Apple Is A Company That Is Consistently Checking For Improvements

In 1996, Apple was a struggling company that had lost more than 70% of its market capitalization in the past decade. Apple’s sales had fell dramatically and their new personal computers weren’t particularly popular with consumers. The return of Steve Jobs to the company was a turning point for Apple and initiated a new era for the firm. With the launch of innovative products such as the iPod, iPhone and iPad, Apple became the biggest brand in the world. Now it remained to be seen if Tim Cook would be able to continue to develop new products and maintain Apple’s success.

The purpose of this report is to give an analysis of the major issues that Apple Inc is facing or may face in the future. It includes an overview of the company in terms of external and internal issues and later gives recommendations on how certain issues can be resolved or prevented. The report first gives a brief explanation on the methodology that has been used and is followed by the main findings from the research. The findings include a description of the issue as well as each issue being analyzed through one of the six perspectives. It later follows conclusions about Apple and leads to recommendations that can be followed up to fix certain issues.

Apple Computers is a well-established and highly profitable company that has several leading technology- and computer-based products on the market, and that retains a highly loyal consumer base in its niche personal computing market (Yahoo Finance, 2012; Hoovers, 2012). Though the company faltered for some time in its history, it has again reached the pinnacle of innovation and progress in the computing and technology industries, and its product rollouts constitute some of the most anticipated and avidly watched events each year by early adopters and investors alike (Yahoo Finance, 2012; Hoovers, 2012). Despite the recent passing of Steve Jobs, one of the company's founders and the company's CEO and public face during the company's resurgence over the past decade-and-a-half, most projections for the company are optimistic in both the short and long terms (Yahoo Finance, 2012).

Apple has prospered internally and it is necessary to consider both strengths and weaknesses. Apple has lots of strengths, the major of them being it’s impressive brand reputation, Apple managed to position the brand as “premium products” for “elite” people. Customers are loyal and tend to stay in Apple’s ecosystem. Apple’s self-reinforcing ecosystem, it has a diverse ecosystem which integrates various hardware and software products into one large interactive space. Status of top innovator, Apple is perceived as the leading innovator and its products are highly anticipated. Apple’s very strong financial performance, high profit margins and very high liquidity. It’s network of retail stores, high-quality customer service helps to create advanced user experience. A powerful marketing strategy, Apple’s team masterly uses various marketing techniques to create a hype for their products and to strengthen the brand.

In the last decade Apple Inc. has yielded exponential growth. As a company, the imaginative and invocative approaches of technological product advancements have enable Apple, Inc. to achieve an elite status among technology companies throughout the world. Apple, Inc. serves as an inspiration to many companies through higher benchmark standards they created. Though their product margin is not as vast as most technological competitors, Apple, Inc. innovates and releases a new product to consumers. Apple, Inc. has proven to able to move and create new markets with one product that allows Apple, Inc. to rain as the elite player in technology.

I learned that Apple is a juggernaut when it comes to their technological products and marketing goals. Apple focuses on the needs of customer’s light years ahead of their competition and even before most consumers have realized they want Apple’s products. Through their innovative marketing involving social media, word of mouth, Apple Stores they have convinced consumers about the high value of their product even lending to the formation of a “Mac cult” for its diehard fans. The way ahead for Apple is not to lose sight of its brand loyalty and continue to service the customers and entice them with the brand’s prestige. Even with the death of Steve Jobs, I believe Apple forge ahead to differentiate itself from the markets they are in.

The market is never static and the preferences of the customers keep changing. In this case the executives at Apple must always ensure that the needs of the clients are effectively addressed at all times. In the same way, the industry has become very competitive in the recent past and the organization has to find ways and means of staying ahead of its competitors. In this case, innovation plays a major role in ensuring that new products are constantly produced by the organization.

Issue 02: Apple is a wildly successful company that generates billions of dollars in profits every year. This is one of the strongest examples of how a company with the right strategy, great products, a strong leader and the willingness to take some risks can become vastly successful. The market in which Apple is strong has intense rivalry for market share. Apple is challenged with staying ahead of its competitors and maintaining long-term relationships with its customers. In order to stay ahead of the competition Apple is forced to keep product innovation a top priority. I would maintain a Blue Ocean Strategy to market our product and maintain our competitive advantage (McGraw-Hill Irwin, Page 152). The company has a strong and loyal customer base which will allow Apple to concentrate the focus to highlighting the features of our products. I will not focus on what our competitors can and cannot do; I will focus the attention to the benefits of having Apple products. Strategic marketing campaigns highlighting the different uses and features of the popular iPhone and iPad will headline the campaign.

Thesis Statement: The Apple Corporation exceeds competing companies in product sales because of the company’s high recognition as a top selling brand, along with the dependability of its product and the technological innovations it consistently provides for consumers.

Apple’s hits have been executed through first mover advantages, technological advances, and innovative strategies. Based on Apple’s current product positions, their success can continue into the next decade; however, it will be much harder for Apple

Apple's strengths include the following. First, the company has a unique and highly differentiation supply chain that is able to quickly take conceptual designs and transform them into finished products (Cusumano, 2008). Complimenting their supply chain is their second significant strength which is their new product development and innovation processes that continually create products that redefine entire product categories (Cole, Matsumiya, 2007). Third, the creation and continual development of the Apple iTunes platform has revolutionized the music and electronics industries, illustrating the power of a platform to monetize a business (Jonash, Koehler, Onassis, 2007). Fourth, Apple has created a unique organizational structure that is very difficult to replicate, taking product engineering, ergonomics and usability, and

Apple’s over-arching company strategy follows an innovative, mysterious and customer-centered strategy. One of the main reasons for Apple’s success has to do with their large commitment to satisfying customers while continuously innovating their products and design without creating a sense of “too much” or confusing their consumers through new operating systems. These goals, which create a unique and successful company, are achieved through the ways in which they use the five key strategic elements: arena, differentiators, vehicles, staging and pacing, and economic logic.

Apple has been on the cutting edge of technology for many year. However, their leading competitor Samsung has begun to close the gap. Apple has several major and minor issues that should be addressed in order to corner the market and pull ahead of their competitors. In the past, Apple has been able to generate a buzz with their revolutionary products and top of the line technologies. However, in the past few years , their lack of product innovation has caused a drop in the companies popularity. Apple needs to reinvigorate their imagine in the eye of the public and improve their business strategy. Outlined below are several of the major and minor issues facing the Apple corporation, as well as recommendations to help the corporation regain its share of the market.

The free marketplace within our economy provides a tremendous opportunity for small businesses and companies to grow and prosper. This type of economic system provides business owners the independence to design and supply almost anything. But this fluid environment can also limit and even closedown a company if the demand for their products isn’t sustained. The company Apple Inc. is known for their competitive advantages in the current marketplace and worldwide. This company is known for their creation and design of Macintosh personal computers and its signature look is in the shape of an apple, creating instant visible product recognition for customers. Currently, Apple Inc. leads the industry in the digital music revolution with its iPods and iTunes online stores. In addition to their creations they have also reinvented mobile iPhone and iPads which have defined the future of mobile media and computer systems with new advanced technology. These innovations with electronic devices have enhanced the overwhelming worldwide demand for their products which has affected the way other technology companies around the world, market and strategize their current and future products to its customers.

Apple’s fundamental business model has not changed since it first began business in the late 1980’s. While being a leader in innovation, Apple has consistently produced proprietary hardware and software, eventually leading to a loss of market share in any particular market they have ventured into. Even though it has learned from some mistakes, Apple’s actions in the past few years have not shown a change from the core reasons for its failures and unless new actions are taken its current market lead will eventually dwindle.