Is Apple's vaunted ecosystem no more? Life in the Apple style. Comfort of the ecosystem and its disadvantages

For which I express my gratitude to him. In it I want to talk about what the Apple ecosystem is, how they interact in it different devices- iPhone, iPad, Mac - and what to expect from them if, for example, you decide to start using one. I think this material could even be used as a help to help you decide whether you should buy an iPad or, for example, an iPhone separately.

Before we begin, a little history. A long time ago, when computers began to appear in people’s homes, but were already firmly established in the offices of large and small companies, they were devices in themselves. They were the digital hub to which peripheral devices, cameras, players and other portable equipment were connected. The disadvantage of this approach was that it was only possible to comfortably use one computer. When the second appeared, synchronizing information between them became a real headache.

It is also worth adding here the fact that in the situation with Apple everything was complicated by the fact that a certain type user files it was possible to synchronize only in one direction: from a computer to a portable device. At first this only applied to music purchased from iTunes Music Store, and later to films and video clips purchased there. This was caused by the desire of producers of music, videos and films to somehow protect the content they were selling.

The result of this desire, in addition to the measures described above, was the so-called DRM protection. It was its introduction and use in the iTunes Music Store that predetermined the way music was downloaded first to the iPod, and a little later to the iPhone and iPad. Since the iPod is a portable device, it could be used to carry iTunes Music purchases Store content from one computer to another and possibly illegally eavesdropping. Therefore, Apple has implemented a number of restrictions in the iPod aimed at making it much more difficult to illegally distribute music using its devices.

I think that this step was quite justified at the time. It was also one of the measures that convinced record labels that selling music and movies online wasn't such a big deal. Therefore, music, films, clips, photos and programs on iPod, iPad and iPhone can only be downloaded from a computer, but under no circumstances can they be downloaded from them to any other computer. That's why, if you want to sync your iPhone or iPad with iTunes installed on another Mac or PC, all the information that was there will be replaced with music, movies and clips from the new music library. Of course, your address book - in the case of the iPhone - SMS messages, calendar entries, call list and mail will not be affected.

I understand that most people don't understand how revolutionary this step is - selling music online through the iTunes Music Store - in the era of torrents, but ten years ago it was a real breakthrough. Moreover, in 2003, when the iTunes Music Store was launched, record labels suffered from rampant piracy on the Internet.

Time passed, and with development cloud technologies the computer ceased to be the center to which all other devices were connected. Apple now offers to store your user information and content in the cloud - iCloud. Along with this storage, Apple customers have access to a number of services that make working with this storage more comfortable.

I will not list everything, I will focus on the most basic ones and tell you what their advantages and disadvantages are. Again, you should remember that the iPhone, iPad, Mac or iPod are designed to work in conjunction with iCloud and using them as devices in themselves is associated with a list of problems.

A short introduction to give you an idea of ​​the basic capabilities of iCloud.

So, at the center of the Apple ecosystem is iCloud. This is the repository where all your data resides. They can be accessed from OS X, iOS or via the iCloud web interface. I'll start with the most important things for me: contacts, calendar entries, notes and tasks. For this purpose there are applications Contacts, Calendar, Notes and Reminders. You can access your data from iPhone, iPad, iPod Touch, Mac, or by logging in to icloud.com using your Apple ID. By adding a contact or calendar event, the data instantly - I'm not kidding, that's exactly what it is - appears on all your devices. Therefore, there is no need to worry about having a specific device always at hand. All your devices have the latest and most relevant information. You can use all this even if you have just one gadget, such as an iPhone. If it is not at hand, you can always access your data through icloud.com. For this you only need a browser on your computer and an Internet connection. Or Microsoft Outlook installed on a PC.

How Photo Stream works.

The next great iCloud functionality is Photo Stream. The idea is that you don't have to manually transfer photos taken on your iPhone or iPad to your Mac. Just enable Photo Stream on iPhone, iPad and OS X. And then everything will work without your participation. You take a photo on your iPhone and, as long as it's connected to Wi-Fi, the photos appear on all your devices. This applies to any images you save on your iPhone or iPad.

