... Strategic Choices In April 1976, Steve Wozniak and Steve Jobs took $1,300 and founded Apple Computers. They began building computers for companies in a garage. As with any company Apple has seen its fair share of successes and failures. But today Apple is one of the most recognized brands in the world for not just computers, but also of other technologies. “According to surveys by J. D. Power, Apple has the highest brand and repurchase loyalty of any computer manufacturer.” (http://www.answers.com/topic/apple-computer-inc.). What has made Apple so successful? For this case assignment, I will use background materials along with other research to what I feel is one of the most important strategic choices Steve Jobs made that turned Apple into the powerhouse we know today. Mission Statement After much digging, I found Apple’s mission statement in a press release. “Apple is committed to bringing the best personal computing experience to students, educators, creative professionals and consumers around the world through its innovative hardware, software and Internet offerings.” (http://www.apple.com/investor/). What has Steve Jobs done in the last decade to help Apple’s mission statement come true and make it one of the most powerful companies in the world? Dealing with threats When Steve Job took the position of Apple CEO in August 1997, the company was facing declining sales due to mismanagement, Macintosh clones and product shortages...
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...Marketing Strategies Apple Corporation is well known for employing technological masterminds. The company has undergone extreme successes and failures since its humble beginnings. One such failure was made known to the public in 1996 at the famous “MacWorld” Expo when Apple announced that it was taking a $68 million quarterly loss (Goodell, 1996). Fast forward to 2006, Apple finds itself in the hot seat for violations of worker rights, deaths and even suicides (Chun, 2011). What does all of this mean? Can a company produce a great product and literally get away with murder? Will society look away because we love our iPads and iPhones? This essay will exam Apple’s ethical and social obligations and the consequences of violating these obligations. It will also present processes that may be implemented to assist Apple in adhering to wage and benefits standards. It will address concerns in regards to passing costs of improving to customers and the customer’s willingness to pay more for the highly desired products. Finally, Apple’s marketing strategy will be observed in order to determine recommendations to improve its competitive advantage. Overview of Apple Apple Inc. is a global corporation, based in Cupertino, California, that produces technology ranging from computer servers to software. The name given on April 1, 1976 by founders Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniac was Apple Computer (Steinwart & Ziegler, 2014). The name was later changed to Apple Inc. The release of...
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...Business Analysis for Apple Inc Robert A Smith II MGT 521 May 9, 2011 Mary Jo Payne, Ph.D. Business Analysis for Apple, Inc As children many people are taught that the only way to earn income is by obtaining a job, and a way to get more money is by logging additional hours on the job. This ideology is true, but for people who also value possessing the free time to enjoy life while in pursuit of financial success this way of life is also very wearing. Investing is a fiscal tool people can use to send their money to work. True investors understand that making their money work presents some risks, but with guidance and thorough analysis they can maximize their earning potential whether or not they receive a raise, decide to work overtime or look for a higher paying job (Investopedia, 2011). With many investment vehicles to choose from such as bonds, mutual funds, and company stocks, the most important thing to remember before investing is to do research and only invest money when there is a realistic probability of revenue. In this paper a Strength, Weakness, Opportunity, and Threat (SWOT) analysis of Apple Inc. was performed to determine if this electronic computer corporation giant is a worthy investment. SWOT Analysis |Strengths |Weaknesses |Opportunities |Threats | |Reputation |Product weaknesses |iPhones ...
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...study of marketing andpromotion successes and failures at Apple Inc. | Content Why I chose to examine Apple Inc.'s marketing and promotions strategies…..P.3 Background………………………………………………………………….……..P.4 Initial Product Marketing & Promotion: Apple I, II and III………………...…P.4 Primary New Product Launch: “Classic Macintosh” and Family……….……..P.5 Further Success in Novel Products, Marketing and Promotions: iPod….……..P.5 Expanding to Mobile Devices: Marketing and Promoting the iPhone………....P.6 Fortified Marketing and Promotions: Operating Systems and Capabilities…..P.7 Other Marketing and Promotion Strategies……………………………….......P.7-8 - Back to School Promotion - School Bulk Purchasing - Trade-In Program Conclusions………………………………………………………………………....P.8 Reference…………………………………………………………………...………P.9 Why I chose to examine Apple Inc.'s marketing and promotions strategies. I specifically chose Apple Inc. for the marketing and promotions assignment not only because Apple Inc. is well-recognized for the quality and marketing of its products on a global scale, but also for its history. Whereas a number companies which have excelled through aggressive and strategic marketing strategies, Apple Inc.’s history reveals multiple decades of rebranding and reorientation, which led to its position and success today. From Apple Inc.’s first home computers, the Apple I, II, and III, to their latest iPhone series, Apple has established itself as a serial innovator...
