Predicting the Markets Apple will Disrupt Next

I’m admittedly using the headline as a bit of click-bait. But it is absolutely applicable to Apple. I believe many markets are on their short list to disrupt, for a specific reason I will explain. However, any company that takes this philosophy to heart and actually delivers on it will play a disrupting role.

One of the pieces I wrote that got quite a bit of feedback was one on why Apple is a User Experience Company. I articulated in this article how at the heart of Apple’s business model is user experience. All the decisions they strive to make are focused with the user experience in mind. And, while they don’t always hit that mark, objectively they have a better batting average than many in the market. Ultimately, those companies who have user experience at the heart of their philosophy have a solid chance at disrupting new markets, particularly those where the user experience is terrible today.

With that background in mind, let’s look at a few examples of terrible user experiences: Subscription cable and automotive.

TV is ripe for disruption and we know Apple wants to do it. Everyone feels it. The way we discover, consume, and share TV shows and movies is ready for a revolution. Cable companies are the farthest thing from good user experience companies. Sometimes, as with the experience I have had with Dish and the hardware they gave us, I wonder if they actually hate us. Their whole world must collapse in the same way the carrier experience with controlled hardware and proprietary carrier “on deck” content stores were entirely disrupted and went the way of the dodo bird once smartphones hit the scene. This is why I’m in favor the FCC’s move to break the cable companies hold over us and the proprietary hardware model they have to access their subscription content. The entire thing today feels like a giant Ponzi scheme.

Just for grins, I timed how long it took me to turn on my TV and get to a DVR show recorded last week. Starting from the sleep screen (my tv was already on) it took me 34 seconds to get to the show I wanted to watch. Inferior technology and slow set top boxes is what we put up with today because there is no better solution. It simply feels ripe for disruption as the user experience with this hardware is absolutely terrible. In a tie with my printer, my set-top-box is the most hated piece of technology in my house.

Similarly, I was discussing with a friend his recent car shopping experience. His family is growing and they were looking at a minivan. The manufacturer in question had offered a wide range of choices in features and functions that came with the vehicle. When it came down to features, there were two features his wife really wanted. Navigation and a built-in vacuum. He found it strange to realize they could get the navigation system or the vacuum but the manufacturer had no configuration that included both.

Contrast the mainstream consumer car shopping experience with Tesla and you immediately see what I mean. Tesla is the prime example of a consumer experience company making a car. Everything from the showroom experience, to the way they handle the demonstration, to the seamless process to take a test drive, to the first feeling of walking up to the car, getting in the car, being in the car, etc. Any high-end automotive shopping experience has this in common. It is an entirely different experience than shopping for a Dodge minivan.

As technology invades all areas of every industry, user experience companies are the ones to bet on. Those are companies that, when you use their product, you see the category as it was meant to be. Tesla shows us this in the automotive industry. Apple’s unprecedented customer satisfaction level with their products, head and shoulders above their closest competitors, show us consumer reaction to what happens when luxury experiences are made mainstream.

Healthcare is a mess and ready to be disrupted. Our user experience with our doctors is terrible. Retail is about to get disrupted. Who wants to go to a mall and spend an hour trying to park on the weekend just to be surrounded by hoards of people and sort through racks and racks of things? Banking and a plethora of financial services from lending to payments are all poised for disruption. When you look at the world today from a user experience perspective and critique it, it becomes clear there is dramatic room for improvement in many markets and product segments. This will come and it will be done by user experience-focused companies. Currently, that list is a very short list.

If we understand Apple as a user-experience company, not a computer company, not even a technology company, then any market where user experience is terrible is a potential for them to disrupt.