In an interview with the Wall Street Journal, Boeing Commercial Airplanes President Ray Conner compared the company’s new approach to developing jetliners to Apple Inc.’s iPhone.
While both iPhone’s and Boeing 787 Dreamliners use lithium batteries, that wasn’t Conner’s point.
His point was that Apple has regularly and incrementally improved the iPhone while keeping the price relatively stable.
Last year, Boeing Co. CEO Jim McNerney told investors, financial analysts and media that the company would focus on regular and incremental innovation rather than technological “moon shots” every 20 years or so.
Conner’s interview with the Journal’s Jon Ostrower gives a good overview of this new approach.
Boeing is focused on revamping its commercial jetliner catalog. That transition includes bringing six new models — 737-7, 737-8, 737-9, 777X-8, 777X-9 and 787-10 — into production in the next six years.
Demand for commercial airliners is booming and is expected to remain high for a couple decades. Boeing and its rival Airbus Group NV share a backlog of roughly 5,800 airplanes worth about $440 billion at list prices. Given the sustained demand and close competition with Airbus, it is easy to see why Boeing might want to focus on small innovations that can help the company compete for market share year after year.
Still, the shift has disappointed some industry analysts, including Scott Hamilton, owner of Issaquah-based Leeham Co.
In a column following McNerney’s moon shot declaration in May 2014, he called the CEO’s statement “disheartening.”
Hamilton pointed to the demise of McDonnell Douglas as a cautionary tale. Douglas Aircraft had been an innovator and industry leader. After its purchase by McDonnell Aircraft, the resulting McDonnell Douglas focused on making derivative airplanes rather than taking chances on industry-leading innovation.
The company’s “reluctance to invest in new airplanes led to its exit from commercial aviation” and from existence as an independent business, Hamilton said.
Dan Catchpole: 425-339-3454; dcatchpole@heraldnet.com; Twitter: @dcatchpole.
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