...first job at a video game company called Atari. The chief engineer, Al Alcorn, hired him. Jobs became “one of the first fifty employees at Atari, working as a technician for $5 and hour. ‘In retrospect it was weird to hire a dropout from Reed [College],’ Alcorn recalled. ‘But I saw something in him. He was very intelligent, enthusiastic and excited about tech.’” (Isaacson Pg. 43) In 1976, the intelligent and motivated, Steve Jobs took the knowledge he had acquired at Atari and teamed up with his good friend Steve Wozniak and started Apple as a desktop computer company. For about 10 years the two Steve’s worked together, but in the mid 1980’s tension began to rise between the business partners and Jobs left the company. From 1985 to 1995 Steve Jobs worked on various projects and at various companies such as NeXt and Pixar, but in 1996 Jobs went back to Apple and in 1997 he became Apple’s CEO. In the mid 1990’s, business was not booming for Apple. When Steve Jobs came on as CEO he cleaned house. He hired a new board of directors, and began working on a new product. The iMac was Apple’s first innovative product in years and it was a hit. Steve Jobs had a feeling that a sleek, simple, innovative design with fun colors would rejuvenate the tired company, and he was...
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...The strategy of the mobile phone industry: A comparative analysis of Apple, Sony, Xiaomi The strategy of the mobile phone industry - a comparative analysis of Apple, Sony, Xiaomi I Executive summary The paper sheds lights on the strategy of three mobile phone industry and that task is to perform comparative analysis on Apple, Sony and Xiaomi. The author has first started with the analysis of the macro-environment using strategic analytic tool called PESTLE. The author has used tools such as Porter’s Five Forces and SWOT to analyze the micro-environment of a mobile phone industry and define Key Success Factors that are essential to be included in company’s strategy. Moreover the paper characterizes the comparative analysis such as objectives, strengths, weakness, financial analysis (quantitative), Vario analysis (Qualitative), merger and acquisitions, market share and competitive advantage strategy, of Apple, Sony and Xiaomi. At the end, the author of this assignment has given his recommendation to these three industries and concludes with a set of challenges being faced by mobile phone industry to create and maintain customer values and profit margins for present and future business successes. The strategy of the mobile phone industry - a comparative analysis of Apple, Sony, Xiaomi II Table of Contents LIST OF ABBREVIATION ..................................................................................................................
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...Apple Computer, Inc.: Maintaining the Music Business while Introducing iPhone and Apple TV Overview/Introduction Through an analysis of the case study of Apple, Inc. this paper will describe key elements that helped make Apple the successful company it is today. The analysis of the three key environments of a business will be examined, including; general, industry, and competitor environments. Also explored will be the available lessons that readers and other companies can garner from Apple’s success. Apple’s Success Story Apple’s success rests squarely on the shoulders of innovation. In the beginning, the founders of Apple, Stephen Wozniak and Steve Jobs focused on providing something new to the market. They not only brought innovative products to consumers like the Mac computer and iPod, they did it in an innovative manner. Memorable advertising campaigns based on consumer reaction rather than technological jargon made the beginnings of a cult-like following. Apple lost its way in the mid to late eighties as it struggled to find its focus and protect its core competencies, resources, and capabilities. Steve Jobs returned to the company after a decade removed, recognized the speed with which technology moves and took steps to insure that Apple, Inc. was strategically focused to be the leader in new technology. The key to Apple’s success is their mission to make the Mac “the hub of the consumers’ digital lifestyle” (Ireland, 2009, p. C-16). From this point...
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...Apple Corporation: Strategy Analysis Executive summary Apple Corporation continues to be the worlds most admired company because of its huge financial base, ability to attract and retain customers, ability to innovate and to produce technologically superior products. The company’s strategy as found in this report is built around creativity and innovation. Its capabilities in terms of resources and technology have made the company to produce technologically advanced products. Despite the huge influence of the external factors such as regulations, the economy and changes in technology, Apple is still strong and able to leverage its capabilities to achieve success. Apple is thus strategically positioned to achieve its objectives despite a few challenges that were identified that pose a threat to the company. Overall, its future direction should be guided by innovation and its ability to diversify its activities and products in order to extend its product line in order to survive. Introduction The 21st century has witnessed a rapid change in the way companies do business and the rationale for this is the cut throat competition among firms. The need to make profits and to gain market share has driven these companies to enact strategies that have led them to perform better (Vernon, 2001). This is not always the same with all companies as performance varies across these companies and this could be explained by the different strategies that they have adopted (Francis, 2010)...
