Analysis of Apple Inc Company - Paper Example

Apple Inc. The company is a multinational business corporation that deals with the production of consumer electronics, personal computers, and other computer operating systems. Some of the major and core products include iPhone, iPad tablets, and smartphones. The company was formerly known as Apple Computer Inc. Apple Inc. Corporation was founded in 1976 by three computers generous, Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak and Ronald Wayne in California, United States. The three pioneers of this great company shared the same computer club when they were in High School and also in college which motivated them to work as a team to share their knowledge. The first product that the company manufactured was one computer made with the early designs known as Apple 1. Towards the end of 1977, the company invented another computer known as Apple 2 (Capps 1997). Apple 2 was more advanced than Apple 1 computer as it entailed features that the first computer lacked. For example, it had color graphics which was not only different from the first computer but also different from other computers produced by other competitive companies during the time. The same year, the company came up with its first logo, the rainbow-colored logo which also enhanced its colorfulness in the market. The iconic logo created by the designer Rob Janoff was used for almost 20 years until 1998 when another logo was recommended for the company (Form 10-K 2013). Apple Inc. Corporation continued to develop its products with new and unique qualities that other competitors did not have; for instance, the manufacture of the first computer with graphical user interface (GUI) in 1983 enhanced the development of the company. Apple produced and released its first portable computer in 1989 known as the Mac Portable (Capps 1997). However, the product did not get assimilated in the market as it was heavy. Despite the challenges, the company did not stop from perfecting its product or meeting its objective of producing a portable computer. After the first design failed in 1989, the company improved and in 1991 it created an effective PowerBook which as successful and efficient as compared to the first version. The main co-founder of the company Steve Jobs was sacked as the CEO of Apple Inc. Corporation in 1985 (Capps 1997). Apple Inc. Corporation is popularly known as Steve Jobs. Although there were other co-founders like Steve Wozniak and Ronald Wayne; however, Steve Jobs contributions to the company is significant that the companys success later was associated with his name. Having come out of the company, Steve Jobs did not lose the dream of creating a multinational computer company. During the period he was out of Apple Jobs managed to create and develop some other companies that successfully developed; for example, NeXT and Pixar Animation companies. Apple Company started to deteriorate without the presence of its primary co-founder, Steve Jobs. In 1993, the company started to experience challenges ranging from production to distribution. The company released many products in the market that contributed to great confusion in the market. Customers were confused with the different products that led to the company losing a lot of money in the process. However, in 1996 the company experienced a great change with the return of Steve Jobs. His creative and innovative talents significantly assisted Apple Inc. to improve. As an advisor and interim CEO to the company helped the company successfully launched new products such as iMac which had a USB connection. Years later, the company started to produce other products such as iPod, iPad, and software production. Apple Inc. Corporation began to open up more stores in various areas with the tremendous growth and development it experienced. Before 2000, Apple Inc. only had stores within the borders of United States. However, the beginning of 2003 was witnessed with the expansion of Apples operations in other areas around the globe (Form 10-K 2013). More stores were opened up in other countries; for example, Tokyo in Ginza district and Osaka in Japan. Other branches in other countries like in Europe were opened up later. Today, Apple Inc. Corporation is among the leading multinational companies around the globe with efficient and unique products different from other computer companies. Even after the death of Steve Jobs in 2011, most people thought that the company might fall again as it did in 1993; however, it continues to thrive with expansion to other market regions that it had not accessed.

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SWOT Analysis for Apple Inc. Corporation

SWOT analysis examines the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats in the organization. After the completion of SWOT analysis, one should be able to tell and determine where the business stands and identify which threats of challenges the company is facing and hindering it from achieving its success. The SWOT analysis for Apple will provide a broad understanding of the companys performance and situation and determine its position in the marketplace.

Strengths of Apple Inc. Corporation

Leading company with innovative products- This is one of the key strengths of Apple Inc. Corporation that has ensured its success from the founding period to date. The company has produced series of new and unique products that makes it distinctive in the market. Products such as MacBooks, iPod, iPad and the latest launch of Iwatch are just but a few examples of the products that are distinctively identified with Apple Inc. (Form 10-K 2013). Corporation. The company tries to come up with new products that to meet the changing human desire. However, so far the company is believed to have covered some of the main desires that a person would wish of.

