Xiaolong Fu
Dr. Ekin Alakent
Mgmt 4650
February 27, 2014
Apple Inc. Case Study
1. What historically have been Apple’s competitive strengths?
2. How sustainable is Apple’s position in the smart phone market?
Apple is one of the leading company in the electronic industry located in Cupertino, California. This electronic giant, at top of Business Weeks Most Innovative Companies list since 2004, had showed itself by doing so well over the years in not only product design but also make a huge amount of money in the past 20 years especially in revenue and margins. According to “Apple Sales”, in the first quarter of 2011, $26.7 billion in revenue, 70% increase from a year before was reported. Apple was established as a computer company in Mountain View, California, on April 1, 1976 by Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak. But later diversified to a digital entertainment and software company in 2003 by providing iPod and iTunes which made them “invented a whole new category of digital music player that let you put your entire music collection in your pocket and listen to it wherever you go”. In 2007, the company also competing in the cell phone/smartphone industry by releasing iPhone which combined an Internet-enabled smartphone and video iPod. After they released the first iPad in April 2010, this giant becoming a diversified digital entertainment corporation in all three industries, PCs, consumer electronics and music, which made them taking bites out of the competition on all fronts.
From 1976 to 2003, Apple was defined majoring as a computer company. As the company was funded by Steve Jobs as the visionary and marketer, Steve Wozniak as the technical genius and Markkula Jr. as the businessman, the company set the mission of empowe...
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...ergies and strategic “fit” between different businesses and steer corporate resources.
From 2007 to 2011, the iPhone, 3G and 4 helped Apple sustainably positioning them self in the smart phone market. By creating a strong brand name of not only provide the most powerful device with full of latest technology (iTunes, smartphone with cameras, Face time, tough screen, high definition screen, etc.) but also make their customer’s life easier and better. As Steve Jobs pointed out that “market share wasn’t everything”, by outsourcing manufacturing Apple design their manufacturing efficiency which lower their cost; by historically paid attention to research and development, Apple spent a lot of money on their R&D investment year after year, which made them have the ability to innovation from concept to market. They know what customer want and design base on that.
Apple Computer Inc designs, manufactures, and markets personal computers and related personal computing and communication solutions. The return of Steve Jobs, the companies founder, as CEO has pulled the company’s stock price up 775-percent through his launch of innovative products such as the iMac computer line. On January 5, 2000, Jobs announced that he was dropping interim from his CEO title and taking the job full-time. With this news and Apple’s new products such as the iBook, a portable pc and Quick TV, an internet television access feature, Apple Computer is headed for success and is sure to increase their share in the computer market.
to Apple Inc. in 2007. The company which had pc driving its growth over the years transformed into more of a Smartphone company. Mac pc was impressive in terms of hardware but it was Windows operating system which gave it a tough competition. To achieve a sustainable growth Apple should be focused more towards development of its operating system. Android is the main competitor for iOS. Android which is Linux based and partly open source, is more PC like than IOS. Android is easily customizable as compared to apple IOS. Apple should work aggressively towards working of development of more number of apps with the developers across the industry so as to increase the reach of IOS and making it a more preferable choice among its
Apple Inc. went from rags to riches in becoming the largest company in the world by market cap and making $108 billion in 2011 (Heather). Apple Inc. was an underdog and Microsoft was ruling the technology world. Then Apple made the iPod and the iPhone and with that they took over the technology world. Apple sold one million iPhones in the first three months of releasing of the first iPhone in 2007 (Heather). Since the beginning of Apple, Apple’s
Apple Inc. is a worldwide company that is one of the most valuable brands to ever be founded. As of today, the company is worth a staggering $786 billion! The reasons behind this giant company’s success is through their products that they sell. All their products are very well made and the customer loyalty is very stable. Apple was founded by Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak in 1976. They incorporated the company in 1977. For more than three decades, Apple was predominantly a company that sold personal computers including the Apple II, Macintosh, and the Power Mac. Steve Jobs was fired from the company in 1985 because of the poor sales and low market share that the company was facing. During that time, Apple started to be more of the innovators. Because Apple was starting to make enough money to start acquiring smaller companies that benefited the company, Steve Jobs’
Within the last decade Apple has become one of the largest growing companies in the world and the largest valued company in the United States. According to a recent article in The Guardian, a global financial news website, “Apple set a record by becoming the first company to be valued at over $700bn (£446bn).” (Fletcher, N. 2014) This comes as no surprise to the average computer aficionado and shareholder as Apple has been making a name for itself since its inception. From its earliest Macintosh models to today’s iPhones, Apple has been a trailblazer for software, technology and revolutionizing the way we communicate on a Macro level. Their dedication to innovation, quality and service has made them
Apple is an American producer of personal computer, personal computer peripherals, cellular telephones and PC programming. It was the first effective personal computer organization and advanced the graphical client interface. Its central command center is situated in Cupertino, California. Apple was established by Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak, and Ronald Wayne in 1976, to create and offer PCs. Apple is presently the world 's second biggest data innovation organization by income after Samsung Electronics, and the world 's third biggest cellular telephone producer.(Apple, 2012)
Apple Inc is a multinational organization in America and has its headquarters in California. The organization specializes in the design as well as development of consumer electronics including: computer software 's, and also personal computers. The organization has for long been offering a broad range of communication mobile communication as well as its own company software’s. The organization has quite an upright name in the business world. For a long period it has been producing quality product and their designers really bring out uniqueness in their products (Linzmayer, 2004). Apple Inc has established itself as being the world’s leader in innovation. Thus according to statistics; it is classified as being the fourth most valuable technology
It was Steve Jobs who made Apple leave the garage and make leaps and bounds in the world of technology. Steve Wozniak made the first prototype, but it was Jobs who “saw the potential” in his computer and persuaded Wozniak to sell it (Peterson 106). Even though that first computer saw very little success, Jobs knew that Apple had potential and so released the Apple II. From the beginning Jobs knew what the consumers wanted, and where computers were going to take the world; he had a vision of the opportunities in technology and saw that Apple needed to move in a different direction. In 1984, one year before he left, Jobs finished the Macintosh computer system. He was pushed from his original computer design project, “the Lisa”, and then raced to release the Mac first, but the Lisa was released to the public first. Although the Lisa came out first, the Mac “[became] synonymous with Apple, mark[ing] a…revolution in…personal computing,” (Peterson 106).
