...in many different forms, evolved into unique styles and altered societal behaviors for both the good and the bad. Developments from the phonograph to the radio and now the IPod have made it extremely easy for listeners to become more engaged in their music. Each new development has led society to listen to music in a different way, thus changing the way we perceive music and the role that it plays in our lives. The advent of the technological era in the 1990’s has created a global marketplace where individuals have access to all different kinds of audio files at any time. With the world becoming more and more commercialized, countless numbers of corporations are now involved in the music and recording industries. The largest of them all is Apple. Known as an innovative corporation, Apple has been controlling the way most people listen and interact with the audio world since its creation of the iPod. After the release date of the IPod, November 10, 2001, listening to your favorite music became easier than ever before. The main goal Apple was shooting for when creating the personal digital device was to create an extremely simple user interface and sleek design many users would appreciate. Many people who were walking around with a Walkman, or seemed uninterested in owning a digital MP3 device now own an IPod. The product line has grown so large that businesses and educational institutions accept it as a useful tool. For example, a college student is now able to simply download...
Words: 1544 - Pages: 7
...The Death of Ipod The death of IPod 1. Draw a representation of the traditional value chain for the global music industry. 2. Product and service segments. a. Which segments have grown fastest? 3. What is your conclusion about the industry life cycle stage? Why? 4. What are the key technology issues that have affected the growth? 5. What are the key economic issues that have affected the growth? 6. What are the key market issues that have affected the growth? 7. What are the key political issues that have affected the growth? 8. What are the key legal issues that have affected the growth? 9. What are the key environmental issues that have affected the growth? 10. What are the key societal that have affected the growth? 11. What are the implications for an organization within this industry? 12. Treat of new entrant 13. Power of suppliers 14. Power of buyers 15. Power of substitutes 16. Industry rivalry 17. Conclusion of 5 forces. a. Is the future profitability expected to be average, above or below? b. What are the key driving forces of that future profitability c. What exernal evidence is there to support your analysis or conclusion d. What gaps did you discover in your understanding of the industry e. What are the implications for the future of organizations 18. What segments the customers into different types in the industry? a. What do they primarily use the industry product or service for? b. What do you think are the key elements used to...
Words: 273 - Pages: 2
...The Company’s strategy also includes expanding its distribution network to effectively reach more customers and provide them with a high-quality sales and post-sales support experience. 1. Iphone In October 2011, the Company launched iPhone 4S 2. Ipad In March 2011, the Company introduced iPad 2 3. Mac Hardware Products The Company’s desktop computers include iMac , Mac Pro and Mac mini The Company’s portable computers include MacBook Pro and MacBook Air 4. Ipod iPod touch, iPod nano , iPod shuffle and iPod classic 5. iTunes iTunes is an application that supports the purchase, download, organization and playback of digital audio and video files The iTunes Store includes the App Store™ and iBookstore 6. Mac App Store In January 2011 7. iCloud In October 2011, the Company launched iCloud Users can sign up for free access to iCloud 8. Software Products and Computer Technologies Operating System Software iOS is the Company’s mobile operating system Mac OS X the operating system for Macs Application Software iLife features iPhoto , iMovie , iDVD , GarageBand , and iWeb iWork iWork ’09 is the latest version of the Company’s integrated productivity suite designed to help users create, present, and publish documents, presentations, and spreadsheets Other Application Software 9. Displays & Peripheral Products Apple LED Cinema Display™ and Thunderbolt Display. including printers, storage devices, computer memory, digital video...
