The Strategic Techniques and Competetive Edge of Apple Inc.

Apple Case Study
Question1
Despite the tough economic times prevailing in the US, Apple Inc. has recorded significant growth in revenues and profits in the third quarter of the year 2011, resulting in the company being ranked as the most valuable in terms of market capitalization. It is, therefore, crucial to assess the company’s competitive strategy that has enabled it to stand out amongst the competitors in the market. With the accelerated competitive rivalry and the dynamics in the technological levels, the new managers needed to perform innovatively and expeditiously to continue with the legacy left by Steve Jobs.
The main competitive strategy of the company is centered on the smartphone dominance that has been compared against close competitors such as Android and Blackberry. The company has also been able to beat its competitors due to the outstanding quality, efficiency and features present in their products. For example, the iPhone has numerous advantages that make it worth its price such as functionality of its-touch screen and the applications therein that make it the favorite over Research Motion’s Blackberry.
Apple Inc. also introduces new products that enable it to gain a competitive edge and a larger market share despite rigorous competition from Google’s Android market. It has received accolade in terms of innovations in the PC world, software applications, operating systems for their products, media devices, mobile telephony as well as marketing and retail. The competitive strengths also originate from strategic leadership right from the top, Steve Jobs, who have overseen effective innovations in the PC market, iPods, the engineering of Apple softwares as well as effective global marketing strategies. The contr...

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...butor of the company’s overall performance. Such strategies could include intensive marketing and publicity to establish the iPad as the most common tablet in the market. The company can also conduct a market research to establish the trade off between the iPad and the other tablets in the market, for example by Samsung. They will be in a position to establish the features that make the iPad less superior to the Samsung tablet or what the consumers consider most in buying the tablet. From the results in the market, the company will be strategically positioned to direct its energies towards converting the weaknesses into strengths and the threats into opportunities, for example by formulating a better pricing strategy for the iPad. This will increase the volume of sales and make the iPad a major contributor to the company’s overall performance.