This morning I read a piece on the front page of nytimes.com titled, Apple’s Obsession With Secrecy Grows Stronger. It’s basically an account of the extreme level of secrecy the company projects both to the outside media and within the confines of it’s own campus.
From the article:
Few companies, indeed, are more secretive than Apple, or as punitive to those who dare violate the company’s rules on keeping tight control over information. Employees have been fired for leaking news tidbits to outsiders, and the company has been known to spread disinformation about product plans to its own workers.
It goes on to question the legality of Apple’s handling of their disclosure of Steve Job’s health during his leave of absence. It also grabs quotes from disgruntled former Apple employees who say the corporate culture at Apple is “super, super paranoid”.
Yes, Apple is super secretive. So what?
They cleary do this for a reason. It builds excitement around their product and makes every product launch a major event. In my opinion, I see nothing wrong with this. In fact, I must say it’s a pretty damn good marketing approach.
Apple’s decision to severely limit communication with the news media, shareholders and the public is at odds with the approach taken by many other companies, which are embracing online outlets like blogs and Twitter and generally trying to be more open with shareholders and more responsive to customers.
Being at odds with your competition is a good thing. I’m currently reading Seth Godin’s (truly awesome) marketing book, Purple Cow, in which he makes the argument that companies small and large must focus on being remarkable in order to survive and thrive.
Apple is in a remarkably unique position. Despite being a technology company, they manage to steer clear of the Twitter / blogging / social media frenzy and still maintain one of the most loyal customer bases in the history of… customers (myself included).
Their secrecy is what sets them apart from the way their competitors do business. It’s what makes Apple interesting.
So why the tanking stock?
Now I’m no economist, but I have a few guesses as to why Apple stock has been dropping:
- Steve Jobs’ health. Not because of the secrecy surrounding it, but just the mere fact that one of the most famous CEO’s is out of commission probably has some effect.
- The recession. It’s still in full swing, and all retail sales are affected.
- Apple’s price tags. Related to point number two, I think that during tough economic times, consumers are more likely to consider buying a cheaper PC over a pricey (but sexy) Mac Book Pro.
I really don’t attribute this year’s performance to Apple’s policy of extreme secrecy. And I don’t think that they should make a sudden 180° flip in this regard after 30+ years in business and a weekend that sold over a million units of the iPhone 3GS.