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...Apple Inc.: the iPod, the iMac, and the Business Lessons of Closed systems Apple Inc.: the iPod, the iMac, and the Business Lessons of Closed systems Abstract The ambition of this paper is to provide a general description of the Apple Inc as a successful organization, unfolding its highlights (up’s and down’s) in the process of immense improvement and enormous extension. Furthermore, we will take a closer look into the challenges that Apple was faces with throughout its characteristic journey (such as closed systems with no compatible software). Finally, we will analyze the benefits of changing the previous used strategies and the future of Mac (desktop and portables) Apple Inc. Quick look into Apple Inc’s background Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak successfully founded Apple Inc in 1976.They started their business by creating and releasing a computer called “Apple II “ , which was followed by another Job’s innovation ( in 1983) known as “Apple Lisa” . This was the first time that end-users were given the opportunity to operate a computer that contained a mouse and a GUI (graphical user interface). Unfortunately for Job’s and Apple Inc, Apple Lisa” was unsuccessful in its war against its competitors. Therefore, strong-willed Apple made a very much needed assessment and wisely decided to reverse its licensing strategies. Starting from year 2000, Apple and its executives centered their attention on electronic products other than computers: 1- portable media players...
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...Harvard Business Case Study: Apple Inc. Dennis Stovall Kaplan University GB 520 Strategic Human Resources Management March 25, 2014 Abstract This business analysis focuses on the commercial enterprising activities of a world leading consumer electronics company, i.e. Apple Inc. and how, through its technologically advanced creativity and electronics expertise, it succeeded in introduced the world to a radically new era of multimedia innovation. Apple Inc. opened up an entirely new method in which microchip technology was to be developed and used for industrial, institutional and commercial use. It is due in large part through the amazing talent of Steve Jobs that this esoteric technology managed to achieve stellar proportions with regards to the open market. The purpose of this case study is to shed some light on Apple Inc.’s adopted business plan, the one that led to the advent of a revolutionary new market, i.e. microcomputers and later iPods and iPhones. It serves to address why this business plan, if in fact there was a creditable one to begin with, did not achieve’-in terms of business management’- an unprecedented if not historic record of business design and implementation; at least one that could be looked upon as a shining example of how to introduce an amazing new product technology and sell it to the worlds consumers so as to obtain record profits while helping to stabilize the market and influence world wide business conduct...
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...Name: Unit Number: Case Name: Apple Inc. Case Study Analysis Introduction This analysis is based on Apple Inc. case study in which the strategic management is analyzed. In the process of analyzing this concept, the article also indentifies the issues and problems as they are presented together with the identification of the major issues surrounding the organization and individuals that are involved with the Apple Inc. Alternative course of action is addressed together with the recommendation that is based on the analysis. Understanding strategic management Through strategic management, a series of moves are developed and executed with an aim of enhancing the organization to be successful in the current situation and also in the future. As the Apple Inc aggressive history is analyzed, a slew of examples are unveiled with an illustration of the irreproducible ability in the effort to have an adoption as well as own market creation. Apple’s strategic management The success of Apple Inc. has been based on its ability to integrate into its model of business operation a management that is strategic. Through strategic management diligent involvement, Apple Inc. has been able to ensure that it is not maneuvered; a strategy that has enabled the company for the past 3 decades to emerge as successful in the competition. However, believing that Apple Inc. has not gone through some setbacks would be illogical. In fact, this is one...
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...successes and failures? Describe why. Apple Inc. has been in the USA and market place for long time since 1975 until today. Apply Inc. is the leader in technology market in the USA and in the world. In very beginning Steve Jobs and Steven Wozniak invented Apply I in 1975 and surprising the sale was pretty good. Then two years later the second, Apple II was designed and within a year the company has made $3 million. This is just the result that Apply always been working on creative and new things. Back in time, the Apple Inc. was not always big success. Couple years later Apple Inc. has design the pricey and unique product with the high price such as, Apple Lisa in 1983 or Macintosh TV in 1993. Both has ended up been the worse product due as a computer specs; it is lackluster and too expensive for Macintosh TV. Another flop is back in 1996 as network computer that can play game. The failures of Apple have been due to following; 1. Pricey Products 2. Poor marketing efforts 3. Too ambitious products The following products could be considered success for Apple; 1. IPod is one of the Apple’s biggest successes, it has completely changed the music industry and we can even say it has done a revolution in the technology innovation. 2. IPhone is the biggest success in my opinion since it is affordable, very popular and useful for everyone compare to other products Apple released. Created January 2007. 3. The Apple II 4. IPod 5. ITunes Apple Reinvented...
