Apple’s introduction of the iPad in 2010 was met with excitement. Sales for iPad tablets rocketed to over 250 million units sold by 2015. Apple is known as an innovator of new ideas and products; from being the earliest producer of widely used personal computers, mp3 players, cell phones, and smartwatches. Apple, with the iPad, was the first company to successfully mass produce and sell consumer friendly tablets. Every generation of the Apple tablet has brought new technology and innovation. The original iPad when introduced could take photos, play movies and music and wirelessly connect to the internet. Using the high visibility of its brand name the company plans to sell its 9th generation tablet, Ipad Pro, next month to a hungry consumer audience.
Brand
The apple brand in recent history has been held synonymously by its supporters as quality, innovation, sleekness, and, reliability. It is currently ranked by Interbrand, as the number one most valuable brand globally. It is important to look at the history of the brand to see how it has evolved and how it’s stayed the same. In 1977 Apple produced the apple II; the first user friendly personal computer that integrated color graphics and a keyboard. Apple has tried to maintain this “user friendly” ambiance around their products since with varied success. In recent history, from 1997 to the present Apple has been the “innovation” brand. They have maintained the user friendly company image while trying to integrate cutting
Apple's iPad has revolutionized tablet computers in many ways. Ipad3 is the latest version released by Apple on March 16, 2012 and is sleek and faster than its predecessors. While other manufacturers are struggling with innovation in the tablet computer section, Apple seems to handle it with relative ease and this is one of the main reasons for its presence as a market leader in this segment.
Since 1976 Apple’s innovation has helped the company become a market leader in computer and mobile electronics. Through this time the company has faced a number of challenges either it be an internal power struggles or criticism from the media for certain aspects of their business model. This report covers five different issues that the company is facing or may face in the future.
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).
Apple Inc. commonly known as Apple has effectively managed to be a successful company in a very competitive consumer electronics industry by been innovative and differentiating the company’s products with similar products in the markets by offering high quality products and good customer service while the actual manufacturing of the products is outsourced to trusted third party suppliers. On a wider perspective, the company has set high standards that even the company itself has to be on its level best to maintain the standards that it has set. Over the last few years, the consumer electronics market has
On April 1, 1976, one of the greatest American companies was created: Apple Incorporated. From that point on, tablets were never the same. Apple has paved the way for tablet devices in the field of technology. Apple is mostly known for their Macintosh computers, which were first unveiled on January 4, 1984, but on April 3, 2010 Apple outdid themselves once again with the the invention of the iPad. The iPad is an all-in-one tablet-like device. With the iPad learning is able to “go way beyond the classroom” (www.apple.com). With the invention of the iPad, it has changed the way people learn, especially in the field of education.
Apple was established as an IT company dealing in exclusively in computers. However, competition in the technology sector forced the firm to focus on other consumer products. The diversification strategy has seen Apple’s sales grow tremendously in the last decade, earning the firm the No. 1 brand position at Forbes. The Apple brand is recognized on an international scale and enjoys a strong recognition thanks to its aggressiveness when it comes to creativity and innovation (Tar, 2013). It has a large number of loyal customers who would purchase the new products regardless of the market price, which guarantees profits from the new division.
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 multi billion-dollar corporation, Apple Inc., designs and manufactures some of today’s highest technological gizmos and gadgets. Among their best known products are the Apple and Macintosh computers, iPods, iTunes, iPhones and iPads. Apple is one of the most powerful and influential high tech companies in the world. The success of Apple Inc. stems from the innovation and visions of co-founder and entrepreneur, Steve Jobs, the excellence of the stylish, user-friendly products, and the ability to create innovative products that consumer’s desire.
In the last five years, Mac sales have grown an average of 15 percent annually, compared to an average of three percent a year for the PC market as a whole. The iTunes App Store, which turned five this year, has crossed the 50 billion app download mark and the brand’s trendsetting retail stores are performing 17 times better than any other physical retail store—a fact that seems to justify the trademark Apple received for its distinctive design and layout. According to the latest news, Apple will launch a number of new products, such as Apple TV, iPhone6 and iOS's 8 in June this year.
Apple, Inc. (APPL) operates under a fiscal year accounting period. This period consists of the 52 (or 53) week period that ends on the last Saturday of September. September 25 was the specific date observed as the end of the annual reporting period for 2009 and 2010. Every six years Apple adds an additional week in its first fiscal quarter in an effort to realign its fiscal quarters with calendar quarter.
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 has done an excellent job of developing a very distinct strategy through industry leading innovation. This strategy has allowed them to be the frontrunners in new product introductions and the improvement of existing products. Apple has employed a differentiation strategy in an attempt to meet the needs of a global market by offering customers innovative new products and improved existing products. An important part of their strategy involves meeting the needs of the evolving digital electronics and computer markets. Apple has chosen to implement its strategy by designing and developing its
Nowadays, Apple has positioned itself to be an innovator in the personal computer industry and Apple has developed by offering modern products compared to its competitors. According to Apple’s mission statement last year, “Apple designs Macs, the best personal computers in the world, along with OS X, iLife, iWork and professional software. Apple leads the digital music revolution with its iPods and iTunes online store. Apple has reinvented the mobile phone with its revolutionary iPhone and App store, and is defining the future of mobile media and computing devices with iPad.” (Business Management,
In 1996, Apple was losing money and had very little market share when it purchased former owner Steve Jobs' software company, NeXT. In 1997, Jobs become CEO of Apple and began restructuring the product line, placing greater emphasis on style and the use of proprietary operating systems, rather than systems it licensed from other designers. The transformation to focus on quality and innovation led to a return to prosperity. In 2011, Apple was the third most valuable company in America and its product spread widely in more than 100 countries.
Apple has always been something of a trendsetter in the tech space. Its product history since Steve Jobs’s return in 1997 gives us a solid list of examples to choose from, from its very first iPod, to Apple’s PowerBook (and later MacBook) lines, to the iPhone and the iPad. Apple’s history is dominated by products that existed before Apple had a crack at them - but it was Apple who simplified them, made them appealing on a much wider scale, and ultimately made them objects of desire for the masses.