Global Activity and Current Events - Apple iPhone - Essay Example

?Research Term Paper- Apple iPhone Table of Contents Research Term Paper- Apple iPhone Table of Contents 2 History of Organization 3 Leadership 3 Economic aspects Affecting Product 3 Financial Analysis 4 Marketing Environment 5 Competitor Analysis 5 SWOT Analysis 6 Strengths 6 Weakness 7 Opportunities 7 Threats 7 Marketing Strategy and Marketing Mix 8 Product 8 Price 8 Place 8 Promotions 8 Global Activity and Current Events 9 Conclusion 9 References 10 History of Organization The present age of business environment is characterized by turbulent fluctuations in the business environment. One of the companies that has survived this turbulence is Apple Inc. Apple Inc is one of the leading brand of the world and is rated as 35th on the list of Fortune 500 companies (CNN Money, 2011). The organization was established in the year 1976 as Apple Computer by Steven Wozniak and Steve Jobs who is the present CEO of the company. The company was publicly listed on the stock exchange in the year 1980 and is presently based in California USA (Datamonitor, 2006, p.6). Leadership One of the aspects that have catapulted Apple into the league of top global brands is perhaps the leadership of the organization. After suffering a setback in the later part of the 1990’s the visionary leadership of its CEO Steve Jobs helped turn the fortunes of the organization. The CEO’s statement of placing an Apple at every desktop and his policy of continuous innovation helped the company emerge as one of the most successful brands of the world. The visionary leadership has motivated the employees as well as ensured a proper diffusion of innovation across the entire organization that is perhaps the most critical success factor of the company. Economic aspects Affecting Product Economic factors like growth of economy and level of disposable income have a direct relationship with the demand of products like iPhones. High levels of disposable incomes imply greater demand for the product that is in turn again dependent on the state of economic growth. In addition to this business cycles also affect the sale of the product. However with the global economies on resurgent mode and a surge in demand for application based phones, there is a good prospect for iPhones. In addition to developed markets emerging markets like India and China also hold considerable importance for the success of the product. Financial Analysis Apple Inc is a publicly listed company whose stocks are listed and actively traded on the bourses of the NASDAQ. The latest stock price was 376.99 US dollars (Apple, 2011). The company reported a net income of approximately 14013 million dollars. The company recorded revenues of 100.32 billion US dollars with a gross margin of 39.82 percent. The net income of the company after meeting all direct as well as indirect expenses stood at 23.6 billion dollars that was way ahead of its competitors namely Google or HP in the global market. The EPS value for its shares stood at 25.28 dollars that was marginally less than Google. The figure below depicts the financial standing of the company as well as a direct comparison with the most important competitors of the organization. Figure 1: Financials of Apple and Competitor Analysis (Source: Yahoo Finance, 2011) Marketing Environment The marketing environment of Apple Inc is governed by both internal as well as external factors. Internal factors include employees, work culture as well as organizational culture that have a significant impact on the business aspects of the organization. The visionary leadership of the CEO of the organization ensures that innovation that is the core culture of the organization is effectively diffused across the entire organization. External environmental aspects include macro environmental aspects including political, economic, sociological, technological as well as legal aspects that have a significant effect on the business prospects of the product in the tough and competitive global business environment. The aspect of innovation has increasingly helped the company to manufacture and design products like the iPhone that have effectively captured the minds of the target market audience worldwide. Competitor Analysis The main competitors for Apple’s iPhone include major companies like Nokia, Samsung, HTC, Palm, Motorola and RIM. A comparison of the iPhone with these companies indicates a higher price range of the product as compared to its competitors. However the company also scores low in terms of other mass market players like Nokia and Samsung that have a large number of different products coming in attractive prices that has helped them to grab a suitable chunk of the market. However with the highly innovative nature of the product and its association and branding being under the Apple brand the iPhone still emerges as one of the most competitive products in the industry segment. Supported by an innovative integrated marketing communication plan and a visionary leader the product has effectively captured the requirements of the members of the target market audience making it one of the most wanted and praised products heard and developed in the market in recent times. The competitors of Apple iPhone including Samsung score over the product by virtue of its larger array of products that has helped it to penetrate the market in a much better manner. However with most of its competitors having a formidable brand image it has become essential for Apple to show continuous innovation so that it can help segregate its product from the other products available in the market. In this regard it has become essential to have a formidable integrated marketing communication strategy that can help the company to promote its products to the prospective customers that would help distinguish and spread the intended message to the target market audience. SWOT Analysis SWOT is an acronym for Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats. The present section would undertake