Apple Inc

Executive Summary

By this executive summary, we will introduce ideas and details of Apple Computers in its current state. We will examine AppleЎ¦s strategy of being consumer based and evaluate the current situation to see if it may be time for Apple to venture into the office business computer industry. This report will cover a brief overview of the company, itЎ¦s current assortment of products it offers, recent marketing strategies, competitors to the company, and future opportunities and threats that Apple may face.

First we will explore the Apple CompanyЎ¦s overview which includes the companyЎ¦s profile, history and important events that have taken place within the company dating back to when it was first founded in 1976. The overview gives a brief explanation of how Apple first entered the market and describes the success and failures of its initial products. It explains how AppleЎ¦s first attempt into the office business industry failed and why they have remained consumer focused because of their small, but loyal following.

After that, we will explore the companyЎ¦s innovation strategy which has lead Apple to become one of the most famous and powerful technology companies. We will go into details about its famous products such as the iPod portable music player, the iTunes Store, the Macintosh line of personal computers, and the Mac OS X operating system. Concurrently, we will review why, when, and how those products were created. The assortment of products that Apple currently offers illustrates its focus of target market as they offer more consumer based products. It also shows how new modifications to AppleЎ¦s computers, laptops, and operating system have prepared them to compete in the office computer industry, as well as still remain loyal to their traditional users.

Beside product innovation, marketing takes a very important and decisive role in order to delivery those products efficiently to customers. Therefore, we will examine AppleЎ¦s current marketing mix by analyzing their approach to the four PЎ¦s of marketing: product, price, place, and promotion to understand more why Apple Company is one of the most valued brand names known to date. We will also examine Steve JobsЎ¦ influence after his return to the company and how he has contributed with his own distinct signature methods to turn what once was a struggling company to a technology powerhouse.

Then we will analyze the companyЎ¦s competitors such as Sony, Microsoft, Dell, IBM and many others. Not only focus on the strength of the company, we also analyze threats may affect on the company especially the competitors to see how well the company has manage its product innovation and marketing strategies to maintain its strength on variety products. We also discuss the fact that although AppleЎ¦s market share of the personal music player industry is massive, it is slowly diminishing with new competitors entering the market at a high speed pace. On the other hand after evaluating AppleЎ¦s competition in the computer industry, we reveal that although AppleЎ¦s current market share is small, it is growing at a tremendous rate and the potential in this industry is a lot higher in reference to profit and revenue of the company.

In the last section, we will discuss the options that Apple is currently facing and select a choice which we feel the company should go. The first option is for Apple to remain consumer focused and continue to concentrate on showcasing the iPod as its highlighted product. Although the success of the company in recent years can be attributed to the iPod, the rest of the competition is slowly catching up and we feel that the iPod may just be nearing the saturation stage of its product life style and the revolutionary product may see a drop in its sales in the near future. The second option has Apple shifting its focus back to its original products of computer hardware and its operating system. Because of all the new advancement in Apple products, Apple can now market its computers and compete in the office computer industry. At this current time AppleЎ¦s halo affect is at an all time high and they should use this in its advantage and revert back to its traditional ways focus on computer hardware and software again. The third option would be to try continuing on with a major focus in both industries. Although this seems to be an ideal situation, in reality the company has many direct competitors that are solely focused on one market and to compete, Apple would need all of its resources to try to conquer either one of the markets. The decision that we have concluded is that Apple should shift its focus back on its computers and attempt to reach their potential in that industry.

Introduction

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