For example, you're browsing something in Safari on your iPad and you like an image. You save it and it instantly goes to Photo Stream, and from there to all your devices. Sit down at your Mac, and it's already in iPhoto. You can work with him. No wires, no additional movements for transfer. That’s why I smile at the indignant posts on Twitter or VKontakte of people who bought an iPhone, use Windows and try to save pictures as investments in mail client so that you can later use them in your work. They perceive the iPhone as a device in itself, but, on the contrary, it is part of a larger mechanism in which content is distributed quickly and conveniently.

I would like to say a few words about how Photo Stream implements the mechanism for showing photos to friends. You don’t need to send emails with archaic photo archives, look for some services for public access and resort to the help of others similar decisions. Here you just need to create a separate Photo Stream, tag the photos that will be placed in it and invite those people to whom you want to show the tagged photos. All. On their iPhone, iPad or Mac, they will see notifications notifying them of an invitation to open a public Photo Stream. Unfortunately, you won't be able to appreciate all the benefits of this feature if you only have an iPad or iPhone. On Windows you will only be able to upload footage to iPhone photo without additional options. For example, you won’t be able to view public photo streams of friends by invitation on your PC.

Work with documents on Mac and iPad using iCloud.

The principle that underlies the work of Photostream is also used to work with documents. I write these lines in Pages, text editor for OS X and iOS. I started working on the article in the office, and now I continue to write it at home. Before leaving work, I didn’t save anything, write a file to a flash drive, or copy it to Dropbox. I just closed the laptop lid and went home. And on my home Mac, I launched Pages and continued working from the point where I left off in the office. It seems to me that this is, at the moment, one of the most advanced ways of working with files that I have seen. I am not distracted by any official activities, but am focused exclusively on the work process.

And it’s great that this approach to storing and working with documents extends to programs from third-party developers. When I choose a program to solve a problem, I prefer one that has versions for iPhone, iPad and Mac. Because it is very convenient, having an iPad or iPhone at hand, to quickly sketch out a draft, and when you get home or to the office, bring the document you started on the road to a finished form. At the moment, no one except Apple provides such an opportunity. Unfortunately, if you have just one Apple device, you won't be able to take advantage of all the benefits of document storage in iCloud. Software methods from Apple there is no way to copy documents on Windows computers.

With iCloud, you can view pages open on other devices and save articles for later viewing.

Next. I don't use any delayed reading services like Readability, Pocket or Instapaper. That's what Safari is for. It has a deferred reading list and before leaving the house I can jot down interesting articles there and read them on the way to the office, say, on the subway. And when I get to work, if necessary, I can view the list of tabs open on my home Mac or iPad using iCloud Tabs. This function is sometimes very useful. At the moment, only Google Chrome excluding the deferred reading list. And, of course, using iCloud, bookmarks are synchronized between all your devices. When using a PC, you can be content with only bookmark synchronization, and even then, subject to the use Internet Explorer or Safari.

Thanks to iCloud, iBooks syncs book reading progress, bookmarks, comments, and book comments across devices.

Reading on Apple devices is a pleasure for me personally. There is a wonderful program - iBooks. You can store your entire electronic library in it. Using your Apple ID, iBooks will sync book notes, reading progress, and bookmarks between your devices. And all this without any additional settings. There are only two drawbacks: iBooks only works with ePub and PDF and there is no version of the program for OS X. Moreover, the first is not important to me at all: I have a library in the two above formats. But the lack of iBooks for OS X is really a problem for me. It seems to me that reading from MacBook screen A Pro with a Retina display or a MacBook Air would be very convenient. I hope that with Apple time eliminates this deficiency.

With iTunes Match, you can access your music from any device.

Working with music is a whole different story. Thanks to iTunes Match for 25 USD. That is, in a year for the residents of our beautiful country, you can legalize your entire music library and place it in the cloud. After downloading and song recognition is complete, you can access your music from any device connected to iCloud under your Apple ID. There are only two problems here: not all operators cellular communication in our country they offer 3G Internet access and downloading songs via EDGE will be very slow; downloaded and recognized songs will be replaced with analogues from the iTunes Music Store in AAC 256 kbps. For me personally, the first problem is not very significant. But the prospect of downgrading my music library to AAC does not appeal to me. I wrote about the reasons for this on my blog. You can also access your iTunes Match library from a PC. However, for this you will have to install iTunes.

Purchased in App Store programs are stored in iCloud. You always have access to them.