a SWOT analysis of Apple Inc. Strengths The most important strength of the iPhone that has enabled it to become one of the most featured products in the consumer market happens to be the association with its parent brand Apple that has a formidable brand image. The brand image has helped the iPhone to be positioned effectively in the minds of the target market audience. In addition to the brand image and positioning the unique looks and design of the product is another father in the cap of the iPhone. The product features and innovativeness of the product has enabled it to capture a good share of the market and carve a niche for itself and cater to the competition in the business market. The integrated marketing communication strategy and the use of effective leverage of the various media channels has helped Apple to create a media hype about the product that enabled it to grab the attention of the target market audience (Reading et.al, n.d., p.11). Weakness In spite of the effective brand image of the organization the product suffers from certain limitations that include the fact that the IPhone as a device is not complaint with 3G technology. This is one serious limitation considering the fact that the new technology is gaining widespread popularity and is considered to be the future of mobile communication technology. It would also limit the use of the product in technologically developed geographies like Japan where mobile communication are being increasingly powered by the powerful 3G technology. In addition the use of limited partners in the distribution channel apart from the high price of the product serve to exist as considerable weakness that needs immediate attention from the top management (Reading et.al, n.d., p.11). Opportunities The most important opportunity of the product lies in its unique design and innovativeness. The product features of this product are designed in a manner that effectively cater to the demands of the target market audience. The high end features of this phone have the ability to create a revolution in the consumer market. Finally emerging economies like India and China also show immense opportunities for the product considering the immense growth and high potential of these economies. Threats Threats to the iPhone include extensive challenge thrown by competitors like Nokia, Samsung and Google that also have a formidable brand image and favorable positioning apart from competitive products in the market. The launch of Android by Google also marks he entry of the search engine major to offer a significant challenge to the iPhone. Marketing Strategy and Marketing Mix The elements of marketing mix for the iPhone include product, price, place and promotions. Product The iPhone is a very advanced technological innovation with attractive product features. These also include aspects like face time, music players and compatibility with I tunes. The product also has effective and innovative retina display technology that offer attractive looks and offer a high resolution display. Compatibility with different applications, usage of internet and multitasking facilities help make the product a strong contender in the market (Apple-a, 2011). Price Apple has adopted a premium ended pricing strategy for the iPhone with the product being priced at a premium and being directed towards high end customers. The high ended pricing strategy ensures a niche market segment for the product. Place Apple sells its products through the dedicated company owned retail stores in different nations and markets. In addition to this the product is also available for sale through other retail chains and stores. The company has also used the online channel to enable consumers to purchase the product from using the internet. The US, Europe and Japan constitute the main markets of the company (Datamonitor, 2006, p.5). Promotions Apple largely relies on promotions for the sales of its products. The company while launching the iPhone has effectively leveraged on the different channels of the media to create hype about the product that has generated euphoria about the product in the market. In addition to the traditional media channels the company has also used the online channel including the social networking sites to harness the internet as a source for communicating its intended message about the product to the target market audience. Global Activity and Current Events The company recently launched the App stores that enabled third party transactions for purchase of Apple products. In addition the company also launched the new version of the iPhone named as iPhone 4 in the market. This was increasingly an improved version of the product and took care of the limitations of the previous version including the use of a high mega pixel camera. In addition the product was also found to have more applications that would help it to further improve its market standings (Apple-a, 2011). Conclusion The analysis of the iPhone shows that the product has tremendous capabilities and can help to bolster the brand image of the parent organization. However certain aspects like pricing strategy and technological changes apart from focus on key market segments would ultimately decide on the sustainability of the product in the turbulent business environment. References Apple. (2011). Investor Relations. Retrieved August 14, 2011 from http://investor.apple.com/. Apple-a. (2011). I-Phone. Retrieved August 15, 2011 from http://www.apple.com/iphone/features/. CNN Money. (2011). Fortune 500. Retrieved August 14, 2011 from http://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/fortune500/2011/full_list/. Datamonitor. (2006). Apple Computer Inc. Retrieved August 14, 2011 from http://www.alacra.com/acm/2009_sample.pdf. Reading et.al. (No date). Apple I-Phone. Retrieved August 15, 2011 from http://people.ischool.berkeley.edu/~hal/Courses/StratTech09/Tech/Preso/H-iphone.doc. Yahoo Finance. (2011). Apple Inc. Retrieved August 14, 2011 from http://finance.yahoo.com/q/co?s=AAPL+Competitors. Read More