Words: 1506 - Pages: 7
...Technologies that have affected Apple A major technology that has affected Apple has been other cellphone companies. The competition and market for smartphones have targeted the Iphone. Apple one of our technology giants has been affected by other companies reinventing there designs. One of the most recent challenges they have faced is with a top retailer in the industry Samsung. Apple battled Samsung in court involving a technology patent that included the look, similar design, and sliding of app screen. Technology change in Apple product line Apples product line is expansive and has continued to grow. Apple continues to lead the market in tablets (Ipad,Ipad2,Ipad w/retina display, Ipad mini etc.) ,mobile device (Iphone – Iphone 5, Ipod – 7th generations, Ipod touch) , continual advancement in notebooks (Mac book pro, Mac book Air) and still innovative desktop solution like Mac mini. The product line reaches out to all ages and can accommodate a variety of environments. Weather to use in the business realm or simply for leisure and convenience; they have definitely tapped into a market where truly Apple lovers are behind them. • From the end user’s perspective, how has service been changed by technology? The evolution of Apples design and proprietary look has consumers hooked. The experience of walking into an Apple store may have the end user sold. There acknowledgement and expertise truly make purchasing one of these devices about the experience. As the demand has grown...
Words: 617 - Pages: 3
...business are updated and essentially active to their fullest potential. Many operations of technology are equipped by utilizing various methods to conduct future business decisions to determine their future profits and success. These methods include SWOT analysis, verification of stakeholders, and identifying wants and needs of a business. Of these companies, those that carry advanced modern technology tend to see the change in the market the quickest and yet have high returns. Apple Inc., a technology based company that manufactures professional software has achieved success since its start up with two entrepreneurs high school drop out students. Through many years of study, they developed an analysis that will compete against the technology industry. Apple Company, one of the highest US businesses known for their efficient products providing technology more advancement and capabilities all over the world. Apple Inc., started making there presence known more since the early 1990’s. This all happened due to their decision not to have the technology nor Microsoft licensed with its operating system. Steve Jobs, their former CEO, but yet one of the founders, started by introducing the iMac and PowerMac G5, which were the fastest desktops at the time. With time, came to...
Words: 2516 - Pages: 11
...very successful company. Sales of its iPod music player had increased its second quarter profits to $320 (June 2005). The favourable brand perception had also increased sales of Macintosh computers. So iPod gives the company access to a whole new series of segments that buy into other parts of the Apple brand. Sales of its notebooks products is also very strong, and represents a huge contribution to income for Apple. ?Brand is all-important. Apple is one of the most established and healthy IT brands in the World, and has a very loyal set of enthusiastic customers that advocate the brand. Such a powerful loyalty means that Ample not only recruits new customers, it retains them i.e. they come back for more products and services from Apple, and the company also has the opportunity to extend new products to them, for example the iPod. Weaknesses ?It is reported that the Apple iPod Nano may have a faulty screen. The company has commented that a batch of its product has screens that break under impact, and the company is replacing all faulty items. This is in addition to problems with early iPods that had faulty batteries, whereby the company offered customers free battery cases ?There is pressure on Apple to increase the price of its music download file, from the music industry itself. Many of these companies make more money from iTunes (i.e. downloadable music files) than from their original CD sales. Apple has sold about 22 million iPod digital music players and more than 500...
Words: 712 - Pages: 3
...October 2011 The IPods Impact on Society “Design is not just what it looks and feels like. Design is how it works.” (Issacson). This is a famous quote by Steve Jobs. The project was a secret. Other then Steve Jobs and a few other apple executives nobody knew what it was. The code name was P-68 (Knopper). The IPod was introduced to the public in 2001. At first, it was only compatible with Mac computers, but two years later, the iPod could be used with any type of computer. This caused sales to skyrocket! Steve Jobs worked with apple inc. to come up with the IPod. Although Apple was not the first to come up with the idea of an mp3 player, no other mp3 player has ever been as big of a hit. Sony and a few other companies had come up with digital music players a few years prior, but their versions were more expensive and could not hold nearly the amount of songs as the IPod could. The IPod was the first mp3 player to really succeed because people loved the idea. Not only was the IPod a convenient way to store music, It was a social and fashion statement. The IPod changed everything about society. Think about how technology, fashion, and the Internet have changed since the IPod. The ads were genius, making the Garrett 2 IPod an irresistible necessity. Marketing caused the IPod to be “cool” and every one wanted one. The IPod has changed society in more ways then anyone could have imagined, but not all of the changes are positive. The invention of the IPod has led to advances...
