The Pros and Cons of Secrecy

There is no question about it: Apple is a very secretive company. If you need proof of this, try a Google search for “Apple rumors.” Okay, now try a search for “Microsoft rumors.” See my point? Every product Apple produces, from hardware to software, is a closely guarded secret. Information about a new product is carefully crafted and released at a controlled pace. Every press release, every web page, and every keynote presentation is finely honed to give out only the information Apple decides to release, and only when they’re ready. This has spawned a number of sites devoted to keeping track of not only “approved” information, but also rumors and speculation that may give clues about the future. Apple’s secrecy and closed-door policy has certainly served them well through the years, but there are pros and cons to this approach. Let’s explore the pros and cons of Apple’s secrecy.

Cons

The biggest downside is that consumers never know when a new product will be released, a price drop will happen, or an old product discontinued. If you buy a Macbook today, you never know if a new one with brand new features will be released one day after your return policy expires. If you bought an iPod two months before the new models were released, you might feel a bit cheated. And of course, the biggest example of this is the iPhone fiasco. 

A company like Microsoft, on the other hand, is very forthcoming about new products. Vista has been on the horizon for five years. The Zune was announced long before it shipped. The Xbox 360 was no surprise either. But Microsoft is in a different situation than Apple. Microsoft caters as much to business users as to home users, and large businesses need to plan ahead for something like an operating system upgrade. It takes many hours and many people. If Microsoft waited until months before release to announce Vista, none of their corporate customers would even consider upgrading. Apple can get away with this partly because their customers are mostly home users and smaller businesses, and also because it is they way they have always operated.  Once a company makes an early announcement of a new product, as Microsoft does, it creates the expectation that they will continue that policy; Apple, on the other hand, has always been shrouded in secrecy, and therefore has fed an opposite expectation. Does it work well for Apple? Let’s move on to the Pros.

Pros

Since a company like Microsoft makes early announcements of products, you always know where you stand. No one would buy an Xbox one month before the Xbox 360, unless it was intentional. No one would buy a Zune one month before the Zune 2.0 is released. With Apple, you just never know. If you buy a Macbook Pro today, it could be updated in one week or four months. If you buy an Apple TV today, they could replace it with something even more amazing at a lower price in three weeks. While this may annoy those who purchased at the wrong time, this uncertainty serves Apple well. While Zune sales go down once the next product is announced, consumers are happily purchasing iMacs the day before the new line is released. Apple’s return and upgrade policies help to smooth over the potential of angry customers who purchased within 14 days of a release.

The other positive effect of their secrecy is a high volume of sales upon release of new products. The rumor sites usually hit close to the mark on when a new product is likely to hit the shelves, and savvy customers know when to wait a few more weeks for new products. Once the new product arrives, sales go through the roof, the product looks to be a big hit in the early sales number, and Apple’s stock price climbs even higher. 

It can certainly be a frustrating experience for the consumer to deal with Apple’s constant secrecy, but the company’s success relies on it. Whether or not you agree with the decisions the company makes, you can hardly argue that it works. Apple creates an atmosphere of mystery and anticipation, the sense that there is always something really cool waiting right around the corner to surprise us, and it’s not likely to change anytime soon. So fire up the rumor sites, give it your best guess, and pray that your expensive new gadget isn’t obsolete in three weeks.