Key Strategic Challenges facing Apple Computer

C. Meyer (2011) commented in his article by saying “It’s hard to get headlines with 5% market share. When your market capitalization passes Microsoft, everyone watches. For a firm that highly values control and secrecy, Apple now stands center-stage with the flood lights shining bright.” Although many are quick to focus on a company’s weaknesses, most winners lose their step by over relying on their strengths. Apple’s success has been fueled by a very distinctive point-of-view embodied in elegantly designed “insanely great products” that deliver a superior experience to users. Apple has wrung more out of secrecy and anticipation of its next products than most companies achieve through advertising. As the recent Gizmodo pre-release scoop of the iPhone 4 demonstrates, this gets harder to do the bigger you are.

According to Meyer (2010), he examined seven challenges facing Apple leaders.

1) Security- With just 5% market share in the PC market, malware and virus writers have mostly ignored the Mac. However, Apple’s iPhone success now makes them a target that coincides with the explosion of mobile security concerns overall. Lacking strong experience in the enterprise computing where security is paramount, it’s reasonable to expect more problems such as the recent AT&T email address breach on the iPad.

2) High control- Several years ago, Steve Jobs said Apple wasn’t going to do a phone because it had to be sold and controlled through the “four orifices” referring to the major cellular service providers. Jobs told Walt Mossberg that their entry into cell phones was driven by AT&T’s unprecedented willingness to give Apple control over what was on the handset.

3) Services- Services contribute minimally to Apple’s revenue but provide enormous influence.

4) Individual customer primacy- During the