Words: 1828 - Pages: 8
...identify the positives and negatives inside and outside of your organization. Program directors, policy groups and management teams can use this resource to help with both strategic planning and decision-making. A SWOT analysis will provide perspective, and reveal connections and areas for action. (Strategic Management, 1993). Strength, Weakness, Opportunity, Threat. A SWOT analysis guides you to identify the positives and negatives inside your organization (S-W) and outside of it, in the external environment (O-T). Developing a full awareness of your situation can help with both strategic planning and decision-making. (Strategic Management, 1993). The SWOT method (which is sometimes called TOWS) was originally developed for business and industry, but it is equally useful in the work of community health and development, education, and even personal growth. (Strategic Management, 1993). SWOT is not the only assessment technique you can use, but is one with a long track record of effectiveness. Compare it with other tools found in the Community Tool Box (especially Chapter 3) to determine if this is the right approach for your situation. The strengths of this method are its simplicity and application to a variety of levels of operation. (Strategic Management, 1993). SWOT analysis is a method for analyzing a business, its resources, and its environment.(Strategic Thinking,2000) SWOT is commonly used as part of strategic planning and looks at: * Internal strengths * Internal...
Words: 1472 - Pages: 6
...SWOT Analysis Apple Strengths Apple is considered a successful company. Due to the good profits of the iPod music player, it was a booster for Apply to bring up a whole new series of products that form up the Apple brand. Apple is one of the established IT brands in the world. They have enthusiastic and loyal customers. In 2011, they came up with iCloud. This enables the users to store their things remotely on a computer and it will automatically synchronize with your iPhone, iPad and other apple products when it is connected to Wi-Fi and is charging. When you change or upgrade to a new iPhone model or product, you can download the contents stored previously on the new gadget. It is also known as the remote storage. iMessaging is made available in 2011 for Apple products. It is a free messaging system from Apple to Apple product using the 3G network. This is a big boost and many said that it is due to the already available Blackberry Messenger. Weaknesses There was a report that the Apple iPod Nano might have a faulty screen. Apple has also commented that the batch of its product has screens that comes to impact would break. Apple replaced all the faulty items. In addition, early iPods had faulty batteries. Thus the customers were offered free battery cases. The music industry has also added pressure on Apple to increase the price of its music download file. Many of those companies make more money from iTunes (the downloadable music files) than the original CD sales...
Words: 1195 - Pages: 5
...voluntarily returned and he had to use other means to obtain the phone, someone at the bloggers company was going to end up in jail. This was an excellent example of all the traits of an extrovert, outgoing, talkative, sociable, and assertive all on display in that situation. Jobs ability to honestly deal with people by telling people directly how he felt showed his agreeableness, indeed he felt people would rather know the facts as he saw them rather than leave things vague and have them think it was acceptable. He demanded and expected perfection and made sure people knew it. Conscientiousness can best be judged by the seven industries he help transform; personal computing, animated movies, music, cellular phones, tablet computing, retail sales, digital publishing. It was not that he just developed excellent products that transformed the different industries, it was the way he had to overcome different obstacles in order for the product to be accepted...
Words: 1123 - Pages: 5
...The death of IPod 1. Draw a representation of the traditional value chain for the global music industry. 2. Product and service segments. a. Which segments have grown fastest? 3. What is your conclusion about the industry life cycle stage? Why? 4. What are the key technology issues that have affected the growth? 5. What are the key economic issues that have affected the growth? 6. What are the key market issues that have affected the growth? 7. What are the key political issues that have affected the growth? 8. What are the key legal issues that have affected the growth? 9. What are the key environmental issues that have affected the growth? 10. What are the key societal that have affected the growth? 11. What are the implications for an organization within this industry? 12. Treat of new entrant 13. Power of suppliers 14. Power of buyers 15. Power of substitutes 16. Industry rivalry 17. Conclusion of 5 forces. a. Is the future profitability expected to be average, above or below? b. What are the key driving forces of that future profitability c. What exernal evidence is there to support your analysis or conclusion d. What gaps did you discover in your understanding of the industry e. What are the implications for the future of organizations 18. What segments the customers into different types in the industry? a. What do they primarily use the industry product or service for? b. What do you think are the key elements used to determine purchases...
