10 Years of Same

The subtitle for the presentation, '10 Years of Same', came to me while looking at the industry's path of change since I began working on US ADW platforms back in 2001. Before diving into the 10 recommendations I made, we quickly looked at what 10 years of same would look like.

Recently, the jockey club presented a study detailing the state of the industry, based on many interviews and detailing analysis of the handle trends over the last 21 years. The graphic  shows a pretty clear trend for the last 10 years:

Source McKinsey & Company/Jockey Club

Since 2002 the decline is clear. This is what 10 years of no innovation looks like. Compare this instead with the stock chart from Apple, widely regarded as one of the most innovative companies in the world:

Source Yahoo! Finance

As you will see here, since 2002 Apple's stock price, the basic measurement of value created in any public company has increased 3,200% over the period to date. This is what 10 years of innovation looks like.

Ask yourself this, have Apple invented anything really 'new' during that period? The answer is no. If you look at the main products, all existed before Apple released their versions; iPads, iPhones/Smart Phones, iPods, iMacs, Macbooks - they all existed from other manufacturers in some guise prior to Apple's first version. What they have achieved is to understand what makes a product vs. what makes a great product. They have captured a new audience and carved out a market niche for themselves through great products, dedicated customer service and most importantly innovation.