Apple Inc. is located in Cupertino, California and was established in 1976. Apple Inc. designs, manufactures and markets mobile and media devices, personal computers and portable digital music players. They also sell a variety of related software, services, and networking solutions. As of this writing, Apple Inc. is the first United States Company to reach a market valuation of over seven hundred billion dollars (Higgins 2015).
Apple Inc, founded in 1976 by Steve Wozniak, Ronald Wayne, and Steve Jobs, headquartered in California, is a multinational technology giant. Developing, designing, creating consumer electronics, computer software, online services. Well-known for the iPhone, iPad and Mac computers, Siri and the IOS operating systems transfer and sync on all Apple devices with just one click. Consumers like myself are fascinated with all things Apple. Apple fashioned an assortment of devices and programs that are not only visually cool but also easy to use and makes my life easier.
Apple was founded in 1976 by Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak, who were determined to change the way people were utilizing the computer. From then Apple has been able to grow its business into one of the most prominent company in the world. Apple Inc. is an American company that creates software, cellular phones, computers and consumer electronic products as well. Some of the Apple products most recognized products are the iPod, iPhone, Mac, and the recently new iPad. They have established over 300 retail stores in about 10 countries around the world. Many people do not know this, but also service numerous of computer software, such as Mac OS X operating system, Final Cut Studio, Logic Studio, iOS, which is a mobile operating system that hosts
From 1980 to 1996, Apple’s competitive range in the PC industry was rocky. Although Apples products were unique and well built, they were overpriced compared to competing products from IBM and others. As competitor prices dropped, Apple prices stayed the same and the company saw a decline in sales as customers opted to purchase from its competitors. John Sculley, former CEO of Apple, took many steps to improve the company’s competitive advantage. One of those steps was to compete with price by producing a low-cost computers that appealed to a mass-market. The second step was to form an alliance with rivals IBM and Novel in order to create new operating systems and applications...
Apple Inc. was established by Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak on April 1, 1976 as a computer designer, developer and seller company. However, the company shifted its focus from only personal computer to include other consumer electronics such as portable media player and mobile phone in 2007. Apple Inc becomes one of the most popular makers in its field since it seems that its popularity has increased according to a report on www.statista.com that Apple Inc’s products sales was generally increasing throughout the first quarter of 2006 to the first quarter of 2014. On the one hand, it has increased its revenue from about 14 billion US dollars to more than 170 billion US dollars in 2013. All in all, the company is highly successful corresponding to its products’ development and their sales growth in world’s market.
Organisation Analysis Apple - Value proposition and Culture Apple - Company Description Apple Inc., was founded by Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak, and Ronald Wayne on 1976, is an American multinational corporation headquartered in Cupertino, California, that designs, develops, and sells consumer electronics, computer software and personal computers. Its best-known hardware products are the Mac line of computers, the iPod media player, the iPhone smartphone, and the iPad tablet computer. Its consumer software includes the OS X and iOS operating systems, the iTunes media browser, the Safari web browser, and the iLife and iWork creativity and productivity suites. Apple is the world's second-largest information technology company by revenue and the world's third-largest mobile phone maker. “Fortune” magazine named Apple the most admired company in the United States in 2008, and in the world from 2008 to 2012.
Steve Jobs one of the founding fathers of Apple Inc used strategic planning to his advantage by making Apple’s mission a simple one- bringing easy to use computers to the general market, revolutionizing the computer market. In 2007, after thirty years, the organization changed its name from Apple Computer to Apple Inc., this was a significant move because the organization became more independent, and it was no longer known as a vendor to Macintosh personal computer line (Yoffie & Slind, 2008). This strategic move paid off; a year and half later, Apple Inc.’s third quarter net profit of $1.07 billion on a $7.46 billion in revenue (Yoffie & Slind, 2008). SWOT Analysis of Apple, Inc. Strengths (Competitive Advantage)