Strategic Management of Apple Computers Inc - Case Study Example

Apple Computers Inc Apple Computers is a California based company which aimed at bringing a revolution in the entertainment arena from its very start. The company has been quite successful in achieving its task after going through considerable crisis. In order to get successful in the entertainment arena a company has to look towards the successful Apple Computers Inc for guidance. Thus I being a manager of a competitor of Apple Computers did a SWOT analysis on Apple Computers to find out as to what how my company can compete with it. This essay would further describe the SWOT analysis and would provide with the necessary recommendations to my company. INTRODUCTION Apple Computers Inc is a Cupertino, California based company which has brought about a whole change in the history of computers. It has history relating to the 1970s as it came into being in the 1976. It has brought major changes in the design of the computers and since then made their way to success. The company made some major changes in the field of computers by introducing Macintosh (Williams, 2007). Till now it has developed some major features in the field of computers and these features are supposedly taken as granted by the consumers. Graphical User Interface is one important feature in the computers designed by Apple Computers Inc. The company has even saw downfalls in the 90s when it did not license it technology and the shares of the company fell to as low as 2%. However after a certain period of time Apple Computers Inc has began to rise and has made several products so as to bring a revolution in the computer world. This essay would further present a SWOT analysis of the multinational and would figure out possible recommendations for my own company to play a larger role in the field of computers today (Scott, 2008). SWOT ANALYSIS Strengths -The wide variety of products designed by Apple has given them greater market variety over other competitors. It has not only entered the arena of computers but also of digital music and a music player known as Ipod designed by them has increased their profits by a greater share (Levy, 2006). And as they have developed a likeness for their brand their Macintosh computers are also sold excessively throughout the world. The variety of notebooks is also a plus feature for Apple inc as because of brand likeness the notebooks are also sold excessively throughout. The variety of Apple in terms of products gives them a particular edge of strength over other competitors (Williams, 2007). -Brand Loyalty to the brand has also increased as they have entered a set of new features in this world. Many of the customers trust the product designed by the brand and this boosts the increase in the sales of the brand. Brand Loyalty helps Apple to not only recruit the customers but also make them come back in future for products. These customers are then offered new products and this boosts the overall cycle of sales (Williams, 2007). -The state of art products designed by Apple Inc even attracts new customers towards its brand. The art of having stylish designs makes Apple have an edge over other competitors. The design qualities can also be counted in the strengths of the organization as most of the products launched by Apple are stylish. The design of the Apple products helps it to attract more customers towards the brand (Apple Computer Corporation) -Apple Inc has successfully invested in research and development schemes which enter the local market and find out what exactly the people are in need of. This helps them to develop a product which is the need of the market. The demand of the people is strictly met by the organization of Apple when launching new products. This can be counted as a major strength too as research and development department play important role in improving the image of a certain company. It helps them to develop a product of such sort that it is liked by everyone (Apple Computer Corporation). -The marketing scheme of Apple is widely applauded as it is successfully attracting old and new customers towards the brand. It has help Apple retain its image as one the most stylish and innovative brand in this world. This can be counted as strength of Apple Computers Inc as marketing plays a major role in the sales of a certain product (Apple Computer Corporation). Weaknesses -It is reportedly said that some of the major products made by Apple Inc may suffer from faults. The case of Ipod Mini can be reviewed in which after some use the screen of Ipod became blur. This further attacked the image established by Apple in the market. This can be counted as a weakness for Apple as it may destroy the image established by the multinational in the market. -Apple Inc is limited to some places of this world, while it is still not been officially launched in some of the third world countries. This can be counted as another factor which decreases the sales of the multinational generated from this sector. -It has been found on many help centers established by Apple that faulty gadgets produced by the multinational are not treated as per the company's policy of replacing them. The service centers usually take up much time in repairing or replacing these faulty gadgets. This can also be perceived as a weakness as it is discouraging new consumers from buying the products of Apple. -Similarly there are times when Apple faces a time of shortage in their supplies. This makes the consumer discourage as to their first experience with Apple is not good. This can also be counted as a weakness as it would also discourage the consumers from buying goods from Apple. -The prices of the Apple products are relatively high to other competitors. This can be viewed as a weakness for the multinational as other competitors who are producing the same goods have relatively lower prices as compared to the goods by Apple. Opportunities -Apple Inc can open up stores worldwide and also in the developed and developing nations. This can be counted as an opportunity for the multinational as the brand is liked and known all over the world. -Apple can bring out new products in other fields also, they can produce products in the sector of games. This would increase the variety for Apple and can be considered as an opportunity for Apple