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In asking "Is this the death of Apple?", an article about the fortunes and falters of companies cites SFI research on the life cycles of companies.

"Then there is the sigmoidal curve. Companies are like animals. After an initial growth spurt, they slow down and die, usually in a matter of decades," writes the New Statesman's Bryan Appleyard. "Imagine the letter 'S' fallen on its face: there is a curve downwards on the left, then a rise – the start-up and growth spurt – then it reaches a plateau and begins to decline. This is the sigmoidal curve, applied by the physicist Geoffrey West of the Sante Fe Institute in New Mexico to both organisms and companies. Some are now saying that it applies to Apple, one of the biggest companies on the planet."

Read the article in New Statesman (November 28, 2013)

Read the article in the New Republic (December 6, 2013)