Henry Ford, the pioneer of auto industry once said- “ If I asked people for what they wanted, they would have said faster horses”.

Apple’s Cofounder Steve Jobs said in an interview said

“ It’s really hard to design products by focus groups. A lot of times, people don’t know what they want until you show it to them? “

Do Customers really know what they want?

I would argue and like a typical consultant answer “It depends”

Why No?

Customers do not know what they want and you have to show it to them. I agree with Henry Ford and Steve Jobs, who were great inventors of their generation

BUT only when you come up with innovative product that disrupts an existing market or creates a new market.

For example Iphone was a game changer and customers loved the touch screen experience that they had not seen before.

Apple disrupted the mobile device market and forced the market leader Nokia to sell its mobile devices business.

Why Yes?

Customers know what they want once your product matures and there is entry of competitors in the market. You need to listen to the voice of the customer in order to make incremental product improvements.

Steve Jobs believed that the Iphone should be of a certain size and for a long time Apple did not come out with phones with bigger screen sizes.

Competitors like Samsung did their market research that customers wanted bigger sized screen phones and started gaining market share.

Finally Apple under the leadership of Tim Cook, made the decision to offer different screen sizes for Iphones. Source- Business Insider Sep 2014

The Statista graphic link below tells us the story. It shows the market share of the smartphone vendors based on number of shipments. I

n Q4 of 2009, Samsung had market share of 3.3%, Apple had a share of 16.1% and Nokia had a share of 38.6% in the smart phone market.

As of Q1 of 2016, Samsung has a market share of 24.5%, Apple has the share of 15.3% and Nokia has moved to the ‘Others’ category. I would like to also add that market share does not mean higher profitability.

Screen Shot 2016-08-09 at 3.08.48 PM

http://www.statista.com/statistics/271496/global-market-share-held-by-smartphone-vendors-since-4th-quarter-2009/

In conclusion, customer’s opinions are very valuable for existing products and new product releases. Customers might not explicitly tell you what they want but you need to ask appropriate questions and listen to the customers to improve your product functionality.

  1. Kennethfub

    August 24, 2025

    comprare farmaci online con ricetta: acquisto discreto di medicinali in Italia - п»їFarmacia online migliore

  2. RobertPer

    August 24, 2025

    acquisto farmaci con ricetta: kamagra oral jelly spedizione discreta - Farmacia online miglior prezzo

  3. RonaldSoits

    August 24, 2025

    top farmacia online: Farmaci Diretti - Farmacia online più conveniente

  4. Jamalusale

    August 24, 2025

    acquisto farmaci con ricetta cialis online Italia acquisto farmaci con ricetta

  5. EddieBrich

    August 24, 2025

    http://farmacidiretti.com/# farmacie online sicure

  6. Kennethfub

    August 24, 2025

    viagra naturale in farmacia senza ricetta: Potenza Facile - viagra pfizer 25mg prezzo

  7. RonaldSoits

    August 24, 2025

    Farmacia online più conveniente: FarmaciDiretti - farmaci senza ricetta elenco

  8. FrankBeict

    August 24, 2025

    FertiCare Online: FertiCare Online - where to get clomid without rx

  9. Michaelmaymn

    August 24, 2025

    CardioMeds Express generic lasix lasix furosemide

  10. Waynewrano

    August 24, 2025

    CardioMeds Express: CardioMeds Express - generic lasix

  11. Jerrydop

    August 23, 2025

    SteroidCare Pharmacy: buy prednisone online uk - prednisolone prednisone

  12. DavidHiero

    August 23, 2025

    https://ivergrove.com/# ivermectin in humans side effects

  13. FrankBeict

    August 23, 2025

    SteroidCare Pharmacy: prednisone 80 mg daily - prednisone 10

  14. Waynewrano

    August 23, 2025

    IverGrove: IverGrove - sheep drench ivermectin

  15. Michaelmaymn

    August 23, 2025

    SteroidCare Pharmacy can you buy prednisone online uk prednisone

  16. Jerrydop

    August 23, 2025

    IverGrove: ivermectin price comparison - ivermectin head lice

  17. FrankBeict

    August 23, 2025

    how to buy cheap clomid now: where to buy generic clomid now - FertiCare Online

  18. Waynewrano

    August 23, 2025

    SteroidCare Pharmacy: where can you buy prednisone - SteroidCare Pharmacy

  19. Jerrydop

    August 22, 2025

    FertiCare Online: can you buy cheap clomid pill - FertiCare Online

  20. DavidHiero

    August 22, 2025

    http://cardiomedsexpress.com/# CardioMeds Express

Comments are closed.

Related Posts