Breaking the ice of the century: Understanding Apple and IBM's partnership

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I think there are four interpretations of this news.

***: Mobile is spreading from the consumer market to the enterprise market. This is a trend. In the near future, enterprises will be better integrated with mobile devices and enter the mobile era. iPhone and iPad will have a broader market space.

For iPad, this trend is a timely help. iPad sales have declined. The fundamental reason for the decline lies in positioning and function. iPad was launched as an entertainment device, and its tool attributes are not strong. It is more like a toy than a tool. Considering the large screen of iPhone (the experience is similar to that of tablet) and its positioning different from that of laptop, its market space is greatly limited. At the same time, the popular applications on iPad are not very hardware-intensive, and consumers are not willing to upgrade (for this point, you can Baidu "World of Warcraft" to promote the upgrade of PC). In fact, for most consumers, the new iPad is not fundamentally different from the old iPad. The driving force for their replacement is just some changes in experience, which is inevitably insufficient. Cooperating with IBM to launch enterprise-level applications and increase the tool attributes of iPad will increase the market space of iPad and effectively boost sales. Even if this cooperation fails, Apple has nothing to lose. iPad is no longer so important to Apple, and its importance is lower than Mac. If it can be rejuvenated, it will be great. If not, the situation will not be worse.

It is also a good thing for iPhone. iPhone and iPad have the same blood and are naturally interoperable. However, iPad is different from iPhone after all, and this difference is sometimes not negligible. If iPad succeeds in the enterprise market, it is very likely to further boost iPhone sales in the enterprise market and consolidate iPhone's dominant position in the enterprise market. As we all know, the enterprise market is the most profitable market and the most stable market. The requirements of the enterprise market are traceable, unlike the consumer market, which is ever-changing and elusive. Once the enterprise market is occupied, it means one more fulcrum. At present, Galaxy S6 has been released. From the media's feedback, Samsung has done a good job and will probably win back some market share. Whether it will compose a new era of mobile phone industry "I am Hu Hansan again", no one can be sure, but one thing is certain, Apple's financial report will not be so beautiful, iPhone will no longer sell so crazy, iPhone needs more market space and a more stable market.

Second: From Apple’s actions (smart watches, cars), we can clearly see that Apple is looking for a successor to the iPhone .

The iPhone has been popular for almost a generation and has supported Apple for so many years. In the field of consumer electronics, which is changing so fast that it is hard to imagine that a product line can support a giant company for so many years. No one knows how long the iPhone can last, whether it will last forever or not. Consumers are fickle. They can abandon Samsung and of course Apple. Whether Apple (Apple fans + Apple) are willing to admit it or not, without Jobs, Apple has lost its magic and soul, just like a religion that has lost its gods. The reason why it stands out is that Samsung is weak and other Androids are weak. You can't always expect competitors to behave like pigs. If the iPhone encounters a strong challenge, it will be a disaster for Apple. This challenge does not exist only in imagination. Samsung is making progress, and other Androids are also making progress. Right now, Samsung is aggressive, and it is questionable whether Apple can continue to dominate the high-end market. At this time, the stock price is not easy to hold up. Jobs can not care about the stock price and only think about making great products, but Cook must care, which is determined by his personality and status in the industry. Apple's stock price keeps falling. Jobs will remain as CEO, but Cook will leave. Apple needs a new fulcrum to support its market value. As of now, the iwatch does not have the potential to sell everywhere. Although the car is good and has great potential, it will be many years later. Cook needs to tap Apple's potential (if Jobs were the CEO, it might be an iwhat).

Third: This is a great thing for IBM. Just last month, IBM started a massive layoff, and it is rumored that the layoff rate reached 26%, involving 110,000 employees.

I think if a company is running well, there will be minor fixes, and there will not be such a large-scale layoff. 26% is a number that hurts the bones. It is true that IBM's business has declined for 10 consecutive quarters. The three main businesses of hardware, software and services have shrunk one after another. What's worse is that IBM announced that it would abandon its profit forecast for fiscal year 2014. This means that IBM has no hope of boosting its performance in the short term. Although IBM is still the ruler in some markets and the leader in some markets (IBM supports 90% of the world's banks, 80% of airlines, and 70% of corporate data), this does not help solve the difficulties. IBM needs to enhance its vitality. The mobile market is a good entry point. For IBM, if the enterprise market moves, it means that a new field has been born, and what IBM is good at has a new carrier. In this way, it has more room to maneuver. Although IBM does not produce hardware by itself, it can earn most or even most of the profits through software and services. Therefore, IBM is willing to sign an exclusive agreement. You know, in the enterprise market, IBM is still a giant, and Apple's iPad is just a carrier. Although, at present, iPad is the most popular carrier, IBM has other options.

Fourth: IBM has changed. The changes are all-encompassing.

Internally, IBM spent $2 billion to acquire the public cloud company Softlayer, spent $1.2 billion to build 40 cloud data centers around the world, invested $1 billion in the development of the PaaS platform BlueMix, established a new Watson Group for $1 billion, sold its x86 server business to Lenovo for $2.3 billion, sold its chip manufacturing business to GlobalFoundries for $1.5 billion, and invested $3 billion in the development of new chips... In just a dozen months, IBM has completed more than $10 billion in mergers and acquisitions and restructuring. Considering the rumors of 110,000 layoffs, we can be sure that IBM is transforming. This transformation is no less than Lou Gerstner's "elephant dance". Externally, IBM is no longer self-admiring. Driven by CEO Greenland, Apple, Microsoft, Twitter, Tencent, etc. have successively formed strategic partnerships with IBM. In the past, IBM did not need friends, and it did things by itself. Now, it has begun to form alliances. Of course, it does not deny that IBM's changes are forced. It wants to ensure the stability of its own business by linking with more companies, but it has changed.

Apple and IBM being together is a win-win situation, but it is more meaningful to IBM. At the same time, IBM is more urgent.