By the way, the idea of ​​iTunes Match was implemented according to the same scenario in which Apple approached the issue of storing programs purchased in the App Store and Mac App Store. Each application purchased from your Apple ID is stored in iCloud and can be re-downloaded if necessary. For example, you needed a program that is no longer available in the App Store. There is no link to it in the store for a long time. But you just need to go to the list of purchased or downloaded applications in the App Store and transfer the program to your device with one tap.

By the way, this approach to working with purchased applications was very useful when deploying backups to iOS devices. In general, backup is one of the greatest strengths of the Apple ecosystem. With OS X everything is clear; Time Machine is responsible for backup. However, here I will dwell in more detail on backup for iOS, since it runs directly in iCloud. Your contacts are copied to the cloud; messages; call lists; photos and videos you took on your iPhone or iPad; application data; device settings; ringtones; purchased applications and downloaded books. All this is enough so that when restoring from backup copy- for example, when purchasing new iPhone or iPad - in twenty minutes, subject to availability high-speed internet connection, you received the device in the same state as it was in at the time the backup was created.

This is generally a wonderful thing because it allows you to save absolutely everything. After the restoration is complete, you will be able to read messages that were unread at the time the backup was created or view the list of missed calls. It still surprises me. I have never seen such a smooth recovery in any system. By the way, an unexpectedly large percentage of clients who bring their iPhone and iPad to us for repair service center They do a hard reset before handing it in and after the repair, they restore all their user data from iCloud.

This old Apple commercial couldn't have captured the Mac and PC out-of-the-box capabilities more accurately.

In this vein, it is worth mentioning the speed with which you can configure new mac. When you turn it on for the first time, OS X will prompt you to sign in to iCloud with your Apple ID and then, within a few minutes, contacts, calendar data, mail, photos, Safari data and documents will be downloaded to your new Mac. This will allow you to get started right away. The second step is to install those purchased from the Mac App Application Store. Everything is simple here too. We log in to the App Store using our own Apple ID and install previously purchased programs with a couple of clicks. Fifteen minutes and a new, freshly unpacked Mac is no different from the old one. Try this on Windows.

And finally, the last of the functions that I consider the main ones is “Find iPhone”. If lost, you can lock, erase the contents of the device, or display a message indicating contact information so that you can return your iPhone, iPad or Mac. In case of blocking of lost Mac computer is locked at the hardware level and can be unlocked without your Apple ID software it is forbidden. One use case for Find My iPhone is to make a lost device emit a high-pitched sound. beep. It makes it very easy to find your iPhone or iPad in your apartment if you forget where you left it. You can use this function on a PC in the same way as on a Mac - through a browser.

With Find My iPhone, you can increase your chances of being found lost iPad or iPhone.

All the advantages I described above can turn into disadvantages if you approach the issue of using one of its components as a device not associated with the Apple infrastructure. For example, when using an iPhone or iPad separately from a Mac, and even more so without iCloud, they may seem inconvenient, since uploading information and downloading it to the device will only be possible through iTunes, and this method may not be suitable or appealing to everyone. You can, of course, use Dropbox or Yandex.Disk to exchange documents and photos, but this will not be convenient in all cases.

In order to fully experience the power of iCloud, I recommend using at least two devices + iCloud. The best thing would be using iPhone and Mac. This would allow you to fully experience the beauty of working with documents and multimedia content on the road, at home or in the office. This approach would not require any crutches for exchanging files between your devices and everything would work like a charm.

The most interesting thing is that only Microsoft has an alternative to the ecosystem that Apple now offers. Redmond has its own mobile and desktop operating systems; a good tablet in terms of hardware; wonderful office suite Microsoft Office, which you can work with via the web and all this is more or less interconnected using SkyDrive. Of course, some components, such as Surface (primarily due to the fantastic curvature of Windows RT), are still unsightly and need to be brought to mind, but this is at least something.

Google doesn't have anything like it and I don't know if it will appear in the near future. There is a powerful mobile platform Android, excellent branded smartphones and tablets and a good list of cloud services. However, there is no desktop OS (Chrome OS is some kind of, excuse me, misunderstanding) and some sane set of software for OS X or Windows, with which one could make the use of the company’s cloud services more convenient. In a word, what Apple now offers is the most convenient and practical solution and I don’t see a replacement for it yet.

