In 2007, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency ranked Apple’s notebooks as the “most environmentally friendly portable computers”. In 2011, Climate Counts placed Apple in its top category of corporate climate responsibility. As a result of its massive marketing efforts, Apple has built a very loyal customer base that advocates the brand, enabling it to not only recruit customers, but also retain them. This provides a platform for Apple to introduce new products, such as the iPod, iPhone, and iPad. Besides, Apple branding is so successful that it is able to license its “Made for iPod” logo, which serves as a form of advertisement and a revenue source as it earns an estimated 5% of the retail price of such products.
Apple has continued to evolve with the changes in technology. Their innovative ideas are able to keep the global markets needs fulfilled. Even though Apples core product is their computer, they enter into new markets and out-beat their competitors. The entry into the personal media player industry then followed by smartphone and tablet market show that Apple has an evolving strategy that will keep the company strong. Their strategy has led them to become the market leader in some of these industries.
It is a also important to note that strategy of launching iPod and other subsequent new products were very much in synchronization with the ‘Digital Hub’ strategy. Analyzing the industrial environment based on Porter’s 5 force model we get: 1. Intensity of Rivalry: Apple faced competition from other iPod players such as Zune (Microsoft), San Disk, Creative and Samsung. However despite these companies having more or less the same hardware had less than 10% of the market share because of the launch of iTunes. Within the industry the intensity of rivalry was high though Apple was vey ahead of it competitors even when it was charging a premium price which was $50 to $100 higher than the ASP of other iPods.
Incremental innovation Incremental innovations can lead to a significant improvement in price or functionality. As companies primarily compete in price or quality or both, improving either or both of these characteristics can make late entrants very successful. Market leaders, who frequently introduce or adopt important incremental innovations, tend to maintain or even improve their market share. Apple’s first white DAP provide an illustration of incremental innovation concern. When Apple released its first DAP (also more commonly referred to as ‘MP3 player’) in 2001, such players had been present in the market for quite a while.
In the late 90’s when futuristic was more the popular look, Mac computers gave the buyer a choice of color and the computer/monitor was very bubbly, laptops more rounded. In the mid 00’s when sleek and contemporary was in style they went simple and slim with their design and back to rectangular design. Now that industrial is the in look, Mac computers take up little space on a desk and laptops are made from aluminum and easily recyclable materials and are ultra light weight (apple-history.com, 2011). FOURNIER’S RESEARCH Referring to the Dr. Fournier’s research on relationships with branding, after examining not only consumers brand choice but also their lives, she came up with 15 types of relationships people have with their brands (Aisner, 1999). When characterizing how customers relate to Mac, customers relate as if Mac were a best friend.
It was in this time that Apple moved into the digital music space as a provider and distributor of music content. This came as a signal to the end of the previous innovation, the CD which was largely used to save music. Apple came up with a new technology and created iTunes as an online service where people could download legal, high quality songs for a very reasonable price. With the advent of this technology (iTunes) and the ease with which music was available digitally for download, the trend toward digital music was clear. This trend slowly opened up the fast growing demand for MP3 players that played mobile digital music, such as Apple’s iPod.
Apple also offers services such as iTunes, which helps you, organized your music, video and picture files. On iTunes you can also purchase music, movies and save it on your device or computers, they also have share files such as iCloud, which allows you to store and access your files from any devices you own. Apple continues to create bold visionary products that earn the envy of technophiles worldwide as Apple re-images itself as a “Digital Lifestyle” company. (CNN Money) Purpose The purposes of this analytical report of Apple Inc. are to inquire about possible staffing opportunity. Kelly Services can supply Apple Inc. with a steady flow of qualified software and hardware engineers to meet the changes Apple Inc. will face in created the next generation of operating systems and devices.
T-Mobile will continue to be successful because of work with Apple over seas III. Future Industry a. Apple’s iPhone success i. Lack of competition will continue success of iPhone despite high prices b. iPhone will remain successful despite recession c. Positive Impact i. AT&T/Cingular release
Businesses can develop core competencies by identifying key internal strengths and investing in the capabilities valued by their customers. Ads by Google Find the Top Innovations IdeaScale Decision Matrix Software Sign up to learn about ReviewScale. ideascale.com/reviewscale Innovation Innovative companies have a competitive edge in the marketplace. For example, one of Apple's core competencies has been its ability to produce cutting edge and "cool" designs. It introduced the iPod as a "cool" way to download and listen to music.
Since its inception, Apple has been the computer company to beat. Steve Jobs’ unique vision for the products he created, along with his formula for developing a remarkable competitive advantage, accounts for Apple’s success. As the company grew throughout the years, Steve Jobs and his team maintained and grew this advantage, helping the company to further differentiate itself from its competitors. Siri is a recent product offering which further enhances Apple’s competitive advantage. Apple describes Siri as “the intelligent personal assistant that helps you get things done just by asking” (Apple, 2012).