Apple’s software and products targets many markets for its features specifically benefiting the needs of each individual. Apple targets middle to upper income people ages from 14-55 plus, who are willing to pay these high prices for their products . Most targeted individuals are music enthusiasts and fans ages, home users, schools, professionals in media and design and people who like to shoot videos and digital photos.
Apple is effective at creating and profiting from their loyal customers and they do this using 3 marketing techniques. The 3 techniques are Empathy, Focus, and Impute. Having Empathy for their customers gives them the ability to truly understand their customers needs better than any other companies. In addition, Focus in doing a good job for the needs of their customers allows them to eliminate all unimportant opportunities. Finally, if Apple presents themselves as a creative and professional manner, then they will impute the desired qualities. Apple 's target market includes all ages particularly teenagers, college students, parents with young children, business people and adults. Many teenagers use iPhones, iPods, and iwatches to socialize with friends, listen to music and go on instagram, Facebook,twitter etc. Having an
iPhone has became a big trend with teenagers and even today they all want to own an iPhone; including the newest iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus. College and university students have also been a target market for Apple. Most students use
Apple Computer uses focused differentiation to help sell its computers to a narrow target market of graphic designers and educators rather than the general population of computer users. Apple’s innovation on the ITunes store together with the widespread use of the IPod. The corporate strategy is focused on being a market disrupter, and in turn a market maker, by focusing relentlessly on the customer experience.
Apple is a global company represented in many parts of the world, but born in the United States by computer wizards by the names of Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak who founded the company back in 1976 (Capon, 2008). The organization deals with the design and sale of computer hardware, software and offers tech support to its customers. Examples of the hardware the company manufactures and sells include mobile phones, personal computers, iPads, tablets and iTunes with associated brands, like the MacBook and iPhones that represent Apple’s driving force towards its success. It is recognized as a brand leader in consumer electronics by the world in terms of quality and customer satisfaction and despite the wide product range, Apple manages each product in a distinct way that is a single business unit (Mittan, 2010).
Product Image is also an important factor when marketing to this age group. For teenagers brand is everything. Focusing on the exclusivity of the Apple iPhone with its various ways to enjoy music and stay connected will appeal to this group (Goodstein, 2007). College student will share some of the same wants and desires as teenagers. Product image, and being able to stay connected through social media and music are also important to this age group. College students are experiencing their first taste of adulthood as they leave the nest and go off to campuses or apartments for the first time. They need things to make this transition easier as well as tools to help them through their college coursework. Apple can appeal to this groups needs by placing strong emphasis on the iPhone’s ease of use and the multitude of iPhone specific apps useful for this age group.
Apple is now a 35 year old company, and since its founding is has strategically chosen to limit consumer choice. This would of thought to be debated, because many Apple buyers don’t view Apple as being limited in possibility or product options. However, as soon as consumers start buying stuff from Apple, they find it difficult to move to products made by someone else, as they have evolved their use of technology around apple software and products.
Apple implemented the marketing concept by focusing on customers’ needs through imagination, design, and innovation creating an emotional brand for its customers. Even though Apple is a technological company it takes a humanistic approach to satisfying the needs of its customers far better than the competition.
“Apple uses promotional and advertising tools to capture the attention, interest, and desire of the consumer. Apple captures our attention and interest through innovating and sleek imagery of their products on Apple's official website as well as keynotes and other publication” (Villefranche, 2011). For example Apple just released the I phone 5 which was highly anticipated and the publicity that Apple had prior to the release was tremendous and also brought in many new customers. It has been said that the first weekend the I phone 5 was available they sold 5 million phones. Apple made a plan and set up objectives and goals that they desired. Through integrated marketing they have met those goals and it allows for them to set higher goals and reach them as well. Apple also knows their competitors very well and this allows them to be in this market and compete very well.
Apple continues to focus their demographic trend on all consumers nationally and internationally. Apple’s business model has not altered since the company’s arrival in the late 1970s. Apple is a pioneer in consumer electronics innovation and has dominated the production of proprietary hardware and software, which has provided the company a competitive benefit in gaining a share of any market into which they have attempted (Gupta, A., 2013). Apple’s new iPad Air will continue to deliver a product that is useful and appealing to all private and commercial consumers. The large global customer base Apple has generated will continue to grow, while maintaining the loyal customers and reaching all demographics.