Just 5-7 years ago, one magic word silenced a crowd of haters of Apple gadgets. If you couldn’t prove to someone the advisability of buying a new iPhone, iPad or Mac, all you had to do was say "ecosystem", and everything became clear to everyone.

Well-functioning bundle of iron and software, high-quality assembly and premium materials periodically appeared in competitors’ devices, but no one offered the user a connected set of devices for work and entertainment.

Then we had the ideal working tool Mac or MacBook, the iPhone was responsible for communications and communications, Jobs and the company even managed to find a use for the initially useless iPad.

What were the prospects?

In addition to the devices that worked well individually, we received a ready-made bundle in a complex. Every year the system worked better and better.

In 2011, developers from Cupertino demonstrated a feature called AirDrop for fast and convenient file transfer between devices via Wi-Fi and Bluetooth.

In 2013, with Mac OS X 10.9 Mavericks, we saw desktop versions of mobile applications Cards And iBooks.

A year later, in Mac OS X 10.10 Yosemite, the developers radically changed the design; following the rejection of skeuomorphism in iOS, they followed a similar path in the operating system for Mac.

At the same time, they showed a set of capabilities called "Continuity"(Continuity), which included Handoff, shared clipboard, calls and messages from iPhone to Mac, mobile hotspot.

Many analysts believed that in another 3-5 years Apple would release a single operating system for iPhone, iPad and Mac. This would be just the perfect solution. A simple, scalable system that can run on both a smartphone and a desktop computer.

Something went wrong

A single OS looked good only in the dreams of users; Apple clearly did not intend to give the opportunity to fully turn an iPhone or iPad into a Mac. So, users won’t go for computers.

On the other hand, the Cupertino people deliberately do not add features from the iPhone to MacOS so that smartphone sales do not fall. For example, they still don’t want to equip MacBooks with a SIM card slot.

It seems that someone “pulled the handbrake”, stopping the progress towards merging macOS and iOS.

It all started with the emergence of Apple Watch. The company could not ignore the promising niche that third-party gadget manufacturers were rushing to fill.

A number of convenient and useful tips, which could easily be implemented into the iPhone.

The watch allows you to unlock your MacBook while being next to it, and the screen of the wearable gadget can immediately display the necessary information without unnecessary taps and swipes.

Many people wouldn't buy it for themselves. Apple Watch, if the iPhone could do this?

Gadgets began to move away from each other

We did this so that the user could not perform all the necessary actions from just one device.

So the iPhone removed the convenient landscape keyboard, which until recently made it possible to quickly write large texts. Now you need to use an iPad to do this.

Split View and picture-in-picture were never brought to the iPhone, but large screens iPhone Plus and iPhone X are perfect for this.

iOS 11 has put everything in its place

The company has tacitly confirmed its reluctance to combine all devices into one common convenient system.

The keyboard with additional symbols was removed from the iPhone just in iOS 11. So that the user could not completely replace a computer or tablet with a smartphone on an iPhone (and this is on the flagship model, to say nothing of old iPhones).

Here's the latest example of Apple's greed:

After iPad updates before iOS 11 on the device is observed unpleasant surprise. Native Smart cover Cover blocks the ability to launch Siri with your voice. "Hey Siri" Only works on tablets without an accessory.

Numerous user requests to the support service confirmed that this is not a bug, but normal system behavior.

Still don't understand why? So that Siri can only be launched from a brand new speaker, for which space is being actively cleared.

Apple is not building an ecosystem, but milking users

In Cupertino, everything has long been decided only by money. The company hasn't cared about users for a long time.

Instead of getting a convenient work environment after purchasing 2-3 company devices, we are forced to assemble a complete set to get all the features.

And even after this, you will have to make compromises by performing certain tasks on those gadgets that Apple says.

Soon the company will want to enter the VR or TV market and they will quietly turn off several iPhone, iPad, Mac and Apple TV features to add them to new devices.

Software is only half the story

Technology is slowly but surely leading us into a wireless future. Apple periodically introduces newfangled features in its devices, but this happens spontaneously and without a single overall plan.

