Quantum Strategy at Apple Inc

A key aspect of Apple's strategy is the ability to balance intense efficiency in operations (in fact the highest efficiency levels in its peer group), with outstanding serial innovation and addictive product design, both of which command premium pricing and redefine markets. conventional wisdom holds that a company competing on innovation, outstanding design, or service excellence will not be able to reach intense levels of efficiency, since these capabilities are costly to develop and maintain. Apple, however, has achieved both -- what might be seen as the holy grail of strategy -- and it is worth asking how. The answer can help us gain insight into the trickiest of strategies to execute, and one that most companies do not even try to achieve. This strategy, if successfully executed, represents a shift of the iso-value curve to the right in any industry it is employed in, not just movement along the curve where most competitors are positioned. I call this Quantum Strategy, after the idea that at the quantum level of reality, the same electron can be at two places at the same time, and two different electrons can occupy the very same physical space. Both seem to be logical and natural impossibilities, but nevertheless do occur. An understanding of Quantum Strategy offers important lessons for executives. In particular, we can understand the principles are involved in breaking the trade-offs that are conventionally assumed to constrain strategic choices and to lock firms in single generic strategies. [Copyright Elsevier B.V.]