6

Final Project – Apple Inc.

Kristopher Warren Mike Lubin

Regent University

BUSN 470

December 11, 2022

Apple Inc.

Question#1:

Apple is one of the leading organizations globally. The multinational technology company is in Cupertino, California. The organization designs, develops and sells consumer electronics and various components of computers, including computer software and online services. In addition, the organization made highlights in 2018 by becoming the first publicly traded U.S Company to have a value of $1 trillion.

Question#2:

Apple falls under the Consumer electronics Software services dealing with different types of electronics in America and other global markets. Apple currently stands at the mature stage of its development. This part of the life cycle means it has slowed down its industry sales and the revenue associated with the organization. Although apple ranks 1st in product quality score compared to its competitors, the company still faces competition from IBM, Google, Microsoft, Amazon, and Samsung.

Question#3:

The electronics market is one of the most vibrant markets globally. The consumer electronic market size has grown significantly over the past few years. The annual growth rate for the electronic market averages 7.65%. The industry is therefore considered to be profitable.

Question#4:

The world leaders in the electronic market are Japan and South Korea in terms of research and development. The two giants also lead the line in the manufacturing and export of commodities. Some companies leading the line include Sony, Toshiba, and Samsung. Apple too closes the gap, although it must battle the giants to be considered top of the pool of players.

Question#5:

Some of the legal factors affecting the industry include increasing privacy regulations and the legal challenges that affect the process of policymaking and implementation. Politically, American foreign policies and other countries' policies affect the industry prominently. The market heavily relies on the peaceful coexistence of these countries, and if that does not exist, then these organizations would find it hard to thrive.

Question#6:

Some of the economic factors affecting the industry include positive factors like economic growth and deflations. However, on the flip side, negative economic factors have also affected the industry, including wage policies that have affected the industry in America and other foreign markets. In addition, high unemployment rates and inflation, currently at a record high because of the war in Ukraine, have also reduced the number of sales in the industry.

Question#7:

The world is currently facing a surge in the use of various social media platforms. The cases lead to an increase in dependence on digital systems, leading to a rise in the number of sales by organizations. In addition, an increase in demand for products like smartphones and tablets also serves as an essential point in increasing sales.

Question#8:

The world is currently facing a growing demand for cloud computing. Most companies like Apple have opted for the vacuum and seen it as an opportunity to capitalize on the market. The world has also witnessed an increase in mobile demand, an opportunity for companies to invest more in the industry. Apple sees the increase in technological integration in business as an opportunity to produce products that serve companies and individuals.

Question#9:

Its corporate-level strategy for Apple includes close-related diversification of its significant products at moderate and high levels (Argyres, Mahoney & Nickerson, 2019). The products include computers, software, mobile phones, personal computers, and music stores.

Question#10:

The business-level strategy of the organization focuses majorly on cost leadership and differentiation (Kurtz, Hanelt & Kolbe, 2021). The process has made the firm dominant in the market and all its lines of business. All the products that Apple produces do well in the market, with examples of iTunes and Apple App stores taking the central portion of the tech market.

Question#11:

Just like Apple, Samsung also uses a broad differentiation generic strategy. In addition, the organization invests much in technological innovation to help in supporting the competitive advantage of its products in the electronics market. So far, the strategy has done well in the market, offering a competitive advantage to Samsung over its competitors like Apple.

Question#12:

Apple is known for its unique approach to the market. The organization keeps it simple with its products (Kabeyi, 2018). Apple only produces a few products that can confuse their target market; they keep it simple and ensure that their customers have options in the quality of their products, not the quality or prices. For the longest time, Apple has been making simple adjustments to its already-made commodities, and its customers enjoy the trend rather than the organization investing in many products.

Question#13:

Apple brags as one of the leading organizations, and its financial position confirms this. The September quarter record for the organization for 2022 stood at a record revenue of $90.1 billion. The figures are rising despite the reported cases of inflation affecting the global market. The figures have risen 8 percent yearly, and its quarterly earnings rose by over 4% over the past year.

Question#14:

Apple has unique strategies, and its approach to the supply chain is no different. For example, the organization cuts down the number of its key suppliers involved in manufacturing, shipping, and storage. The organization, on the contrary, maintains unique long-term relationships with its suppliers.

Question#15:

Apple has been one of the leading employers globally and has focused on investing much in human capital. The employees participate in the organization's key decision-making sessions and commit to team development. The organization also supports the approval and disapproval of its group members.

