Apple Case Analysis

APPLE COMPUTER CASE ANALYSIS

After the return of Steve Jobs at Apple Computer many changes happened which finally brought the company back to profitability. However Apple holds a market share of only 3.48 percent among its six strongest competitors.

The fact is that today the PC market is a mature market and only the strong survive. In Exhibit 1 is shown how the PC market has been shared among the most valuable players and how Apple's share has decreased by more than half during five years time.

Under the current situation the only way for a company to increase its market share is to take customers away from the competition.

So the question is what Apple has to do in order to gain more market share.

First of all let's point out which are the key advantages of Apple's products over the competition. Why should a customer prefer an Apple?

It is better to distinguish Apple's strong points in hardware and software sectors as the competition the company faces is in both fields.

Hardware

* Style, aesthetic factors, unique elegant look. Apple manufactures PC cases, monitors, keyboards and other accessories artistically designed in a great colour range which can satisfy the most requiring aesthetic criteria.

* Image, Ideology, differentiation. Apple has spent much on providing its customers a sense of supremacy over other PC users. It turns to be a matter of ideology to be an Apple user, provides you an image.

Software

* Ease of use. Apple is traditionally aiming on bringing technology to the everyday user. They have invested much on providing the best user experience. That is the reason they always wanted to control both software (OS) and hardware development so they can control the user experience.

* Stability. Mac OS is more stable and reliable than Windows and that is mainly because it runs only on Apple hardware.

On the other hand a close look on the Financial Ratios of Apple in a period of five years and in comparison with those of the competition during the same period can provide us with valuable information on how Apple managed their business as far and what has to be done to achieve their goals. Below are to tables with financial ratios over this period. The second table shows the average ratios of the competitive companies both in the hardware and in software sector.

Apple Computer Inc

Financial Ratios

FY 2002 FY 2001 FY 2000 FY 1999 FY 1998

Profitability Ratios

Gross Profit Margin 29,97% 24,93% 28,18% 29,03% 26,76%

Operating Profit Margin 0,80% -6,21% 7,77% 6,29% 4,51%

Net Profit Margin 1,13% -0,47% 9,85% 9,80% 5,20%

Return on Total Assets 1,03% -0,42% 11,55% 11,65% 7,20%

Return on Equity 1,59% -0,64% 19,14% 19,36% 18,82%

EBIT Margin 1,52% -0,97% 13,68% 11,02% 5,54%

EBIT to Assets 1,38% -0,86% 16,05% 13,10% 7,67%

Effective Tax 25,29% 28,85% 28,02% 11,09% 6,08%

Table 1. Apple Computer Inc Profitability Ratios

Competitor's Average Financial Ratios

FY 2002 FY 2001 FY 2000 FY 1999 FY 1998

Profitability Ratios

Gross Profit Margin 39,38% 42,41% 44,40% 44,63% 46,70%

Operating Profit Margin 8,19% 12,96% 17,10% 18,04% 17,56%

Net Profit Margin 4,03% 4,40% 13,95% 13,60% 11,54%

Return on Total Assets 1,72% -1,33% 12,81% 13,69% 15,08%

Return on Equity 5,88% -1,01% 24,61% 24,10% 30,96%

EBIT Margin 5,50% 8,02% 20,71% 20,24% 17,70%

EBIT