Case Study: Apple, Inc Essay example

Apple being the top price point for its products must compete differently than some of the others in the market to pull in consumers willing to pay for the Apple brand and its promises, such as making devices as easy to deploy as they are to use.

Porter’s 5 Forces Analysis demonstrates that Apple, as a company, has few forces against it. The few risks to the company are essentially negligible, and only offer medium risk. There is no real competitive rivalry to speak of as Apple is exclusive in it’s products, and cannot be re-created at this time. There are substitute goods available, but they do not match all of the specifications of a singular Apple product. Apple has also avoided price-based competition by staying out of low end markets where price is the main differentiator. Additionally, Apple products never go on sale. This is due to Apple generating a superior product to Android, rival tablets and eReaders. This has allowed Apple to compete primarily on quality, service, and maintain a unique ecosystem.

Apple Inc.’s internal structure has become flexible as divisions are specifically established to develop the latest product and maintain a competitive advantage. Apples industry segments were than explored and it was noted that it was not possible to absolutely define a market which Apple consistently performed in. Apple Inc.’s multi-functional product base gave a clearly indication of the underlying strategic management at play. It was accepted that Apple has defined its own market segment, that of ‘mobile electronic devices’. The four main strategic management themes of M.E. Porter (focus, differentiation and cost leadership), G. Hamel & C.K. Prahalad (structuralist), W.C. Kim and R. Mauborgne (reconstructionist) and J. Ridderstråle and K. Nordström (intellect, uniqueness and innovation) were examined in light of Apple Inc.’s most recent performance. The Blue Ocean Strategy and the Funky Business Strategy models were found to be the most applicable and helped explained Apple Inc.’s sustained and phenomenal rise in business performance. Finally, strategy recommendations for the future direction of Apple Inc were explored by the use of a Strategy Canvas. Possible pitfalls and hypothetical futuristic products were also explored. The single most strategic liability identified was the departure of the CEO Steve Jobs from Apple which could potentially be

And thair is some expections that apple may be a monopoly, that which may be not agood ,becouse it making apple buyers and fans worry about product quality over time .

Apple is a leading innovator in countless technological markets, which includes the computer market, tablet market, smartphone market and the MP3 market. Being a leader in these industries comes with many challenges due to the number of competitors in each of the markets. Their main competitors are HP and Dell when it comes to the computer industry. Samsung, Google, HP and Dell are also primary competition in the tablet market. Apple was by far the leader in the smartphone industry, however Google’s Android and Samsung’s Galaxy are becoming increasingly popular and they have become Apples main competition. Apple brought MP3 players to a whole new spectrum when the iPod was introduced; however the iPad 's main competition is Apple 's very own iPhone because of the iPhones music playing capabilities. In order for Apple to stay the leader in all these industries they must constantly be innovating and differentiating their products from their competitors.

Due to Apple’s wide platform of products there is a threat of substitute products from an assortment of firms. In the product line of iPods, Apple makes a variety of units. The market share for this portable personal music player was greatly

Competitors such as dell, Toshiba and Sony sell their products at lower prices compared to that of Apple Inc. gaining a higher market base due to the affordability of its

In addition, Apple products are sell at the high price. In most countries, Apple's products are consider as more expensive than competitors products and this is because of the company premium pricing strategy. Apple

Porter’s 5 Forces Analysis demonstrates that Apple, as a company, has few forces against it. The few risks to the company are essentially negligible, and only offer medium risk. There is no real competitive rivalry to speak of as Apple is exclusive in it’s products, and cannot be re-created at this time. There are substitute goods available, but they do not match all of the specifications of a singular Apple product. Apple has also avoided price-based competition by staying out of low end markets where price is the main differentiator. Additionally, Apple products never go on sale. This is due to Apple generating a superior product to Android, rival tablets and eReaders. This has allowed Apple to compete primarily on quality, service, and maintain a unique ecosystem.

Therefore, the existence of substitutes have the potential to reduce the future growth of the brand. -Rivalry within the PC industry Apple is facing very tough rivalry. Competing brands involve in price wars. Customers have different needs and wants. No specific market segment is strong enough to justify price premium. Buyers have increasing knowledge about the product. Overview of the industry The PC industry has powerful buyers, vicious rivalry, intense threat from the new entrants, some strong suppliers who harvest most of the industry’s residual profits. Overall, the PC industry is not an attractive business. Analyze the internal environment of the firm For companies to build competitive advantage, they need to examine the entire value system. What really delivers value in Apple? The following analysis will adopt the Resource-Based View. Specifically, Apple Inc. is an effective manufacture and designer of consumer electronics and closely related software product. The tangible resources of Apple may include its flagship products, the current customer base, the company’s current distribution systems, etc. For example, Apple leads the industry in innovation with its award-winning desktop and notebook computers, OS X operating system, iLife and its range of professional applications. Apple also spearheads the digital music revolution with its iPod portable music players and iTunes online music store. The intangible resources of Apple may be the

Advancement in technology has been on the rise for the last couple of decades; in that aspect many companies have adopted the latest technological advancement in order to be able to remain relevant to customer demand. Some firms have ventured into the production of a device to enable people access to some of the technological advancement. One such firm that has adopted the technological advancement into the production of a device that can enable one to enjoy these advancements in technology is Apple. This paper will look at the different products produced by Apple, pricing of the products, positioning of the firm in different sectors of the society and the competition.

Q1.Historically, what were Apple’s major competitive advantages? (Please list them and explain briefly with one sentence each where relevant.)

The rivalry in this industry is high with the four top Pc vendors- Hewlett- Packard, Dell, Lenovo, and Acer accounted for 53.6 percent of worldwide shipments. (Pg 5) Even though it was Apple who founded the first personal computer it was IBM that brought them into the conventional lives of society. Within this time period there were a lot of mergers and acquisitions making rivalry amongst firms even greater as every time this occurred these merged companies would have more market share and more capital to help their business.

Apple Inc. Started as the movement into the usage and manufacturing of personal computers in the year 1977 (Schermerhorn, 2010). Through changes in management and differences the various styles, the company missed out on opportunities that led to the loss of competitiveness to companies such as Microsoft, Gateway, as well as Dell. Later on, the company conquered its competitors and emerged as one of the best computing companies. Today, Apple operates in numerous lines that are inclusive of the music industry, mobile phones, and computer industry. The operations of this company range from manufacturing the hardware as well as the software for use in these devices. Notably, Apple continues to dominate the technology industry though not as aggressively as it did some years back. The company has since incorporation opened over sixty-five outlets that have enabled the company to move into the new world. In comparison to its competitors, Apple has gained customers that understand the superiority of its products.

Apple is often criticized for the price of Macs being so much higher than that of PCs with similar processing power. The prices of Macs (depending on which one is purchased) at their base models, can vary anywhere from $1099 to $3000 (Apple). This number only increases when the Mac is upgraded from the base model. PCs however can often be found for much cheaper than a Mac, whether they come pre-assembled, or are built by the user. The problem with Macs is that there is often a small difference in price for a powerful PC vs a low-end Mac. In addition, the costs for products that accommodate these two companies vary proportionally to the cost of the computers themselves. For example, the average Mac keyboard may cost 3 times more than the average P.C. counterpart. Similarly, replacing a P.C. monitor may cost far less than replacing a monitor for a Mac. Cost is the most common factor in the Mac vs. P.C. debate. The newest Mac costs considerably more than a comparable P.C. that will come with much more potential software and upgrade paths for the future. There are also many different companies that sell PCs, such as HP, Acer, Asus, Dell, and MSI. Macs however are limited to being sold by Apple, meaning that the price is always under their