Apple Case Study

Dhruv Dar, Sanjay Kumar and Vijay Aggarwal wrote this case solely to provide material for class discussion. The authors do not intend to illustrate either effective or ineffective handling of a managerial situation. The authors may have disguised certain names and other identifying information to protect confidentiality. Richard Ivey School of Business Foundation prohibits any form of reproduction, storage or transmission without its written permission. Reproduction of this material is not covered under authorization by any reproduction rights organization. To order copies or request permission to reproduce materials, contact Ivey Publishing, Richard Ivey School of

Revenues are recognized in a net basis and only commissions they retain from each sale are reflected under the company’s financial statements.

Q.1 – Briefly describe the dilemma presented in this case study. Who are the key players and what are some of the antecedents that have led to the present problem? Ans. When the best manager, takes certain actions which go against the core values of the company, it becomes really difficult for the management to make a fair judgement. They are stuck in a dilemma of what would be a better judgement. As a leader, it is very important to be fair and impartial to your team members. And so is the dilemma presented in the case, Bob’s Meltdown, Nicholas G. Carr. The key players in this case are1. Annette Innella 2. Robert Dunn 3. Jay Nguyen Annette Innella is the Vice President, Knowledge Management at Concord Machines. She was recently hired by

This additional elasticity in Apple’s business strategy shows its aspiration to conquer Dell, HP and Microsoft, done with a exceptional and groundbreaking mixture of digital media and personal computer creations.

Apple Inc. started off as a small computer company and rose to prominence over the following years. They faced great challenges and obstacles to evolve and become one of the top notch corporations today. Having a great CEO, Steve Jobs, is credited for the success of Apple. Under the leadership of Steve Jobs, Apple was able to innovate industry changing technology.

Every company’s biggest challenge is competition. In analyzing the 2012 case study, it can be said that Apple’s biggest challenge is competition and new entrants to the market. Their supplier power is high, buyer power is high, and substitute goods concerns is relatively high. The case study highlighted that as Apple continued to successfully produce great products, and increased sales worldwide, competitors saw Apple as a threat and tried to copy their style. According to the case study, Apple’s biggest concerns for the company going into the third quarter in 2012, were how Google’s entry into the market for smartphones and tablets would affect the company’s sales of the iPhones and iPads. In 2011, iPad and iPhones contributed tremendously to boosting the company’s performance in 2011 and 2012. Apple’s biggest competitor with regards to mobile devices is Samsung, which managed to attain the title of the world’s largest smartphone seller in 2011 and early 2012.

Issue 01: Steve Jobs is now gone - can they do it without him in the long term?

The supplier group’s products are differentiated or it has built up switching costs for the buyer

Based in Cupertino, California, Apple Inc. has become one of the titans of the technological industry in the 39 years since it was created in the spring of 1976. This growing company employees over 115,000 people and has 450 retail stores in 16 different countries. With an annual revenue of $233 billion in 2015 Apple Inc. is the most prosperous technological company in the world. Along with its many retail locations Apple also runs the online Apple Store making it a truly global brand. Over the years Apple has expanded their product line; in its infancy the company specialized in personal computers but more recently the main product line is phones and tablets. Apple’s other significant products include computer software and other consumer electronics (iPod, Apple Watch, and Apple computers).

The authors do not intend to iIIustrate either effective or ineffective handling of a managerial situation. The authors may have

Apple Inc. is a globally recognised pioneer in the tech industry. It is a corporation that designs, develops and sells electronic products such as tablets, computers and phones. Founded by Ronald Wayne, Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak in 1976, it is a multinational corporation with headquarters in Cupertino, California. Tim Cook has been CEO since Jobs’ passing in 2011.

Apple Inc. has launched its iPhone in January 2007 (telegraph) as a new product in the market with latest technology and it was the first multi touch smartphone adding the feature of iPod and received an overwhelmed response by selling 270000 units. It had created a new record for a new company like apple, iPhone had laid a stepping stone for the success of Apple and till this time iPhone is the best seller product of Apple Inc. during first quarter of 2016 apple has sold over 74 million iPhones worldwide. (statista, 2016).

Apple Inc. is established in California on April 1, 1976 and incorporated on January 3, 1977. Apple Inc. focuses on designing and manufacturing consumer electronics and software products. Which should be mentioned is that the company's best-known products are Macook, iPod, iPhone, and iPad.

* Apple has the customer base mainly in the United States that is devoted to the company and its brands.

This paper presents a case study of Apple Inc. Apple Inc. is a technology based corporation with emphasis on computer software and hardware (MAC and Apps), tablets (IPad), smart phones (IPhone), and mp3 plays, (ITouch). Apple Inc. has grown tremendously over the years and ever since 2001 has expanded its brand and retail stores to over 375 stores/outlets globally. The business has seventy two thousand eight hundred employees in thirty eight countries. Apple Inc. has truly become one of the most efficacious corporations within its field behind or competing with Microsoft and Google Inc.