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The Motorolla Way, The Apple Way, and the Next Way

At the Build Better Electronics Manufacturing Summit, veteran hardware engineers from some of the industry's most influential companies discussed how hardware development has evolved over the past three decades – and where it might be heading next.

From the New Product Introduction (NPI) processes from HP in the early 1980s, through Motorola's revolutionary approach, to Apple's refinement of these methods, experts discussed how today's emerging startups are challenging traditional development models.

The Motorola Way: Cost-Conscious Innovation

Felix Alvarez, a former Motorola engineer who later worked at Apple, Google, Meta, and Amazon, explained how Motorola revolutionized hardware development by bridging the gap between design and manufacturing costs. "They actually made development own the budget up to DVT, which created a pretty interesting aspect for engineers because now you needed to understand why, how parts cost that much," Alvarez explained. This approach required engineers to understand everything from CNC tooling to injection molding, making manufacturing considerations an integral part of the design process.

However, Motorola's rigid adherence to processes eventually became its downfall. "That started killing innovation," Alvarez noted. "They got so obsessed with their process that they forgot to innovate.”

The Apple Way: Relationships and Resources

Matt Hill, a 14-year Apple veteran now at Snap, characterized Apple's approach as being built on two fundamental pillars: relationships and resources. Perhaps most surprisingly, he revealed that "there are no product managers at Apple, which is just bonkers by most company standards." Instead, Apple relies on a tight-knit group of long-tenured employees, who have forged a close working relationship, making decisions.

The resource aspect of Apple's approach is equally crucial. "When you amortize your tooling, your travel, all of that over a hundred billion units, everything goes to zero," Matt explained. He highlighted the importance of having engineers spend significant time in China, noting that in his peak year, he "spent over a hundred days on the ground in China," creating incredibly tight feedback loops with vendors and developing engineers into craftspeople.

However, this model faces new challenges in the post-COVID era, and Apple's practice of sending hundreds of engineers to China for product launches has dramatically decreased, from 300-500 people to just 30-50. This reduction threatens to erode the close collaboration between headquarters and manufacturing that has been crucial to Apple's success.

The Next Wave: Speed and Disruption

Zach Scott, a former Apple engineer who now heads hardware at Backbone, argues that we're on the cusp of a new hardware revolution. "If Motorola dominated from 1990 to 2010, the flip phone era, Apple has been dominating from about iPhone 3G 2010, perhaps until 2025 or 2030, there is going to be a coming revolution," he predicted.

This new era, according to Zach, will be defined by speed. Three key enablers are making this possible: advanced SLS 3D printing technology, commoditization of sophisticated hardware components, and access to experienced manufacturing vendors. "There is this unique moment right now where, if companies and startups can have the right philosophy, culture, and values, they can take advantage of those enablers and use them to develop hardware 10 times faster and 10 times cheaper than the traditional way" he explained.

Drawing from his experience at SpaceX, Zach emphasized the importance of challenging conventional wisdom. He shared an anecdote about being tasked as an intern with redesigning a crucial rocket engine component: "I was so under qualified to do that role, it was hilarious, I figured it out. And that's shipping today."

The Future of Hardware Development

Traditional hardware development processes need to evolve. Felix shared an example of successfully building a robot in two weeks when conventional wisdom suggested it would take six months. "We need to apply these things into the product development process in a different way that current big companies do because those processes are slowing them down," he argued.

Matt emphasized the importance of balancing intuition with analysis: "If you approach everything analytically, you will move incredibly slow. If you approach everything intuitively, you will hit roadblocks." He stressed the continued importance of craftsmanship, even as development processes evolve.

Zach pointed to a new generation of hardware founders who are already implementing these changes. "These new hardware founders, they are doing that right now and they don't have the expectations that all of the established companies have, and they're born into that new philosophy," he explained. "Once they get that flywheel going, which isn't gonna be 10 years from now, it's gonna be more like two or three years from now, they're going to be unstoppable."

The panel concluded with advice for the next generation of hardware engineers. Felix shared wisdom from his early career: "If it doesn't violate the laws of physics, why not try it?" Zach encouraged engineers to challenge established norms: "Don't play by the rules that have been set up by everybody else... You have to change the rules of the game."

As the hardware industry stands at this inflection point, it's clear that while the lessons from Motorola and Apple remain valuable, a new paradigm is emerging – one that emphasizes speed, flexibility, and a willingness to challenge conventional wisdom. The success of this approach may well determine which companies lead the next wave of hardware innovation.