The fundamental weaknesses of an integrated value chain like the one that exists between iTunes and Apple's iPod products and, now, the iPhone, is that even the most fawning of customers inherently rebel - some in the form of hacking the system - against such a compulsion against consumer choice. Today, in the face of growing hegemonic power in realms expanding from media to telecommunications with last Friday's iPhone launch, those same hackers are trying to disintegrate that value chain for themselves, attempting to rid the revolutionary new device from the grip of AT&T's last generation data network.

What defines value for Apple's customers? Well, in addition to the innovation in user experience and design packed into every one of its products, Apple's brand itself is as much the performance defining characteristic that draws legions of loyal buyers to iconic products like the iPhone.

But even as the company protects its inherent advantage by erecting barriers to competition in its value chain, that same source of strength can become the company's greatest weakness. Just as Apple's hegemony in the digital music distribution business has been based on the inseparable linkage between iTunes and the company's iPod media players, the integration between the new iPhone and the AT&T network as the sole wireless carrier presents a target for disintegration that hackers have found hard to resist. What's at stake is nothing less than Apple's compelling value proposition itself - its formidable proprietary product linkages.(read more)