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...Rehman Muzaffar Marketing project outline Apple Inc. * Financial Crisis * In 1996 Apple went through a huge crisis as share prices dropped. Shareholders and customers started to question Apple and the media portrayed them as a bad company to invest and buy products from. New products caused the company to do worst then ever and so Apple had to look for outside sources for help. * Apples competitor * Microsoft had always been doing well as a company and had been successful with software and products long before Apple. As Apple started to become successful and offer new products to the economy, so did Microsoft. In fact the competition has always been at an equal limit. But we years went by and both companies started to come up with new software and hardware, competition divided. * Products * Apple was known for its Macintosh desktops in the beginning. But as the years went by, laptops were introduced, and then iPhone, iPod, iPad, and itunes became available. There products continue to get more advanced every year as new products satisfy the economy. * Steve Jobs * Since the beginning Steve Jobs co-founder of apple had so much to offer. It was one of the biggest loses to apple when he died in 2011. But his legacy lives on, his ideas of Macintosh and other products had led apple to where it is now. Jobs also co founded Pixar and next. * Apple locations * Apple has become such a big company and their products are so widely used that...
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...Analysis on Apple EXPECTATIONS & EVALUATIONS The objective of this paper is to thoroughly analyze Apple’s financial history and status for the last five years (2003 – 2007). Other important topics will be discussed which include: the company’s background, its assets, bonds, stocks, etc. To support the analysis, different relevant ratios will be calculated for Apple Inc in order to estimate the company’s current status, and also to compare Apple Inc. to the computer industry and one of its major competitors – Dell. The financial analysis of Apple is based on evaluating company and industry data from various sources. A trend analysis was performed using data for the last five years, and presented in Excel charts and tables. Finally, I computed various ratios for Apple, and compared them to industry norms, and to Dell’s. Numerous graphs were created using MS Excel to support the analysis. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY History Apple Computer was formed in April 1976 by 25-year-old Steve Wozniak and 21-yearold Steve Jobs—both college dropouts. After selling a van for some extra start-up cash, the two set up shop in the Jobs’ family garage at 2066 Crist Drive in Los Altos, California, to start building computers. In 1977, Jobs and Markkula hired Michael Scott as the company’s first president and Chief Executive Officer (CEO).8 In April of that same year, Apple decided it would be beneficial to their marketing strategies if they updated their image before putting the Apple II on...
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...When I think of Apple Computers, I think of being in elementary school and going to the library for computer lab. I would sit quietly at my workstation and play a game on a green mono-chromatic screen with a worm that chomped on letters to improve my spelling and grammar skills, trying to get to the apple. Apple, Inc. has made leaps and bounds from the before mentioned computer to my current i-Products that do everything short of walking my dog. No worries, I’m sure that I have an app for that. Apple, Inc. began April 1, 1976 by Steve Jobs and Steve Woznaik. To date, some of their largest successes include the operating system of the Mac, iPod, iPhone (all generations) and the much anticipated iPad. Apple products peaked in its success because of its innovation. There seems that every six months there is a new product on the horizon; products are more effective, and produced more efficiently to compete in both domestic and international markets. For the past six or seven years it appears that everything Apple touched has turned into gold, but that has not always been the case. They have also experienced a few rotten apples so to speak. The early handheld Newton tablet and the gaming machine Pippin and Apple TV are a few to name. The main reason for the failures of these products was “just didn't live up to consumer expectations and market demands. As the following list demonstrates, flops often get reworked and find successful implementations in later, more...
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...Largely considered the world’s most valuable and influential company, Apple has had a number of huge successes since its 1977 launch, including the Apple II, iMac iPod, iPhone, iPad, and iTunes. The What were some of the industry factors that influenced RIM? Largely considered the world’s most valuable and influential company, Apple has had a number of huge successes since its 1977 launch, including the Apple II, iMac iPod, iPhone, iPad, and iTunes. The Apply as many TCOs as you can to the RIM. Largely considered the world’s most valuable and influential company, Apple has had a number of huge successes since its 1977 launch, including the Apple II, iMac iPod, iPhone, iPad, and iTunes. The References Editorial Staff. (2012). Four ways Apple has changed under Tim Cook. By The Week. Available at: http://theweek.com/article/index/228478/four-ways-apple-has-changed-under-tim-cook Farber, Dan. (2013). Apple's Tim Cook seeks the 'mother of all opportunities'. Available at: http://news.cnet.com/8301-13579_3-57566068-37/apples-tim-cook-seeks-the-mother-of-all-opportunities/?amp. Accessed on: July 9th, 2013 Lashinsky, Adam. (2012). How Tim Cook is changing Apple. CNN Money. Available at: http://tech.fortune.cnn.com/2012/05/24/apple-tim-cook-ceo/ Buysight, Inc. (2010). Apple's Biggest Successes and Failures. Available at: http://www.buysight.com/blog/2010/01/26/apples-biggest-successes-and-failures/. Accessed on:...
