Apple Iphone SWOT Matrix
A firm should not necessarily pursue the more lucrative opportunities. Rather, it may have a better chance at developing a competitive advantage by identifying a fit between the firm 's strengths and upcoming opportunities. In some cases, the firm can overcome a weakness in order to prepare itself to pursue a compelling opportunity.
Beneficial Harmful
Internal S
• One of the leaders in mobile industry
• Good reputation and strong brand
• High quality and innovative products
• Attractive designs
• Good financial position
• Strong market position
• Strong international operations
• Powerful online presence
• Extensive Customer Base
• Effective Marketing Strategy
• Strong supplier relationships
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Weaknesses are also things that place you behind competitors, or stop you being able to meet objectives. This section will present main weaknesses of apple
• Compared with others company such as nokia , samsung , htc , motorola, etc, Apple iphone 's price is much higher than other competitors, which may limit their sales. Even they have the latest technology but with such an expensive price, not every customer can afford to buy iphone . If Apple don 't have a right strategy and promotion, customers may easily switch their choices to another competitor 's product
• Apple has no diversification and customization to offer. This makes Apple lose opportunity to increase their profits
• Apple’s choice of distribution channel has also been construed as a weakness as they’re limiting it to only Cingular and Apple retailers
• Apple is still missing some features: There is no “cut and paste” option or to save edited “files”. There is no MMS capability to send media files over the phone, is possible only through e-mails. Also, no instant messaging programs available
Opportunities:
Opportunities are external changes, trends or needs that could enhance the business or organization’s strategic position, or
In the case of the supply chain, Apple needs to maintain control over suppliers like it has been doing. The increasing competition form Samsung could affect the ability to obtain those exclusivity agreements.
It has been evidenced that Mac Users would never prefer to shift to any other brand and so is true for I Phone users. The intangible aspects like after sales support and warranties are also best in class for the products and thus the user experience has been always very high.
It is quite obvious from the case that Apple is facing many obstacles. It has way more competitors today than it had two or three decades back. Part of it has to with the highly globalized environment that companies are operating in these days. Another major obstacle is the technological environment which is rapidly changing compared to the one that Apple experienced when it first emerged on the global scene. But the most important of it all seems to be a mental thing. It appears that Apple, over a period of time, developed a rigid mental model that related success of Apple with sheer innovation. This same mental model has lead to demise of many companies in the past, Xerox Corporation being the prime example of that.
One key element of Apple’s strategy in computers, personal media players, tablet computers, and smart phones is product innovation, diversification and development. Over the years Apple has been very successful in integrating software and hardware in new developing products. Despite the struggling economy in recent years, Apple has been able to grow their market share and stay ahead of the game.
By making their products differentiated from the competition, Apple can establish their own price. Apple believes that people will pay some more money if they know that what they are buying is better and more reliable. That is also the reason why Apple sells the same products all over the world, making no selection or differentiation depending on where the market takes place. The high costs of Apple’s products are the one of the reasons why Apple Inc. preferred to be
They could leverage opportunities by being able to maintain their devoted customers and offer to them discounts or special promotions for the products. This would attract other potential customers. The potential damage may occur if Apple is not able to stay in the competition or cannot innovate; they are threatened if Google’s Android is advancing faster and faster because people like to stay in touch with the technology and would choose the best product in the market.
* Apple’s niche audience provides the company with some lagging from the direct price competition.
If you take a step back and observe any market, you will see that most businesses offer their customers multiple options when it comes to their products. Businesses like Apple that offer a suite of products and services understand that customers have varying needs.
Without saying, the iPhone does no less of a job than any of the smart phones out in the market. More importantly, Apple has re-demonstrated to the world that their logo represents innovation and reliability. The advantages of having a big brand name means that people know your product, and believe in it. What Apple has over small companies and startup companies is a financial leverage over them. Instead of mass advertisement, apple can feed more of its money into R & D which can allow them to fuel the economy with new innovating idea’s and products. Strengths: 1) Brand name- Highly recognized name from previous products like Apple computers and iPod & iTunes. Known for offering multi-functional, reliable and cutting edge products- that is design capabilities of products. 2) Capital- profits from its long established operations give iPhone financial leverage or R & D Startup Company’s lack. Weaknesses: Like almost all products, the iPhone is not entirely flawless. Its major weakness is its limited channels of distribution. Unlike the IPod, which are sold through many retailers, the iPhone canonly be sold in AT&T stores, T-mobile, and Apple stores. Although AT&T is the largest phone service provider in the United States, they only currently serve 58 million out of 2.14 billion cell phone subscribers. Besides for their poor channels of
Even though Apple has encountered many setbacks, it continues to bring new and improve products to the market. Apple’s competitive strategy has been innovation. They have made an extraordinary effort developing, implementing, and executing its very unique strategy through innovation which has resulted in new product, and the enrichment of the existing ones. More specifically, Apple attempts to meet and supply the needs of a global market, by offering eager and enthusiastic consumers with innovated and high-quality products and services. Apple has employed a differentiation strategy linked to innovation with its three core products (computers, personal media player, mobile phones, tablets and other accessories). A key piece of their strategy involves meeting the needs of the converging digital electronics and computer markets. Apple has elected to implement its strategy by designing and developing proprietary operating systems and software technologies, thus allowing for strict protection of its intellectual rights.
Apple's main competitors are Microsoft, Dell, Sony, Toshiba, Acer, HP, Nokia, etc. These all are highly specialized in their respective products. Today, the biggest challenge for
Once again Apple has been the first to the market when it comes to new features such as the touch screen, which has helped to keep its competition at arms length. Like all other Apple products, the smartphone is seen by many consumers in the industry as fashionable and a must have. Also Apple’s online music store support has also been a huge lift to its smartphones, as consumers can download music and thousands of applications.
Some of the weaknesses that Apple was able to pinpoint was their high prices and incompatibility with different operating systems. Since Apple already has a great deal of loyal customers Apple could combat this weakness and provide its customers with a reasonably priced compatible product, thus keeping and retaining more Apple Customers.
Apple operates with fierce competition in the consumer electronics segment which comes in many different forms. There are a large number of competitors in the different market niches who offer many similar products. Furthermore, many of these competitors' products are priced much less than an Apple branded products. Just as soon as Apple releases a new product, major companies begin imitating it immediately. In the personal computer industry, market pressure is continuously being exerted from such companies such as IBM, Dell, HP, and Toshiba (Wildstrom, 2009). Furthermore, with its flagship product the IPhone, Apple competes with companies like HTC, Palm, Blackberry, and Motorola (Wortham, 2011). Apple has had significant success despite the competitive environment because Apple commands a brand loyalty and dedication to innovation that few companies have ever achieved.
Riding on the success of the iMac, this allowed the company to cast a wider net to include more products and services such as the Apple Store, iPod, iTunes, MacBook, iPhone, and now the iPad.