First, they take away the 3.5 mm jack in the smartphone to sell it wireless headphones, then they equip the Mac with Type-C ports, which, without adapters, cannot connect the computer to the iPhone. They decide to release smartphones with QI support, but make them wait another year for charging. They are adding wireless charging to AirPods, but they are not releasing a new model with a charging case.

One can come up with a large number of such examples.

I think the main proof of the collapse of the Apple ecosystem is the fact that the new MacBook is more convenient to use almost any modern smartphone, but not the iPhone.

The glitchy AirDrop will replace any useless iCloud with long-modern clouds; on a Mac you can do it from almost any smartphone.

But Type-C is found in MacBooks and most flagship smartphones. This makes device accessories interchangeable. You can leave the cable from your laptop at work, and from your smartphone at home, the adapters and hubs fit together perfectly, you can use the charging unit alone without additional expenses.

Apple showed the near future of four platforms: iOS, macOS, tvOS and watchOS. Some innovations were only a natural improvement (), others could well be called a mini-revolution (), but I was much more impressed by the increasingly close connection between devices companies. If earlier Apple sought to create a holistic ecosystem, then with the launch of a large-scale update to new software platforms The company will have such a system.

With an Apple Watch on your hand, you don't need to enter a password to access the laptop system. Copied text on iPhone c can be immediately pasted into a document on Mac. And having saved this document to your desktop, you can continue working with it on your way to work on your iPad - desktop files are synchronized with iCloud cloud. Apple TV controls, uniting dozens of devices into a single, easily customizable network: locks, air conditioners, blinds, lamps, audio system, intercom. By having complementary platforms, Apple creates a strong motivation for the user to purchase a complete fleet of equipment. And most importantly, both sides are interested in this.

The idea of ​​weaving together technology is not new, but somehow it was not possible to implement it at a decent level. If we talk about modern history, then it all started with hybrid devices. Like from Asus - a smartphone that can be attached to the display and become a tablet. Or Motorola ATRIX and Laptop Dock - actually a laptop on Android 2.2, the brain center of which became the smartphone. Software integration has not gone further than desktop applications that broadcast part of the information from the connected device: notifications, address book, photographs. But since none of the vendors had complete control over both the hardware and software of devices of different classes, all such solutions required unnecessary user movements. You can’t do this without strong motivation, but there wasn’t any.

WITH Apple situation the other is the only company offering computers, smartphones and tablets, and more recently also watches on its system. And who better than Apple to build into the software the possibility of reliable and secure interaction? This happened two years ago with - the company introduced the Continuity system for iOS 8 and OS X Yosemite.

“The idea of ​​Continuity has been on the surface for several years now - when you work at a computer, it’s illogical to be distracted by your phone every now and then. Is there a task that an iPhone or iPad can solve that a Mac theoretically can't handle? There are no such tasks. Apple has proven this." -

Then Continuity included three features: broadcasting calls and messages (), intercepting programs from a computer with a phone/tablet and vice versa, auto-configuring an access point. Now the list is expanded by using the watch to unlock a computer, verifying payments in Safari on Mac with personal devices - iPhone and Watch, a clipboard and desktop files common to mobile and desktop systems. And all this besides cloud storage and data synchronizing applications/services iMessage, Reminders, Notes, Photos, Music.

When taken individually, Apple's software solutions aren't necessarily the best out there, but they do have the strong advantage of being deeply integrated into the ecosystem. And those who know how to interact with each other, play with the capabilities of devices available to the user immediately after purchase and preach a unified design language and mechanics, they are good for use.

It is a wise move for Apple to create a system rather than disparate products. The company weaves a network around the user, once in which it is extremely difficult to get out. Let's say I'm working on a MacBook. On the road, he is insured by his iPhone and iPad. Two years ago, the advantages of such a combination were minimal, except for a similar user experience. Today, without an iPhone, I won’t be able to make payments from my Mac (yes, that’s it), I’ll lose the mega-cool AirDrop for and buffer, I won’t be able to fully use iMessage with dancing bobbles and explosions of happiness all over the screen]. If I don’t buy a watch, I’ll continue to enter my password once a day when I start working on my Mac... and that’s why I’ll buy myself an Apple Watch.

What is the main advantage Apple technology? In response, you can hear many arguments about stylish design, fast operating system and advanced technologies. But main feature The brainchild of Steve Jobs is, after all, a carefully adjusted ecosystem in which almost all of the company’s devices and inventions are combined into a single multifunctional organism.

