For the past decade of Steve Jobs’ second go-around as CEO at Apple, the company has secured a strong following of loyal customers by playing the role of the David in a world of tech Goliaths. You can see it in the famous Mac vs. PC ads: Apple is the everyman, and its competitor (Microsoft) is the stuffy, out-of-touch “Man.”
But recently, Apple (AAPL, Fortune 500) has either lost touch with its customer base or just has a bug lodged up its data port.
In late February, Apple purged 6,000 apps it deemed “too sexy.” Late last month, Jobs posted a scathing 1,700-word essay on Apple’s Web site about why he hates Adobe Flash.
More recently, the company made Ellen Degeneres apologize on national TV for airing a spoof commercial that suggested the iPhone was difficult to use. And Apple threw an epic hissy fit when a Gizmodo blogger leaked photos of a new iPhone prototype.
The Gizmodo fallout prompted “Daily Show” host and admitted Apple lover Jon Stewart to label the company’s execs “Appholes.”
“Apple, you were the rebels, man, the underdogs, people believed in you,” said Stewart. “But now, are you becoming the Man?
In reality, Apple hasn’t been an underdog for years. Its iPod and iTunes’ success helped the company grow out of its “niche” status. And Apple really took off after the iPhone became an instant hit in 2007.
Apple’s market value is now about $245 billion — just shy of Microsoft’s (MSFT, Fortune 500) $270 billion. And Apple’s revenue this year is expected to be on par with Microsoft, at around $61 billion.