as it would boost the sales. -It has the opportunity to flourish in all the sectors of entertainment and it should further enhance its arena. This can also be viewed as an opportunity as Apple can turn into an overall entertainment masterpiece. -Apple Computers Inc can expand from the entertainment arena to technological advances. This would help them to have a whole wide set of variety in customers and as it has brand loyalty it would help Apple to boost the sales. Threats -The substitution effect on new technologies can have a huge impact on Apple Computers Inc. As the world is advancing new technologies are coming up which include wireless and non physical ones. The ones which rule the entertainment arena by now are Ipod and Mp3, however in the coming days new versions of these might disrupt the whole market for Apple (Levy, 2006). -The competitors in the field of computers and entertainment are increasing. It is increasingly facing threats by other competitors as the competitors are trying to bring out a unique product which is in line with the requirements of the customers. This can be viewed as a major threat to Apple as it would decrease the whole market loyalty of customers to the brand thus decreasing the sales. -As Apple does not expand to the whole world many other companies take advantage of this and create their awareness in other countries. Like recently Blackberry a competitor of Apple in mobile phones has launched its product in one of developing nations known as Pakistan, however Apple has yet not taken any such action. This can prove to be a disadvantage to the multinational as it would decrease its sales from developing nations Times, 2007) -Similarly a case has occurred in the past in which Apple had to fight for the right of knowing who leaked their inside information about a product coming up. This cost them lot of profits as their information on product was leaked. The confidentiality of the multinational products can be viewed as a threat as even the insiders of the multinationals leak their secrets at times. This can thus make them cost their profits. After reviewing the SWOT of Apple Computers Inc it can be established that even the biggest multinational can face threats. Thus after reviewing the SWOT I as a manager of its competitor can give out some points which would help my company to gain some of the market shares. First of all the market of Apple is limited to some nations but not the whole world, thus our company could firstly start to emphasize on developing nations and then to the developed ones. The products should be marketed widely in these nations so as to gain the consumer market from these nations. This can prove beneficial to the company as it may provide a wide database of users for our company through out the world. It would not only create awareness of gadgets produced by our company in the developed world but also in the developing world. The results of such a policy can be determined by properly researching and designing in the selected countries after launching the product. The market should be analyzed at first so as to launch the product according to the need of the market. Secondly the products of Apple are only restricted to the entertainment arena. Our company should have a whole different set of database and should even invest in other arenas of technology. It should bring up technologies which are yet to be discovered by Apple. The extended arenas could be of games which are in high demand these days. Before Apple grabs the opportunity of such a wide game market, our company should start building up consoles which are better than the latest games such as Play Station 3. This can help the company to gain an edge over Apple in the entertainment arena. The wide variety of products produced by our company would help to gain loyal customers and would further boost the sales. However on the other hand if the company has a range of products offered it can create difficulties while managing the whole market, and while one product is being manufactured the other would suffer as the company may not be able to produce product variety. Again the whole market can be analyzed by researching the market as to what type of games are required by the consumers and what type did they get. It can tell as to if the product was liked by the consumers or not. Much of the investment should be done in the research and development department of the company to gain this edge over Apple. Marketing should also form an important part in our company so as to make the consumers aware of what the new product is about. To achieve this task the company should invest heavily in the department of marketing too. Marketing, Research and Development play an important role in analyzing the whole structure of the company. It can help in analyzing the common demand of the consumers these days and if as to the product being launched is successful or not. However this case of strategic implementation has its own cons as it can restrict the whole company towards a certain area. If the products are advertised heavily in developing nations and even get successful they might not still get known in the developed world. This is because the developing nations do not have a larger contact with the developed world. Similarly if other departments are not invested in properly this would cause a loss to the multinational thus all departments should be properly invested in. The demand of other arenas other than entertainment may not be that high as in entertainment and this can be viewed as another con to the strategic implementation (David 2007). Bibliography David, F. R. (2007). Strategic management: concepts and cases. Upper Saddle River, N.J.: Pearson Prentice Hall. Levy, S. (2006). The perfect thing: how the iPod shuffles commerce, culture, and coolness. New York: Simon & Schuster. Williams, K. (2007). How Apple Inc. is becoming more common in the graphic arts industry and how Apple's technology improves productivity. Thesis (B.S.)--California Polytechnic State University, 2007. Scott, M. (2008). Apple, inc. Westport: Greenwood. Apple Computer Corporation. Apple Computer Corporation. http://www.apple.com/. APPLE INC.: Looking to disrupt another technology market, Steve Jobs unveils the iPhone. (2007). TIME -NEW YORK- AMERICAN EDITION-. 169 (4), 48-55. Read More