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...Apple Inc Financial Report Analysis FINC 330 Business finance instructor: Philip Bradley Prepared by: Table of Contents Page 1) Company Description……………………………………………….…...... 2 Company background………………………………………..….. 2 Industry analysis………………………………………………..... 2 Products and services…………………………………….…......2 Investment strategy…………………………………….……...…3 2) Market Analysis……………….………………………………................... 3 Direct competitors…………………......…………………………. 3 Financial performance comparison…………………......………3 Growth comparison…………………......…………………...…...4 Trailing total returns comparison…………………......…………4 Ratio comparison…………………......…………………………. .5 Detailed ration comparison…………………......……………5 3) Financial Performance Analysis………………………………………...... 6 Ratio analysis........................................................................... 6 Detailed analysis................................................................. 7 4) Recommendations ……………………………………………………..… ..8 5) Conclusions……………………………………………............................ ..9 6) Reference…………………………………………………………………...10 7) Appendix……………………………………………………………….....…11 Income statement....................................................................11 Balance sheet.......................................................................... 12 Cash flow........................................................................
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...of Apple Inc. Managing Strategy Course Tutor: Mr William Edward Hearne Introduction The intention of presenting this report is to give a full strategic appraisal and evaluation of Apple Inc. In 1976, the company was founded in a garage in Santa Clara, California. The American multinational corporation mainly involves in designing and marketing consumer electronics, computer software and as well as personal computers. Differentiation is the current strategy position of Apple Inc. There are five main firms in the PC industry and among them; the world’s leading brand is Dell. Apple’s major target is to sustain their present strategic position and to take over the market position as a leader. The key stakeholders include Steve Jobs, employees, lenders and the government. Apple markets Apple’s industries Person computers Person media Africa North/South America Desktops IPad I phone Apples markets Asia and Middle east Europe IPod Apple store Notebooks Apple services iTunes Apple’s products Laptops Mission statement Apple’s mission statement is to become a leader in providing simple, powerful, high-quality information products and service for people who learn, communicate, and create. External and internal analysis In order to identify the major threats and opportunities faced by Apple, conducting an external analysis is very important. The models that are going to be used include; PESTEL analysis, Porter's 5 forces and SWOT analysis (opportunities...
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...------------------------------------------------- Apple Inc. Business Analysis Category: Business Autor: Mike 26 July 2010 Words: 3002 | Pages: 13 Business Analysis of Apple Inc. On April 1, 1976 Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak, and Ronald Wayne joined together to form Apple Computer Incorporated. The concept behind their company was the creation of an inexpensive, simple to use personal computer kit. Working out of Jobs' garage in Cupertino, California the trio designed and manufactured their first product in three months. They named this product the Apple I and it went on sale in July 1976 for $666.66. Six months after the release of the Apple I, Ronald Wayne opted to sell his share of the company back to Jobs and Wozniak for a meager $800. Soon thereafter multimillionaire Mike Markkula joined Apple and on January 3, 1977 the company was incorporated. Apple continued to gain momentum and was one of the fastest growing companies by the end of 1978. With the introduction of the Apple II plus, the company enjoyed a 400 percent increase in sales in 1979. In December of 1980 the company went public and within minutes the 4.6 million shares sold out at a price of $22 per share. An additional 2.6 million shares was also sold out by May 1981. However, the firm suffered its first major fallback with the release of the Apple III in September of 1980. The newest version had not undergone necessary testing due to time constraints and pressure from upper management. This proved to be extremely costly mistake and by 1984 the Apple III...
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...Strategic Management Analysis of the strategy of the Strategic Management – Analysis of the Strategy of the Apple, Inc. 15 June 2012 List of contents List of contents …..…..…………………….………………………………….….………… 2 List of figures …………….…….……………………………….…………........................ 3 1. Executive Summary ……………………………………..….…………….….…………. 4 2. Historical development ………………….……..………………..…..……..………...… 4 3. Environmental analysis …………………………………………………..…………...... 8 3.1 Company description ………………………………………………..…………….. 8 3.2 The SWOT Analysis of Apple …….………………………………..…………….. 10 3.3 The most influential competitors ……………………...…………..……………... 12 3.4 PEST Analysis …...…………………………………………………….…..……… 14 4. Business Analysis of Apple ……………………………………………………..……. 16 4.1 Portfolio overview …..……………………………………..………………………. 16 4.1 Corporate Identity ……………………………………….………………………… 18 4.2 Corporate Social Responsibility …………...………………………………….… 18 5. Conclusion ………………………..…..…………..……………………………………. 19 List of references ………………………..…..………..…..…………………………..….. 20 Appendix ………………….…………………………………………………………… 21-25 -2- Strategic Management – Analysis of the Strategy of the Apple, Inc. 15 June 2012 List of figures Figure 1: Apple’s 183M smartphone sell until Q1/2012 ...……………………………… 7 Figure 2: Apple net sales by product 2011 ……………………………………………… 9 Figure 3: Apple sales by product 2010 ………………………..………………….……… 9 Figure 4: Apple’s sales by product line ………………………………………...………. 10 Figure 5: Key Executives...