Questions 16 & 17

Strengths

Apple's strengths revolve around its brand. The company has one of the most significant products in the market, designed with striking design aesthetics, luxury, simplicity, originality, and creativity (Khan, Alam & Alam, 2015). They use this brand to showcase a lifestyle and market their products not only as products but also as gadgets for the vigilantly designed world. These products result from the company's leading innovation and competent research, which happens to understand the demands and needs of customers.

Weakness

​Despite its strong brand identity, apple's products are highly priced, directing them to only middle-income and high-income customers. Moreover, the different operating systems are incompatible as customers need a more user-friendly experience when switching to iOS (Khan, Alam & Alam, 2015). In addition, customers switching from PC to Mac may find difficulties and overwhelming using Apple's operating systems in the beginning. Therefore, the company's products need designs with a more compatible OS that allows customers who shift from android to apple or PC to Mac to have an easy time.

Questions 18 & 19

Opportunities

​Apple can expand and develop its distribution network (Li, 2021). Therefore, it needs to revise its distribution strategy to reach more customers worldwide. Also, Apple's innovative wearable technological products have the potential to dominate the world shortly.

Threats

​Pandemics like the covid-19 have remained a significant threat to apple as the company's sales are primarily affected, disrupting the supply chain, and influencing apple's operations (Li, 2021). Another threat is the issue of counterfeits, where apple faces unauthorized sellers using the company's brand image to sell fake products in developing countries.

Question 20

Strategic Alternatives for Apple.

​With the help of Apple's brand image, the company can successfully create and introduce new technological products to beat its intense competition from the global market. The company can also maintain aggressive and swift development of its products in order to reduce the risks associated with replication (Li, 2021). Additionally, Apple can partner with several distributors to strengthen the company's overall reach to the global market.

Question 21

Pros and Cons of the alternatives

​First, even though the company will achieve a competitive advantage in the global market and reduce cases of counterfeits, improving on products to beat the competition will come with an increased price which will tend to limit the number of customers who can purchase the company's products. Second, partnerships with distributors will enable the company to increase its global distribution network. However, this will compromise the company's brand and may increase the risk of producing counterfeit apple products.

Question 22

The alternative that should be pursued

​Because the company is well known for its aesthetic products, which improve its brand image, it should improve its products to beat the aggressive competition. This improvement will also reduce counterfeiting cases from the global market, making Apple's products outstanding even in the future.

Question 23

How can the alternative be implemented

​Apple can improve its products by using a compatible iOS that gives new customers who switch from PC to Mac or Android to iPhone an easy time. This improvement will help to increase its market share and beat its significant competitors, such as Samsung. The steps which Apple can follow are conducting customer reviews to get feedback on their iOS compatibility, a device with the best make-up of the customer-friendly operating system, and introducing new features in iOS which are user-friendly,

Question 24

Measuring the effectiveness of the alternative

​This alternative's effectiveness may measure by the volume of sales made after introducing new features and improved apple products.

Question 25

Crisis events Apple should anticipate

​Apple should anticipate owning to the high increase in innovation in the technology industry; apple should anticipate more aggressive competition from competitors worldwide. In addition, the company should also prepare for the adverse effects of the global pandemic, which may shake its sales and operations globally.

References

Argyres, N., Mahoney, J. T., & Nickerson, J. (2019). Strategic responses to shocks: Comparative adjustment costs, transaction costs, and opportunity costs.  Strategic Management Journal,  40(3), 357–376.

Kabeyi, M. J. B. (2018). Michael porter's five competitive forces and generic strategies, market segmentation strategy, and case study of competition in the global smartphone manufacturing industry. IJAR,  4(10), 39-45.

Khan, U. A., Alam, M. N., & Alam, S. (2015). A critical analysis of the internal and external environment of Apple Inc. International Journal of Economics, Commerce and Management, 3(6), 955-961. https://5y1.org/download/d81b1593646c57c1c7561c9985253a2e.pdf

Kurtz, H., Hanelt, A., & Kolbe, L. M. (2021, March). Exploring strategic orientations in digital transformation: a longitudinal analysis of digital business model patterns. In International Conference on Wirtschaftsinformatik (pp. 183-199). Springer, Cham.

Li, Y. (2021). Apple Inc. Analysis and Forecast Evaluation. Proceedings of Business and Economic Studies, 4(4), 71–78. http://ojs.bbwpublisher.com/index.php/PBES/article/view/2389

Westervelt, B. (2021). How Brand Identity and Consumer Perception Influences the Marketing Strategies of the Apple Company.