Again, Apple Inc. Corporation is the leading company with an effective leadership position. According to Yoffie and Rossano (2012), Apple leads with technological products such as mobile phones. The company is also regarded as the largest revenue generating company around the United States and also worldwide. In 2014, Apple was categorized as the first company to have publicly traded over 700 billion dollars (Dedrick et al. 2009).

Apple Inc. also has a unique brand equity that has also helped to improve the performance of the company. Brand equity influences the performance of the business organization (Form 10-K 2013); for instance, an organization with high brand value is most likely to lead in the market. The brand value for Apple by 2015 was estimated to be approximately 118 billion dollars (Khan et al., 2015). As per 2016, Apple is the leading company with number one brand as compared to other companies worldwide.

Consumer Focus is another key strength of the company that has successfully helped the company meets the customers demand (Apple Inc. 2013). Although the company produces products that aim at meeting the growing and dynamic clients needs but it also focuses on the future. The company tries to go ahead of the consumers imagination by creating products that customers have not thought of. As Steve Jobs used to say that customers needs are dynamic because when he/she is given what he/she wants the next time he will need something else. This is the same idea that Apple Inc. Corporation tries to use so as to meet the desires and growing needs of its customers.

Weaknesses

The incompatibility of its products is one of the key weaknesses that Apple faces. The companys products are only compatible with other products produced by Apple (Khan et al. 2015). Therefore, it is difficult for a consumer to continue with another product once he/she has joined the Apple world. The customers are bound to continue with the Apple products since they are not compatible with the third party products.

The price of the products is higher than the rest of the smartphones which makes it a target for certain classes of people (Lee et al. 2011). If compared with other companies like Samsung and HTC, the prices of Apple smartphone products are quite higher than the other companies. Other products such as laptops produced by Apple are also high in price as compared to other companies. Since the main target group of consumers is students, the prices are considered to be very high. For example, the cost of a MacBook of Apple ranges from $1100 to $1200.

Apple also has a limited distribution network which limits its access to the market (Khan et al. 2015). This weakness is mainly propelled by the companys policy of exclusivity that allows the company to select only authorized dealers of its products. Although this policy was enacted with the aim of protecting and controlling the distribution of its products one should accept that it also limits the companys market reach and opportunities to access a wider market area.

Opportunities of Apple Inc. Corporation

Apple Inc. Corporation has diverse opportunities that it can use to outdo its competitors in the market. First, the technological advancement through its innovative workforce; Apple is one of the companies that is expected to utilize technology to its best. Technology has been identified as the core factor in the creation of opportunities in the world. With the products that Apple has manufactured and produced in the past years of its operations such as iPad, iPod, MacBooks and the latest Iwatch, the company stands to be the most efficient organization to incorporate the use of technology to its best (Form 10-K 2013).

The collaboration with potential bands across the world in the marketplace is another key opportunity that can be identified with Apple Inc. Through its operations in the past years, the company has proven to be an effective collaborator with various strong brands in the market. The latest situation is when the company teamed up with the Beats headphones to produce the wireless BeatsX which is another new product launched recently (Khan et al. 2015). Another situation where the company has shown effective team playing is the recent collaboration with the game companies like Nintendo which also another powerful brand in the market. This collaboration could help Apple expand its market since it will bring a huge number of fans of Nintendo around the world. Collaborating with huge and powerful brands in the market will immensely help Apple improve its market accessibility area (Khan et al. 2015). Although it is the richest company in the world the companys market is still growing; therefore, it needs a larger market base so as to expand its operations. The company is limited with its policy to deal with certain dealers of its products which operate in certain regions. However, the market can be accessed even in areas like the developing countries especially with the rising GDP of those countries it creates an opportunity for Apple products consumption.

Threats

Since Apple Inc. Corporation deals with various products the threats it faces are product-based; each product has its strong threat from competitors in the market. Being the leading company in the world is not simple or easy, and one should prepare for stiff competition from the competitors with other strong brands. Market penetration in smartphones is one of the key threats that Apple Inc. Corporation faces (Form 10-K 2013). Apple faces competition from other smartphones such as Android which also has strong brands just like Apples brand. Recent research showed that the Android products had obtained larger market share that even outstands Apples operations. The research further showed that while the iPhone products from Apple Inc. Corporation is at 42% of the market share the competitor, Android, on the other hand, stands at 47.5% of the market share (Khan et al. 2015). Android companies such as Samsung, Lenovo, and HTC have posed a gr...