Useful Articles - Computers and Technology

Apple Computer--one of my favorite topics in Corporate & Marketing Strategy. This is a company that apparently is even more hardy than fel

According to USFDA, a combination product is one composed of any combination of a drug and device; biological product and device; drug and biological product

ines--they seem to have already used up more than 9 lives. Apple has so many boom-bust cycles, and has been given up for dead multiple tim

; or drug, device, and biological product and fixed dose combination would include two or more combinations of drug.

Examples of combination products may in

s. Today they are again on top of the world. They have had many fits and starts on the strategy front, with many failures, managerial chan

lude drug-coated devices, drugs packaged with delivery devices in medical kits, and drugs and devices packaged separately but intended to be used together.

ges and restarts. But the most interesting part of the Apple story to me, is the influence of Steve Jobs.

He was there and drove the stra

here is enormous increase in the number of combination products entering the market in the recent years. Combination products have proven advantages but fixe

egy leading to the initial boom of the Apple II and original Mac. Lauded as a marketing mastermind and entrepreneur deluxe. Then when the

d dose combinations are still in the process of convincing regulatory authority on their advantages over the single ingredient formulations.

Combination pro

icrosoft/Intel duopoly overcame (and almost buried) Apple, he was discredited and widely scorned for "missing the window" by following a "

ucts have become life saving products for the pharmaceutical companies who doesn’t have many innovative molecules in their product pipeline and have been inc

closed" business strategy, with standardization and commodization of PC technology all the rage. Now he has ridden back on his horse as th

easingly used in the product life cycle management. Even the companies having product patents are trying to extend their product life cycle through the combi

saviour when Apple was yet again on it's "relevancy" deathbed, and has succeeded in turning the company around, yet again. Truly an amazi

nation products and maximize the revenues. But the companies involved in this practice are overlooking that they are burdening the patients both economically

g feat. The most interesting part to me, is that at least on the surface, he is following exactly the SAME proprietary product strategy, a

and physically. They need to rightly judge the benefits of the combination products and they have to even look at the risks involved when combining the produ

nd the same marketing and distribution strategy that appeared to fail in his previous regime. So what's changed? Or has anything changed?

ts. Some of the combination products were well accepted by physicians while others suffered. Companies involved in development of combination products are fi

It is very possible that Jobs hasn't learned the big lesson, and is simply following the front part of the technology adoption curve like

ding difficulty in defining their combination products and facing various challenges from selecting a combination to marketing it.

Following aspects would a

e did early on with the Mac. He may "run out of steam" once again, as Apple tries to make the jump from the techies and early adopters of

dd to the challenges in developing combination products:

Which markets to tap where the combination products can do fairly well?
Which combination prod

"cool" technology to mainstream buyers that require a completely different value proposition. Has the ipod "crossed over" in to the mainst

cts are meaningful and rational?
Which therapeutic categories to select?
Which Combinations can address unmet needs of the patients?
Do combin

eam yet? Has Jobs wised up, and will he be able to pull off his proprietary approach this time by making a few adjustments to his marketin

tions increase the patient compliance?
What would be the developing cost?
How to tackle the risks encountered during combination product developmen

model?

It will be fascinating to watch. There are a few signs he has learned. Apple has recently come out with more aggressively priced

t?

As combination products don't fit into the traditional categories of drugs, medical devices, or biological products, the USFDA is in the process of devel

products at the low end both on the Mac and ipod line, instead of just skimming profits at the top and leaving the low end exposed. And he

ping new procedures for reviewing their safety, efficacy and quality.

Professional from academic institutions, pharmaceutical industries, health care indust

has even been able to private label the ipod to HP (which is amazing), while retaining the service revenue streams in that deal. If he can

y and representatives from various regulatory agencies are working out to design the regulatory requirements for manufacture and sale of combination products

keep pulling deals like that off, he may succeed this time. But his closed, proprietary approach tightly links the ipod/Mac/iTunes very cl

.

As there is an increasing trend of the combination products companies manufacturing such products should be able to tackle the problems involved in the de

osely Will he alienate mainstream buyers by shutting out these practical buyers desire for "choice", leaving big holes in the market for c

elopment. They need to be wiser in analyzing the market trends and the regulatory requirements.

Companies that provide selfless information through particip

mpetitors? We shall see. It is a great story and will be a telling marketing case study to watch play out. I'd love to hear what you think

tion in industry events and feedback to regulatory authorities would be able to face the challenges and will be successful in developing combination products

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