What is the Apple ecosystem: its features?

The results of a survey of CIRP analysts report that more than half of iPhone, MacBook and iPad owners use at least one more Apple gadget. Such indicators are due, in particular, to the ability to establish interaction between Apple devices, creating an integral information environment around the user.

Competitors have long been catching up with Apple in terms of quality and innovation, but not all of them can boast of the convenience of using shared space. At the very beginning of the emergence of the Cupertino company as a global leader in equipment sales, special connectors for charger, the lack of SD memory cards was perceived as something unusual. The company was often accused of trying to tie product buyers to exclusively original accessories.

In fact, the corporation has long nurtured the idea of ​​going beyond the usual linking of information to a specific device and creating a common data environment. Therefore, there was a need to build a strict framework around this very environment. So in 2005, iCloud appeared - a service cloud storage, which changed a lot.

iCloud - a unified information environment

First of all, iCloud sync allowed us to launch the creation of a common database for all authorized Apple products. Each user was assigned a personal identification number- Apple ID, which gave access to cloud storage from any gadget. How does Apple device communication work? Player, phone, smart watch, TV, desktop computer- all files from these devices are synchronized, you just need to enter a unique ID on each of them.

This step greatly simplifies the workflow - it is now possible to create a document or file on a MacBook, save it in the cloud, and then open it via a smartphone. But the main advantage was the ability to seamlessly replace devices while maintaining all the necessary information. If you purchased an Apple smartphone, all data from the old Apple phone that was synchronized via iCloud will appear on the new one. A simple and understandable scheme allows you to have as many gadgets as you like and just one account.

Other iCloud sync features

Photostream. This option allows you not to worry about constantly transferring new photos. Enable this feature in iOS settings and all saved or uploaded photos will be publicly available.

"Continuity". The technology allows you to answer a call from any device you need, via synchronization via the Internet. Your iPhone may be in the next room or 1000 kilometers away from you - for iOS such boundaries are erased.

Handoff. Another barrier-breaking innovation allows you to keep your work or entertainment flowing when you change devices. You can browse the website or read a book on home computer, then leave the house and continue reading in a taxi from the same place.

AirPlay. If you have an AppleTV set-top box, you can easily stream even the latest video from your smartphone to your TV screen without having to copy files. It is also possible to transfer images from the smartphone screen to TV, which makes comfortable viewing photo or web surfing.

Search iPhone. If your smartphone is lost or stolen, this option will allow you to find out its location, erase confidential data stored on it, or completely block unauthorized access.

How to set up iCloud?

1. Register account and get a unique AppleID in iTunes program on your computer or phone. You will need to enter your region of residence, email, address and bank details for purchases in the AppStore, set a password.

1. Next, in the settings, open the iCloud section and log in using the created AppleID. Activate the “Smartphone Search” mode for greater protection of your phone.

1. Take full advantage of all iOS achievements - connect required applications, expand disk space, synchronize important files.

Review of the Apple and Samsung ecosystems: which is better?

The unspoken struggle between the two giants of “smart” electronics provides more than just a subject for debate among fans of the companies’ products on thematic forums. Such competition spurs both manufacturers to improve their developments and introduce advanced inventions, delighting customers with new products.

Like the brainchild of Steve Jobs, the Samsung Corporation has understood the importance of creating a unified information environment between its own products. Therefore, it is difficult to say which of the competitors won the fight for the most comfortable ecosystem. A comparison of some functions and capabilities is shown in the table.

Information unity as the future of the electronics world

All the products of the Cupertino company do not exist, as individual elements, but are united like links in a chain into a strong information system. The corporation does not stop there: it is already developing and improving the idea of ​​a “smart home” - a technology that allows you to manage your home remotely. The time is not far off when the first “Apple” electric cars will appear on the street, although the ability to control a car using a smart watch has already been introduced and is gaining popularity.

We are waiting for improved product integration, the development of new directions, increased security strength - this is the future of the electronics world.

