Only a few companies invent wholly new products. Most adapt and extend ideas that others have already tried. Apple’s iPod was not the first MP3 player, but added enough to make its version innovative....

Only a few companies invent wholly new products. Most adapt and extend ideas that others have already tried. Apple’s iPod was not the first MP3 player, but added enough to make its version innovative. By developing the iPod personal music player and the iTunes online music store, Apple has dramatically altered the portable digital music industry. However, Apple did not invent digital music or portable digital players. It merely created a new and better value package by developing an easy-to-use music player with conveniently priced online music. The magic in its success is not of radical technology but the creation of higher added value for customers. This it achieved by clever use of design and combination of components to configure the best customer value-adding music proposition. The lesson here is clear. Success in innovation is not driven by a development being radical or incremental, or whether it is invented in-house or out-of-house. Success is determined by the new value that it delivers to the customer.