Innovation to Nowhere

"They're a one-trick pony. It was a great trick for over 10 years, but the rest of us have figured it out … "

--Anonymous tech executive speaking about Dell

So, did you see the Business Week story this week: "Dark Days at Dell"? What about this morning's BW article "Apple vs. HP, Who's Got the Mojo Now?"

Of course, I had no idea these were coming out when I wrote my post last Wednesday on "What Drives Sustainable Innovation." I said that technology innovation is required but not sufficient for sustained market leadership through innovation. You also need what Booz Allen Hamilton called (two years ago) market-based ideation. And both require an innovation value chain with certain baked-in structures and processes that don't exist at Dell.

But Dell's problem goes deeper than just being a "one trick pony" or not having enough clever ideas. Its core mission has always been total PC commoditization -- in other words, to define value itself only as the absence of cost. That road eventually leads nowhere.

HP, as Dell's main PC rival, stands to benefit most from Dell's mistakes. It can prosper even if it does not offer innovation leadership — if it just executes well. What about HP versus Apple? No one is suggesting that Apple's options fiasco, battery recall, or $100 million payout to Creative Technologies reveals strategic flaws. Even Tiger Woods hits one out of the course now and then.