Apple Case - Research Paper Example

Material resources comprise of the company’s unique hardware and innovative workforce, while intangible assets include exceptional software and overall technology. As can be discerned from a competitive strength evaluation, Hewlett-Packard (HP) and Dell are two of the strongest industry partisans, hence greatest competitors to Apple. For example, HP reported total net revenue of 127 billion dollars in 2011, with personal systems accounting for 40 billion; IT services at 36 billion, enterprise systems at 22.

2 billion, and printing devices at 25.8 billion dollars. Dell Inc., on the other hand, reported net revenues amounting to 61.5 billion dollars in the 2011 fiscal year (Gamble, 2012). Despite Apple’s leadership, as characterized by a 68% overall market share, the company was overshadowed by the aforementioned competitors in some areas of specialty. For instance, in the provision of PCs to the American market, HP led with a 26.1% market share, Dell followed with 22.3%, while Apple came in third with 10.7%. Other potent competitors, especially in the global PC industry include Lenovo/IBM, and Acer, which attained a market share of 12.5% and 10.6% respectively in the 2011 financial year.

These Statistics clearly show that Apple derived its highest percentage of revenues from sectors other than sale of personal computers. The collection of more revenue from non-computer devices clearly shows that the company’s greatest strength lies in personal media gadgets and not in computers. For example, in the middle of the 2012 fiscal year, Apple controlled a 68% market share in the tablet computer market. Further Apple’s iPod/iTunes fusion allowed the company to gain a 65% market share of the American digital music scene, coupled with a 23% share of all music sales in America.

None of the principal rivals in this area managed to accrue more than a 5% market