The Success of Personal Computers in the Market

I believe most of the general populations are aware of how rapidly technology evolves. I will start by giving a little bit of background into my own computer system. I purchased my Desktop computer system in late October 2008. At the time I was set to begin a journey into the world of higher education and needed a computer that could keep up with me. As I did my research into what was on the market that would fit not only my budget, but the needs I believe I needed. I quickly found I was not interested in anything that was on the market in stores, simply because of

The PC industry has started to develop fast in the 80 's when IBM launched its first PC series and later on when numerous small companies entered the market. PC is a new product and companies had to create the demand to it from the scratch.

"Pcs Industry Profile: United States." Pcs Industry Profile: United States (2012): 1-39. Business Source Premier. Web. 8 Oct. 2013.

With time, the PC continued to evolve and newer models offered better speed, color screens, more memory and larger hard drives. Further technical evolution continued to deliver higher speeds, larger storage capacity both internal and external. In addition to the hardware progression, the PC world continued to see progress with operating system solutions and advanced software catering to both large and small businesses as well as the home owner.

The computer industry is a tough and competitive business. Companies are constantly competing to have the newest and greatest advancements in technology that will make their product the most appealing to consumers. It is a multi billion-dollar industry, but in mid August Hewlett Packard, the worlds largest PC distributor made the announcement that it planned to exit the Personal computer industry to focus on other aspects of their company. This shocked not only consumers, but also other competitors in the industry. Just a few months after Leo Apotheker, the CEO who made this decision, was fired from his position and replaced by Meg Whitman. When Whitman was hired she made it clear that “Apotheker's

Dell Computer Corporation was founded in 1984 by Michael Dell. From the early 1990s until the mid-2000s, Dell was ranked as a PC market leader relying on their distinctive marketing pattern “Direct Model” which undertook direct communication with customers and provided customized products. Recently, the PC industry is facing inconceivable worldwide competition, and Dell is gradually losing their competitive advantages by using its direct model in critical business segments. The company is facing shrinkage of growth, increasing competition, declining quality of customer service, and limitation of expansion. These issues have an enormous impact on Dell’s position as a technological giant in the PC industry.

The PC industry is highly competitive and constantly changing as technology evolves and customer needs change. Some of the top competitors in the PC industry are IBM, Hewlett-Packard, Dell and Apple. Theses rivals are constantly jockeying for the top competitor’s position. They compete in prices, product innovation, advertising, etc.

And these analyses will be done with the help of Porter’s 5 forces (see appendix 1, 2, 3). This analysing toll deals with issues which are from outside the industry that impacts the nature of competition within the certain industry. Thurlby, (1998) stated “Understanding the nature of each of these forces gives organisations the necessary insights to enable them to formulate the appropriate strategies to be successful in their market”1. The analysis of the three industry are given belowPC industry (See appendix 1) This competition within the PC industry is extraordinarily high consisting with top companies like Dell, HP, Apple, Gateway and Sony. In order to gain competitive advantage, the key factors are advancement in technology, custom built PCs, reliability and standard customer service. The life cycle of PC industry can be seen as mature (See appendix 6); however the growth of PC’s has not decline. The reason is due to the globalisation trends taking place within the major firms. The barriers very high where there are already five main firms that dominate the market. Therefore, the chances of new PC companies entering the market and get significant hold of market share is very slender. The main two factors that are making the entry level high are mainly cost and distribution and the top five firms also control 70 per cent of the global personal computer market. Another factor may be is that

When shopping for a computer, one can look at the cost and compare it to other models. For instance, individuals usually have less to spend than organizations. The HP Envy model is adequate for companies looking for greater processing power (Intel Turbo Boost) (“HP Pavilion HPE,” 2011). The Dell Studio model is a little expensive; however, this model is adequate for small business and organizations. Similarly, the HP Companies looking for attractiveness will find the MacBook’s unique design quite appealing. Overall, these three models range in price from $649.99 to $1300.00, they are high end products known for quality and

This analysis describes the case of computer and peripherals industry especially the successful management of Dell Computer Corporation which grew twice as fast as its major rivals like Compaq, Gateway, Hewlett Packard and IBM. The main reason for the success of Dell was their "Direct Model" of selling computers which eliminated all traditional channels like distributors, resellers and retailers. Traditionally all its competitors like IBM, HP, and Compaq etc. used reseller, retailers and distributors to sell their computers to end users. IBM was the first company to launch its PC in 1981 and soon held 42% of the market. But the growth of IBM proved to be short

In the last decade, Apple Inc. has become one of the utmost successful and wealthiest companies in the world. With the aid of other companies in the field of technology, Apple has achieved strides in the area of innovation that is nearly unparalleled in this modern age. How has the success of this once computer company turned into a multinational technology company, effected its workers, customers, and the social-economy that we live in? Slowly, Apple Inc. has become one of the largest companies in the world with their products being used everyday by millions of people and a major impact in the social economy and quality pay and benefits for their employees, however, with below average treatment in particular cases.

The targeted consumer has been identified as a recent retiree who is in her early 60s. This customer has just broken her laptop which was given to her as a gift from her daughter, four years ago and is looking for a replacement. As she is not in tune with the latest technology developments

The company started off as “Apple Computer,” best known for its Macintosh personal computers (PCs) in the 1980’s and 1990’s. Despite a strong brand, rapid growth, and high profits in the late 1980s, Apple almost went bankrupt in 1996 (Kim & Yoffie, 2010, p.1). This can be explained that Apple has become larger and more significant than other competitors put together in 1980. Because Apple failed to innovate in 1996, the company almost went bankruptcy but eventually Steve Jobs took Apple from bad situation to the company that can make billions of dollars through promoted itself as a hip alternative to other computer brands. Apple highlighted its computers as the world’s “greenest lineup of notebooks” that were energy efficient and used recyclable materials. The goal was to differentiate the Macintosh amid intense competition in the PC industry (Kim & Yoffie, p.4).

PC industry is characterized by fast declining ASP year over year. Together with the increasing component costs from 2009, both Dell and HP are facing squeezing profit margins (HP 2010; Dell 2010). In the first quarter of 2011, HP’s gross margin for its Personal System Group (PSG) is as low as 6.4% (Epstein 2011). Similarly, Dell’s gross margin of PCs is often 3 to 5% (Wang 2010). This indicates that if both

The large capital requirements to enter the computer industry combined with established brand identities of the current incumbents make barriers to entry high, not to mention the economies of scale and distribution channels that incumbents enjoy which make entry barriers even higher. The current PC incumbents enjoy demand-side benefit of scale in the business sector where PC buyers prefer to buy products from large trusted companies, raising the level of entry barriers.