There are also many appealing game apps. College and university students use Apple products such as iPad, MacBook, and iPhone to quickly take notes. Business people are very intrigued by Apple products. All Apple devices have a business quality that is very useful. These devices are used to finish work efficiently and to communicate with clients easily. In addition, sending documents is easy and organized on these devices. The iPhone is useful to adults for their everyday needs such as phone calls, map directions, internet connection, documents, and cameras. Carrying these small devices makes adult lives much easier for communicating daily. Apple is committed to bringing the best personal computing experience to students, educators, creative professionals and consumers around the world through its innovative hardware, software, and Internet offerings.
The first strength of the Apple Inc. company is the financial position. The Apple Inc. developed to number one company in the globe and conquered the capital market. Yoffie and Penelop, 2012, states that Apple Inc. holds a solid financial located with a total assets of $162.90 billion. He also claimed that the Apple Inc. is the company that holds biggest trade out hand up to $116 billion. The Apple Inc. are financially strong enough to invest more in research and development to retain their outstanding position and their net revenue of 46%. The second strength of the Apple Inc. company is the separated products. The Apple Inc.’s personal computer operating structure is well secured. It were built free from viruses and hackers which tend to attack the Windows programming of Microsoft. Besides that, the Apple Inc.’s products are structured to address the interest about consumer’s ways of life which make the realistic framework and create of Apple’s products better than their competitor’s products in a similar market sector. Meanwhile, the Apple Inc. company holds the upper class sophisticated software products which is diverse from the other competitors. Each Apple Inc.’s products are produced from high quality products, such as aluminum, which consolidated with unique designs. These elements in their unlimited cluster of products make customers to sense that they have an expensive and glamourous product when they carry any Apple Inc. product. Weaknesses The first weakness
Strengths- Apple is one of the most upscale and strongest brands worldwide. “Apple continues to improve on its longtime stellar reputation, moving up from ninth place in the 2015 Harris reputation survey to second in 2016. The country’s largest tech companies tend to have a reputation for quality products as well as
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 I-Phone is a creative product that has a constant product life cycle. Each new phone that Apple produces goes through the same process. The simple lifecycle of which I will discuss a small scope of within this essay relating to social factors is, introduction, growth and maturity and then decline. Social Factors that revolve around the life cycle of the I-Phone are those such as trends, social media, social reputation and the competition around you. As the I-Phone is a technological advancement in itself technology will be a main focus through the entire argument. The social factors that tie in to the lifecycle of the I-Phone relate or tie in to the technological advancements of the product. I will discuss how the product is received and mass-produced to the point where there is no longer a market and the lifecycle ends.
Apple has placed itself into pop culture, from how ipods and subsequent trends like the pod casts are created. Apple has managed to market its mp3 players to become renowned around the world as the best selling, or at least the classiest and simplest of mp3 players. From the simplicity of the design, to the uniqueness of its operating system, ipods have made the people who
With Apple being so far ahead of their competition, the only problem one can foresee in Apple’s future is how long they can sustain such innovation before they plateau. Apple does a phenomenal job at releasing their innovative products before their competition, but if their innovation cannot hold steady, this may lead to changes in demand for their products considerably. This can be seen with their release of the iPhone, the first successful touch screen cellular phone. Although people swarmed to the iPhone when it was first released because of its advanced technology, as the years have passed, other similar designs, including those with android and windows based operating systems, have drawn a considerable portion of the market. A clear representation of Apple’s attempt to regain some of this market can be seen when the iPhone was released to Verizon Wireless’ customers in
It is beyond all doubt that Apple Inc is one of the most successful and well-known companied all over the world nowadays. What’s more, the company is considered to be the leader of the industry The Apple products are of high quality and in high demand on all the markets. Apple services and stores are the gold standards for all the followers and niche players of the industry. Moreover, the majority of Apple customers are extremely loyal to the brands. Once they started using its high-technical products they keep doing it. At the same time the market share of the company is increasing constantly. Probably all the competitors are questioning what is the key to Apple Company’s success. It is important to note that the whole strategy determines the success of the business and the strategic analysis of the company can help to identify the main criteria. Thus, the object of the research paper is to develop a strategic analysis of Apple Inc, including its internal and external environment.