A fascinating question around Christensen’s theory of disruption: “OK, smart guy, why haven’t Apple iPhone/iPad been disrupted by Android?” I count five possible answers, there may be more.
- The theory of disruption is hucksterish management consultant fraud. (This one I do not agree with.)
- Right now Apple *is* the disruptor–iPhones/iPads vs Windows PCs. Many are surprised by the rapid rise of direct substitution, including me.
- Apple *is* getting disrupted right now: Android phones are outselling iPhones somewhere between 5:1 and 10:1 worldwide right now.
- Apple isn’t getting disrupted *yet*, but will be soon. This is what many in Silicon Valley believe, but Apple does not.
- The most interesting one: The current theory of disruption is incomplete and does not have a broad enough concept of end-user quality.
In this line of argument, disruption theory was born in the Microsoft/Intel era, when everyone expected computers to have, um, certain issues. Apple brilliantly redefined the conception of what was possible from an end-user quality and integration standpoint, against prevailing assumptions. We have attempted to generalize *this* concept into “full stack” thinking, which many of today’s best startups are also pursuing. It’s possible disruption theory needs to be evolved to accommodate these newer patterns and knowledge. But it’s also possible all such “full stack” patterns are just integrated approaches that themselves will be disrupted in the future.
Time will tell. In Silicon Valley, these topics are central and being debated both in actions and words by ultra-smart people every day.
References: Full Stack Startups, Disruptive Innovation
@pmarca @stevesi I'd say they are being disrupted, just can't see it yet cause we're in the middle of the cycle
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Aditya Nag (@snakeynag) June 18, 2014@pmarca Apple retreated upmarket and it's just taking them a while to be disrupted by android while they make large profits, as he predicts
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Eddie Wharton (@EAWharton) June 18, 2014@pmarca you need to disrupt the whole user experience with apple because they own that end to end. It's not just about the product...
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kai Eris (@kaieris) June 18, 2014@pmarca even a year ago, i never would've thought i'd be holding a samsung phone with @android, but that is what i'm doing #disruption
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Doug Helferich (@letsgoduke) June 18, 2014@pmarca also interesting how some consumer tech comes from the top of market to disrupt: Apple, tablet and possibly Tesla
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Eddie Wharton (@EAWharton) June 18, 2014Source Tweets: 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12,13,14
