The Myth of Market Share

Wharton marketing professor J. Scott Armstrong:

We’re not saying companies shouldn’t pay attention to their competitors; they might be doing reasonable things that you may also want to do. What we’re saying is that the objective should not be to try to beat your competitor. The objective should be profitability. In view of all the damage that occurs by focusing on market share, companies would be better off not measuring it.

Pretty hard not to see this as a perfect explanation of Apple’s success this decade.

★ Monday, 24 December 2007