HP has fallen short of its strategic aim: making the computer personal again
After a long week at his hectic new consulting job in New York, Robert Baron was anticipating a relaxing evening at the new restaurant in town. He was seated quickly upon his arrival and given an amazing table near the front of the establishment. As he settled in to his booth, and opened the massive menu that lay on his table, he quickly realized that something was off, hampering his ability to truly enjoy the experience that he was about to have.
Furthermore, the personalization of a computer is really created when the values of the consumers are incorporated into the machine. Similar to relationships between people, it really begins with a level of trust. One of the main reasons Apple is able to build such intensely personal relationships with their consumers is because of the steadfast reliability that their computers offer. Apple computers are commonly known to have a longer lifespan than HP and other Windows-based computers, which is one factor that allows them to charge a premium over other machines. Additionally, the longer product life adds value to the experience and relationship the consumer has with the product, as they have more time to develop their connection to the machine that never lets them down. The longer product life is directionally proportional to the perceived value that the customer ultimately places on the machine.
[This article has been reproduced with permission from Knowledge Network, the online thought leadership platform for Thunderbird School of Global Management https://thunderbird.asu.edu/knowledge-network/]