Famous Businesses who failed to Innovate

 

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They say that to not innovate is to die as modernization approaches, and things gradually evolve, one of those is the technologies we use. As they monopolized our society people adapted to the changes, but not all of them. Some just stayed traditional in their own ways thinking that the originals would not be easily replaced. Just like what is happening right now in the business world, companies are racing on how to innovate their products that will make them successful or more successful. But how about those companies who stayed traditional and chose not to innovate? In this blog, I will cite businesses that chose not to innovate which results in their downfall.

BLACKBERRY MOTION

        A story of how even a game-changer can fail to innovate. BlackBerry once had 50% of the US market share, as they dominated the mobile phone industry. BlackBerry is well known for the arched keyboard which they introduced. They also offered promising services like unlimited messaging and status updates, which was revolutionary at that time. Facebook proves that offering these services today is still profitable, so what went wrong?

        BlackBerry’s story is somewhat similar to Nokia’s. Just like Nokia, BlackBerry believed too much in what they owned. The Customer experience is where BlackBerry turned out to be a laggard. Apple and Android were focusing on making their smartphone’s software as open as possible by creating software that allowed anyone to develop and roll out apps. Meanwhile, BlackBerry only had a small selection of apps to offer and maintained focusing on their core services. That turned out to be a mistake.

        BlackBerry also ignored the benefits of touch screens. Instead, BlackBerry focused on what they had by holding on to the arched keyboard. They would also protect their assets such as BlackBerry Motion’s services by limiting its access to Blackberry devices only. That turned out to be a mistake as well. Due to the reason that all the newly created apps of Apple and Android outperformed BlackBerry’s services, BlackBerry lost the war on smartphones. 

XEROX

        Xerox Corporation was one of the most inventive companies globally. Mainly because of PARC, a research center that developed technologies for the future. PARC invented many successful inventions, some of which have revolutionized the digital world. Although Xerox was not able to capitalize on them correctly, someone else was able to put them to good use.

       In 1970, PARC was developing the first prototype of a computer and the Graphical User Interface. The research that PARC did was massive for its future. Unfortunately for Xerox, it was someone else who reaped the benefits. As part of a deal that allowed Xerox to buy a load of Apple stocks, Steve Jobs was given permission to visit PARC and learn about its inventions. With PARC’s work as inspiration, Jobs created the Macintosh which became a legendary success. Meanwhile, the Xerox Alto (Xerox’s version) turned out to be a commercial flop.

        The problem was that Xerox did not put in the effort to see the desires of the customers. They had their inventions, but they didn’t want to turn them into attractive products. Mainly due to the fact that Xerox’s CEO saw the future of the company in copier machines, so he didn’t want to spend too much on developing personal computers. While Steve Jobs did see the PC’s inventions as something that was worth the effort. Jobs transformed the inventions into products that improved the user experience. Which turned out to be a great move.

NOKIA

        

        Nokia’s mistakes teach us a lesson of how previous success can limit the capabilities to innovate. Back in 2007, Nokia had a share of over 50% in the phone market. Nokia could be seen as the first to transform the mobile phone into a fashion accessory. The company was outstanding in developing hardware, it is what made its brand successful in the first place. But that was also what broke it.

      Nokia highly believed in its own brand and thought that optimized hardware was what customers desired. But it overlooked the importance of the phone’s software. While Apple and Android did focus on improving software, Nokia kept focusing on hardware. They thought that big changes (in software) would alienate current users. Eventually, software proved to be of significant importance for the customer experience, and Nokia’s market share shrunk.

        Nokia was not able to recognize the potential of smartphones, as its major income stream came from traditional mobile phones. Even though Nokia was one of the first to develop a smartphone back in 1996, it was never able to translate it into an attractive product. The fact that Nokia was afraid to make big changes to their current phones and the fact that they overlooked the importance of smartphones, is what led to the company’s downfall. 

*Side Comment :)

    Some things really need to stay as it is to be seen as authentic, but not all the time. Due to the reason that as the world evolves, people's preferences are starting to change. As an entrepreneur, we need to cater to our consumer's needs and wants to give them satisfaction and want them to come back and patronize our products. That is all for my blog, till next time!

Attached here is the link for more information :)

https://togroundcontrol.com/blog/6-major-companies-that-failed-to-innovate-in-time/