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...Apple (Computer) Inc. Whither the MAC? | Case Study Analysis | Strategic Analysis in terms of Capabilities Analysis & Five Force Model | Submitted by : Muhammad Saad Dasti Section B | 1. Prepare a Five Forces Analysis of the personal computer industry. (Think of your traditional Windows based PC.) How attractive is this industry? In order to properly identify and evaluate competitive position of personal computer , competitive analaysis model has been created to fully depict the position of display systems according to current scenario * The personal computer industry is somewhat vulnerable against the bargaining power of buyers. In recent years customers have more and more alternative options to the personal computer. Smartphone’s, tablet computers, and other handheld devices like IPods have most of the same capabilities as a personal computer. And because of the availability, sleekness, and trendiness of these alternatives, they have become increasingly popular making personal computers more and more obsolete. In order for the personal computer to compete with these newer alternative options, it must differentiate itself in order to regain market share. * Suppliers in the personal computer industry can be categorized into three groups, including hardware suppliers, software suppliers and service suppliers. The core of their...
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...Environmental Analysis SWOT analysis Apple has created its image as a multinational corporation, which designs, manufactures and sells computers, consumers’ electronics and software. Along with these, Apple provides related services to its customers. Area of concern | Types of concern | | Favorable | Unfavorable | Internal Environment | Strengths * Loyal Customers * Flame of Innovation * Diversification and differentiation of Products * Use of Mac OSX’s unique operating system * High Brand image in global market | Weaknesses * Lack of high quality control * Unaffordable Price * Lack of proper market consideration | External Environment | Opportunities * Stake in Mobile Phone Industry * Reaching the emerging economy | Threats * High level of competition in Technology industry * Availability of Substitute products | PEST Analysis PEST analysis is helpful for understanding the Apple’s potential market and thus it will be helpful for predicting about Apple’s operations including opening a new Store outside London. PEST analysis is the combination of political, economic, Social and technological factors of environmental Analysis. [ (Jackman, 2006) ] Political Factors Apple is a multinational organization, where the core business area of Apple is the U.S. Nevertheless, According to the report of 2012, more than half sale of the products of Apple is coming from other countries rather than the U.S. This clearly indicates the Apple’s customer...
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...founded Apple Computer. Working out of the Jobs family garage they built a computer circuit board that they named the Apple I. Jobs made it Apple’s mission to bring an easy to use computer to market and in 1978 introduced the Apple II, which was a relatively simple machine that people could use out of the box. Apple quickly became the industry leader, until IBM entered the PC market in 1981, which lead to Apple fundamentally changing their competitive position. Apple was still considered aesthetically pleasing compared to the bland IBM PC, but lacked the “open” system that other producers could clone from the IBM PC. In contrast, Apple relied on proprietary designs that only Apple could produce. In 1984, Apple introduced the Macintosh, marking a breakthrough in ease of use, industrial design, and technical elegance from a PC, but it still lacked a microprocessor with speed and compatible software. In 1985, Jobs was removed from his operational role and eventually left the company to start up a new company called NeXT. After this Apple struggled with establishing a sustainable strategy and suffered an up and down history. Finally, when Steve Jobs returned and was made CEO of Apple in 1997, Apple finally saw the turnaround it needed. He quickly shook things up and established relationships with Microsoft and Intel, which would take Apple’s PC to new heights. In January 2007, three decades after its incorporation, Apple Computer shed the second word in its name and became Apple Inc....
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...Runninghead: Apple Inc. Business Analysis |1 | | Apple Inc. Business Analysis Yvette Metzger Mgmt 521 September 12, 2011 Erick Espinosa |Apple Inc. Business Analysis |2 | Many companies in today’s market have become successful through a variety of investors. These investors supply in the businesses needs to fulfill that particular business and provide revenue and profits in the future. As a manager, a business is going to want to ensure all avenues of that 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...
