone was introduced, Apple started work on the tablet idea which became the Ipad. When you look at the financial statements you can see the increase in R&D during 2008 & 2009 which can be partially attributed to bringing more people on board and focusing on the design and R &D of the Ipad. For example Apple re-hired one of the original developers of the Newton, Michael Tchao. From the New York Times Article “Apple Rehires a Developer of Its Newton Tablet” : http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/09/28/apple-rehires-newton-and-nike-marketing-whiz/ From the Wall Strett Journal Article “the Ipad: Past, Present, and Future” June 7 2010. Great video of interview with Steve Jobs on this site as well as text. []

Culture and Leadership Styles of Executive Team - (This is tied to pressure surrounding design and launch of Ipad since the leadership team will set the pace for the design and launch of various lines of products.)

The excerpts below include a quote from Steve Jobs on the process. This shows how he thinks and sets the pace for the company.

The other excerpt is about Steve Cook, COO of Apple- The pressure created in environment by an executive wit this much energy” His personality and leadership style naturally create pressure for the heads of the various departments and that pressure will role down hill through the ranks.

Steve Jobs Quote:

// The system is that there is no system. That doesn’t mean we don’t have process. Apple is a very disciplined company, and we have great processes. But that’s not what it’s about. Process makes you more efficient. But innovation comes from people meeting up in the hallways or calling each other at 10:30 at night with a new idea, or because they realized something that shoots holes in how we’ve been thinking about a problem. It’s ad hoc meetings of six people called by someone who thinks he has figured out the coolest new thing ever and who wants to know what other people think of his idea. And it comes from saying no to 1,000 things to make sure we don’t get on the wrong track or try to do too much. We’re always thinking about new markets we could enter, but it’s only by saying no that you can concentrate on the things that are really important.11 // — Steve Jobs, Apple’s CEO

Excerpt on Steve Cook:

Cook's stamina is the stuff of legend at Apple. He often begins e-mailing the executives who work for him at 4:30 a.m.; worldwide conference calls can take place at any time of day. For years, Cook held a standing Sunday night staff meeting by telephone in order to prepare for yet more meetings on Monday morning.

Mike Janes, who worked with Cook for five years, ultimately as head of Apple's online store, recalls a Macworld conference in New York when Cook convened a meeting in the afternoon after one of Jobs' mesmerizing morning keynotes. "A number of us had tickets to see the Mets that night," says Janes, now CEO of an event ticket site called FanSnap. "After hours, he was still drilling us with question after question, while we were watching the clock like kids in school. I still have this vision of Tim saying, 'Okay, next page,' as he opened yet another energy bar. Needless to say, we missed the Mets game." For those who can take it, working for Cook is an edifying experience. "He'll ask you ten questions. If you answer them right, he'll ask you ten more. If you do this for a year, he'll start asking you nine questions. Get one wrong, and he'll ask you 20 and then 30," says Steve Doil, who worked in Cook's operations group before moving to Texas for family reasons. Cook can be brutal in meetings. "I've seen him shred people," says a former executive who now works for another consumer electronics company and refused to be quoted by name. "He asks you the questions he knows you can't answer, and he keeps going and going. It isn't funny, and it's not fun."

From the Article in Fortune titled “ The Genius Behind Steve” November 10 2008: []

Source: ‘Design Thinking at Apple” : []