Apple Inc

Executive Summary

By this executive summary, we will introduce ideas and details of Apple Computers in its current state. We will examine AppleÐŽ¦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, itÐŽ¦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 CompanyÐŽ¦s overview which includes the companyÐŽ¦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 AppleÐŽ¦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 companyÐŽ¦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 AppleÐŽ¦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 AppleÐŽ¦s current marketing mix by analyzing their approach to the four PÐŽ¦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 JobsÐŽ¦ 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 companyÐŽ¦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 AppleÐŽ¦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 AppleÐŽ¦s competition in the computer industry, we reveal that although AppleÐŽ¦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 AppleÐŽ¦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

High tech companies in the Silicon Valley are a dime a dozen. In the last decade alone we have seen numerous companies rise to the top and then turn around and months later just flat out fall out of sight. The technology industry is a difficult industry to survive because if you arenÐŽ¦t on top of your game and if you donÐŽ¦t have the next best thing today, then you can be gone by tomorrow. No one knows this better than Apple Computers of Cupertino. After enjoying an abundance of success in the beginning years of the company, they hit a roadblock within the company in the early nineties and were in desperate need of change. The company that earned its reputations as being one of the early contributors to revolutionizing how personal computers are used in our everyday lives no longer displayed the cutting edge technology that it had in the past. Their endeavor into the business industry failed miserably after their Apple III computer which was made to try to gain a piece of the office market share from IBM failed due to inadequate planning and testing.

Apple entered the 1990s well aware that the conditions that made the company an industry giant in the previous decade had changed dramatically. The mere fact that Apple Computers could stay afloat was attributed to the fact that when the company first began, they were able to gain a small but loyal group of Apple supporters. Apple had soared through the 1980ÐŽ¦s on the backs of its large, expensive computers, which earned the company a committed, yet relatively small following. Change was needed and that brought co-founder Steve Jobs in for his second stint at being the Chief Executive Officer for Apple.

Jobs assumed his responsibilities with the same passion and understanding that had made Apple one of the greatest success stories in business history. Jobs has been able to resurrect the company and bring many of the strong qualities that first help make Apple successful