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...Strategic Management Apple & Nokia Case Analysis 1. Table of Contents 1.0 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY OF APPLE AND NOKIA CASE 2 2.0 QUESTION 1 3 2.1 Competitive analysis of Apple and Nokia – who is stronger? 3 2.1.1 Competitive Analysis 3 2.1.1.1 SWOT Analysis 5 1.1.1 Strengths of Apple 6 2.1.1.2 Value Chain Analysis 9 2.1.1.3 Resourced Base View Tool 11 3.0 QUESTION 2 14 3.1 PESTEL analysis tool 15 3.2 Porter’s Five Forces 17 3.3 The Implications for Strategic Development are; 21 4.0 QUESTION 3 21 4.1 Critical Analysis Lessons from Apple’s risky but profitable strategy 21 5.0 REFERENCE: 23 1.0 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY OF APPLE AND NOKIA CASE Apple chalked some initial success with its invention of the Macintosh (Mac) computer but with the introduction of the Windows 1.0 from its rival company (Microsoft), it was faced with a threat in the industry. Their earlier strategic decision of not cooperating with rivals in the industry was seen as a weakness which Microsoft capitalized on to make their software available to other computer manufacturers for a license fee. Apple, diversifying into a new market (mobile telephone industry) with the introduction of user friendly products sought industry cooperation when it came to the launch of subsequent products including the iPod and iPhone. This strategic decision was inspired by its past...
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...APPLE COMPUTER AND STEVE P. JOBS (2006): PIXAR ANIMATION AND WALT DISNEY COMPANY Prepared by: AYURO, Roselyn CULPA, Cielo Mae CANO, Russel Paul EDER, Greniel Ann PEREZ, Jessamae DATE: February 20, 2012 TO: Apple Computer and Steve P. Jobs (2006): Pixar Animation and Walt Disney Company FROM: Accounting Students Consulting Team, UMAK Chapter RE: Analysis of Apple Company’s future and its competitive advantage BRIEF SUMMARY: This report aims to evaluate Apple Computer • past and present performance in order to most importantly stipulates the future position of this largely successful company. Being that the company’s objective centers on increasing profits, increasing market share, and maintaining brand image., this report tries to identify strategies that make their company more competitive. The analysis uses SWOT, IFAS, EFAS and other similar evaluative tools to reach an understandable and valid generalization. SITUATION DEFINITON: • CURRENT PERFORMANCE Today Apple’s operations are as diversified as they were never before. With its currently 13,599 employees worldwide it generated revenue of $63 million in the last quarter. It holds cash reserves of over %4.5 billion and has a ROIC of 3.05%. Apple’s operations are spread around the PC industry, computer peripherals and the software and service industry. In the overall PC industry Apple’s market share has diminished to a skinny 2.1%. Apple itself doesn’t look itself at the overall PC market...
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...Farooqi Corporate Finance March 16, 2016 MID TERM EXAM ALL DOLLAR AMOUNTS FOR APPLE ARE IN THOUSANDS PART 1: Financial Position Statements – ON EXCEL (Under Balance Sheet, Income Statement, and Statement of Cash Flows) PART 2: Financial Ratios and Charts– ON EXCEL (Under Balance sheet) PART 3: Industry average of ratios Apple falls in many different categories for industry type. The most common and according to Yahoo finance, Apple is in the electronic equipment industry. Following will be the industry average for all of the ratios found in part 2. Electronics Equipment average Ratios: -Current Ratio= 3.45 times -Return on Equity (ROE)= 4.16 percent -Return on Assets (ROA)= 10.14 - Profit Margin= 3.80 percent -Shares Outstanding= 47.14 million -Price to Earnings= 60.36 times -Price to Book=2.35 times -Price to Sales= 2.19 times -Revenue= $882.51 million -Gross Profit= $459.38 million -EBITDA= $106.44 million -Net Income= $33.54 million -Total Debt= $309.96 million -Debt-to-Equity= .38 -Book Value Per Share= 17.41 times -Cash Flow from Operations= $65.1 million -Short Ratio= 6.76 times -EPS= .70 -Price to Earnings to Growth .98 times -Total Asset 1.46 Billion -Market Capitalization -Current Assets= $828.48 million -Current Liabilities= $240.33 million Quick Ratio= .47 times -I could not find a cash ratio for the electronic equipment industry. -Inventory Turnover= 12.29 -Days’ Sales in inventory= 14.12 days -Receivables Turnover=...
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