On December 12, the Patently Apple AAPL website was first to report that Apple had filed for a restaurant-related patent. The stock market smelled what was cooking. The stock of Open Table, which specializes in restaurant reservations, fell from a high of $80.20 to a low of $74.65 before staging a mild recovery. In social media, Apple bulls cheered the development. Apple needs a new revenue stream and restaurants are a big opportunity.
A close reading of Apple’s patent application for “Systems and Methods for Processing Orders and Reservations Using an Electronic Device” shows that it is not only about reservations like Open Table, but the intention is to transform methods and procedures used by restaurants.
Apple files many patents. A vast majority of them are within the realm of its core business. However, the restaurant application, if implemented, will be a new direction for Apple. Is Apple losing focus? I think so.
History tells us that it is common for companies at the peak of their success to lose focus and step out of their core competencies….Read more at Forbes.