Well, they are trying, I was just going for the pun, but seriously. It sort of seems effortless, doesn’t it? Here’s my opinion of what makes them so successful and what other companies, large and small, can learn from the example.

1. Steve Jobs. Yes, the Apple, Inc., CEO is very controlling when it comes to products (everything from form to function in both software and hardware), but that’s what makes them great. When he’s got an idea, he doesn’t really care what analysts predict or pundits say (anyone remember how people thought the iPad was doomed? Exactly.). He’s going to make that product the way he wants, and the naysayers can go to… well, you know.

2. One company for hardware and software. It’s easy to miss why this is important, so I’ll give you an example (everyone knows I do love a good example). When I was 16, I had a three-year-old PC (the company of which I will not name). Its warranty had expired, say, three days before. All of a sudden, there was no more sound. No music, no sound effects, nada. So I called the PC maker. I spent 7 hours on the phone with technical support, who then decided to tell me it was Microsoft’s problem, not theirs. Microsoft is primarily a software company. They make what you’re seeing on the screen (the operating system), while PC manufacturers make the hardware. This does not happen at Apple. Since everything is made by them (because of reason #1), there is only one place to go if something goes kaput. You don’t have to know if the software or the hardware is the problem; once you hand over your precious machine, that’s their problem to fix.

3. Excellent customer service. As a natural follow-up to the previous reason, excellent customer service is one of the huge components of Apple’s success. Not only can you call their help line or send your computer to them, there are actual brick-and-mortar stores to take your computer to! In addition, Apple offers a ton of services for the user, depending on what one needs. There are even free classes available at the stores. A coworker of mine recently purchased his first Apple product: the iPad 2. He was super excited, but he had to ship it to our office to make sure he’d be there to receive it. However, due to poor timing, it was expected to arrive on a holiday when our office was closed. He tried calling the shipping service, who told him to pick it up at his nearest shipping store. Once he arrived, he discovered that his driver’s license had to match the shipping address (which, of course, it did not). After calling them again, he decided to try calling Apple. Not only was the representative super friendly, she went, in his words, “above and beyond” to try to help him. She even tried to fax the shipping office a document saying he was who he said he was, but the fax machine on the other end was out of service. After going back and forth with my coworker, she finally managed to reach the shipping people to tell them to let him get it. He told me at work the following week that he would be an Apple customer for life. That, to me, is not just great, but excellent, customer service.

4. The products. Sure, you can have a megalomaniacal boss, hardware and software under one roof, and great people, but you’re nothing if you don’t have a great product. And Apple doesn’t just have one great product. They’ve got a bunch. The iPhone, Jobs has said in the past, could actually be a separate company with all its revenue. So what is it about these products? What makes them so special that people are lining up to drink the Apple Kool Aid (no, I didn’t invent that phrase)?

First, they’re innovative. Apple is doing things with computers, phones, and tablets that are years ahead of what many other companies are doing. Most just scramble to play catch up. Before the iPhone, no one had a truly awesome touch screen phone. Before the MacBook Air (Apple’s super thin laptops), the thinnest laptops often had truly atrocious battery life. Before the iPad, tablets were clunky and practically unusable (do you even remember tablets before the iPad?). It’s Jobs’ hunger for innovation that pushes the company ahead time and time again.

Secondly, they’re easy to use. Apple’s product line doesn’t get bogged down in its innovation. They don’t even have user manuals anymore because Apple feels that these things should be intuitive. They want you to touch, to experiment, to learn by doing. Even if you don’t remember how to do something right away, the chances are, you’ll probably be able to figure it out again. No hidden files, no tricky buttons. It’s all just… there. The user experience is what Apple, Inc., was built on thirty years ago and will continue to be built on for many years to come.

So what do you get when you add up those four parts? An epic company that bounced back from the brink of disaster and managed to not only exceed expectations, but totally and completely blow them away. Stock that’s predicted to hit over $400 per share, anyone?