No company is an island; even the most integrated manufacturer or service provider relies on a cooperative ecosystem of other companies. In the case of Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL AAPLApple Inc175. 51-0. 41% Created with Highstock 4. 2. 6) and its multi-billion dollar successes, the iPhone and iPad, there is a long list of companies that are involved in this process. Consider the fact that Apple made over $16 billion. US spending on goods sold for the December quarter is an amount that, on an annualized basis, is greater than Ecuador's GDP. (We look at a retailer's inventory turnover time, its accounts receivable, and its collection period. See Measurement company efficiency .)

IN PHOTOS: 7 Interview No

That's a lot of money by any stretch of the imagination, and also a sign of the value of being used as an Apple supplier. With Apple showing no signs of slowing down anytime soon, it's worth considering who else is directly benefiting from Apple's success. Here's a quick rundown of the Apple ecosystem.

However, readers should note that Apple's ecosystem is not static—the company uses certain components from multiple suppliers and sometimes changes suppliers when price and performance dictate a change. Once such changes have occurred relatively recently, linear technology(Nasdaq: LLTC) no longer supplies the DC/DC converter or USB controller for iPad2.

iPhone While the iPod put Apple on the map as a viable consumer tech company, the iPhone catapulted the company into a level of success never seen before. Keep in mind that while the iPhone may lead smartphone sales in the US, Apple has a long way to go to become a company cell phone number one in the United States, not to mention buying Nokia (NYSE: NOK NOKNokia4.96-1.88% Created with Highstock 4.2.6) for global dominance. Consequently, there is likely more work to be done for the suppliers involved in this product.

Apple's own A4 processor is the heart of the iPhone and iPad. Although installed on the chip Apple logo Samsung (OTCBB: SSNLF) is doing the actual manufacturing of the chip, and the architecture comes from ARM Holdings (Nasdaq: ARMH). Samsung is also a flash memory supplier, although some reports suggest Apple is using multiple suppliers.

The front-panel GSM module comes from Skyworks (Nasdaq: SWKS SWKSSkyworks Solutions Inc112. 11-0. 92% Built with Highstock 4. 2. 6), and Broadcom (Nasdaq: BRCM) is also heavily involved in iPhone wireless chips. Texas Instruments (NYSE: TXN TXNTexas Instruments Inc96. 96-1. 50% Built with Highstock 4. 2. 6) supplies controllers touch screens, while OmniVision (Nasdaq: OVTI) does the camera work and STMicroelectronics (NYSE: STM STMSTMicroelectronics NY Registered23.42-5.11% Created with Highstock 4. 2. 6) provides the accelerometer.

Of course, this is only one end of the ecosystem. Apple used Foxconn to assemble the device, while distribution is handled through wireless providers such as Verizon and AT&T, as well as retailers such as Best Buy. (Evaluate the past before investing in these types of gadget tools. Technology sector funds .)

iPad The iPhone is far from old news, but Apple's iPad is the next step forward in Apple's shaking up the traditional consumer electronics. As with the iPhone, the iPad is a complex collection of components supplied by a number of vendors. Perhaps not surprisingly, Apple has used many of the same companies for key components of the iPhone and iPad.

As mentioned, Apple uses the A4 chip in the iPhone and iPad. Likewise, Samsung is a major flash memory supplier (joined by at least Toshiba and possibly others), and STMicroelectronics also supplies an accelerometer. Broadcom supplies many of the device's wireless chip capabilities, but also complements Texas Instruments with touchscreen microcontrollers.

LG Philips handles the display for the iPad, while Intersil (Nasdaq: ISIL) and Atmel (Nasdaq: ATML) supply other components. As with the iPhone, Foxconn assembles the device while retailers like Best Buy handle at least part of the retail distribution.

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Important, but only to the point Is it good to be involved in Apple's supply chain? In general, the answer will seem to be “yes.” However, just turning on Apple products is not an automatic break for many of these providers. In Linear's case, for example, the chip company decided it was more important to preserve its profits than earnings from Apple, and the impact on the company appears to be measured in pennies per share. Likewise, it's hard to say that Texas Instruments or Samsung are desperately relying on Apple to do this.

Therefore, while it is good to track those companies that are involved in the next "new thing", careful due diligence requires finding out how much leverage actually exists. In many cases, especially for the largest chip companies, getting involved in a hot new product is actually just part of replacing a declining legacy business rather than a dramatic driver of results. (Return on Research Capital (RORC) can help investors measure how much R&D spending is actually generating. See R&D Costs and Profitability: What is a Link?)