Words: 269 - Pages: 2
...customers. By comparison, the iPhone 3GS had a 6 percent return rate. Apple's chief operating officer, Tim Cook, commented to the Wall Street Journal that the company was selling iPads and iPhones "as fast as we can make them" and was "working around the clock to try to get supply and demand in balance.'" Some analysts were projecting that Apple would sell nearly 12 million iPad tablet computers by year-end 2010. However, others were concerned that once Apple aficionados had purchased an iPad to complement their iPhone, iPod, or Mac, further sales growth might be difficult to achieve. A former Apple executive commented, "The first five million will be sold in a heartbeat. But let's see: you can't make a phone call with it, you can't take a picture with it, and you have to buy content that before now you were not willing to pay for. That seems tough to me.,,2 John E. Gamble University of South Alabama Analysts were also concerned with the general decline in iPod unit sales and worried that Apple might have to struggle to sustain its...
Words: 6733 - Pages: 27
...organizational structure with John Sculley disagreements occurred and resulted in Steve Jobs walking away. Therefore this led to competitors like Microsoft to benefit and acquire ideas due to the legal mistakes and as result Apple s’ success paved down making some great losses. After a decade Steve Jobs rejoined the company he originally cofounded and brought Apple back through the introduction of iLife, mainly iTunes. Despite that, Apple computers faced some challenges and has able to create a strategy that stands up against the competitive rivalries in the industry. Apple Computer s’ competitive environment faces some challenges in the industry therefore, Michael Porter ‘s five forces of the industry competition analyzes some of those challenges. The theory encompasses of the forces; rivalry among the existing companies, threats of new entrants, the bargaining power of buyers and suppliers, the threat from substitute. With the industry in which Apple Computer Company operates there is lot of competitors who poses threats to the company. Apple has been faced by multitude competitors such as Napster, Sony, Wal-Mart, Disney and Motorola. There is market share and price wars due to rivalry, for example Apple TV now shares the largest market with Netflix which offers unlimited movies on PC without any constraints at $8.99 per month. Unlike Apple which...
Words: 2213 - Pages: 9
...1 The volatility and evolution of computer industry Starting from 1976, Apple computer created the personal computer (PC). After IBM transformed the PC from proprietary systems into open structure, PC has been dominated by Wintel (Windows + Intel) structure. Apple insists in adopting proprietary and niche market strategies made them keep losing market share till less than 3% in 2001. However, its strategy with ignoring the market trends makes it lose the market after years. 1.1 Industrial changes: Apple lost PC market because of ignoring industrial changes The PC industry has evolved in the past decades. There are 3 phases. Let’s take a look at these phases and Apple’s position in each phase. Before 1981: Proprietary Systems. Every PC producer had to develop self own hardware and software. It was proprietary. Most buyers were technical people. There were 2 main streams in the market: Apple style machine and IBM style machine. During this period, Apple was the leader. Its strong developing ability made the Apple II became a family commodity. However, Apple didn’t use patent or trade secret to protect its products. Many computer companies re-engineered Apple II and made cheaper similar products to compete in the market. For example, Acer copied Apple II and developed the Little Professor Series. 1981- 1997: Open structure. IBM turned the PC into open structure. Compaq, HP and many other producers started to show in the market to produce IBM compatible PC...
Words: 3744 - Pages: 15
...and a single manager could be responsible for two or all three levels of planning. As mentioned above the process begins with the strategic level of planning. Strategy involves establishing goals, determining workforce strengths, identifying required resources, and developing policy objectives. By utilizing clear and concise mission statements and a corporate vision, the core of an organization’s strategic concepts can be understood and implemented down to the operational level on the front lines without planning at these level businesses would become stagnant and growth would be untenable or lead to collapse. Strategic management efforts are future-based and flexible enough to address changes in the economy, the market and their specific industry. Within...
Words: 1531 - Pages: 7