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...Ron Edwards Research paper 10/2/08 Apple computers was established in Cupertino, California on April 1, 1976 and incorporated January 3, 1977 by Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak and Ronald Wayne. The company was called Apple Computers Inc. for it’s first thirty years but dropped the word “computers” leaving it’s name simply Apple Inc. when they began working on expanding into consumer electronics like the iPod and iPhone. Apple employees twenty eight thousand people world wide and posts sales in excess of twenty seven billion annually. Apple has a devoted customer base and a unique reputation in the consumer electronics industry. Fortune Magazine named Apple inc. one of the most admired companies in America. In 1976, Apple Computer Inc. began to offer the Apple I personal computer kit at the Homebrew Computer Club. The Apple I was hand made by Steve Wozniak and consisted of a motherboard (with CPU, RAM, and basic textual-video chips) less than what is today considered a complete personal computer. They went on sale in July 1976 for $666.66. Apple then incorporated on January 3, 1977 without Ronald Wayne who sold to Jobs and Wozniak for $800 at which time Mike Markkula invested $250,000 and also lent his financial expertise. To compete with the TRS-80 and Commodore PET the Apple II was introduced in April of 1977 at the West Coast Computer Faire. It distinguished itself because it came with color graphics and an open architecture. In later models it offered a 5 ¼” floppy disk for...
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...Founded in 1976, Apple Inc. is one of the largest, most successful, and most recognizable brands in the world that specializes in computer software, online music and entertainment services, and most notably consumer electronics. Currently valued at over $700 billion (USD), the growth in market share of just the iPhone alone contributed an estimated one-quarter to one-third of a percentage point to the annualized growth rate in the U.S. gross domestic product (Kuang, 2015). In addition to the wildly successful iPhone, other notable devices in the Apple lineup include multiple variations of the iPad, iPad Mini, and iPad Air; many configurations of the MacBook, MacBook Pro, and MacBook Air; the iMac, Mac Pro, and Mac Mini; the Apple TV; and most recently released in April of 2015, the Apple Watch. Creating this venerable suite of products and devices is a globally diversified workforce that continues to grow, sitting today at over 110,000 people strong. As of December 2015, Apple is responsible for creating and supporting over 1.9 million jobs, nearly seventy five percent of which stem from the expansive iOS ecosystem. The remainder of those jobs include new construction jobs related to data centers, jobs at key suppliers of raw materials used in the manufacturing process, and finally corporate employees of the company itself. Apple directly employs more than 76,000 people in the United States alone, those employees represent nearly two-thirds of their global team (Apple Inc., 2015). In...
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...Paper Not many companies, if any, are known for more innovation than Apple Inc. The products and software produced by Apple Inc. always seem to be years beyond the reach of other companies. Apple Inc. and its wholly-owned subsidiaries (collectively “Apple” or the “Company”) designs, manufactures and markets mobile communication and media devices, personal computers, and portable digital music players, and sells a variety of related software, services, peripherals, networking solutions, and third-party digital content and applications (Apple, 2011, pg. 1). Apple Inc. (Apple) produces such items and services as the “iPhone®, iPad®, Mac®, iPod®, Apple TV®, a portfolio of consumer and professional software applications, the iOS and Mac OS®X operating systems, iCloud®, and a variety of accessory, service and support offerings” (Apple, 2011). Apple’s innovation strategy is described below and is evaluated along with the risks involved with the strategy. Apple’s financials and business plan are also described below. Innovation Strategy Innovative companies can thrive even in a tough economy. Apple Inc. has seen hard times and good times. Apple has survived as a company because of a renewed commitment to innovation. This commitment to innovation spearheaded by Steve Jobs has caused other companies to analyze how Apple does so well. First, it is important to note that Apple has not been always successful. Today Apple epitomizes a capabilities-driven innovation strategy, but it wasn't...
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