Give background information on the problems Apple face as a company - Essay Example

Challenges faced by Apple Inc. Apple is an American based multinational company that deals in electronic equipment and other products. The company was founded in around 1976 and co founders were Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak, however in modern era Steve Jobs was the real mastermind behind bringing the company to this level. He was the pioneer who led to revamping of the firm. Products: Mac book, a personal computer series, I-MAC Electronics: I-pod, I-pad, I-phone, Apple T.V Softwares: QuickTime, Mac OS X, Apple remote desktop Challenges faced by Apple Inc.

Although Apple as an organization has established itself as one of the best in business, but it is confronted with many challenges, The challenges so faced are in different paradigms, for any company it is quite common to come across such challenges after attaining a position amongst competitors, addressing these challenges is part of Apple Inc strategy and only through its mitigation Apple can survive and stand by its achievements. Its products are facing challenge individually from different companies that are around in the market.

First and foremost, the challenge faced by the company is departure of a visionary man like Steve jobs from the current setup .This is being talked about widely across different platforms and questions loom over the industry whether Apple would be able to maintain its status without the man who made it possible. Investors had firm believe in Steve job’s abilities, now that he is no more part of the family, investors might think twice before investing capital into the organization. In the category of mobile phones, it is faced with challenges from highly competitive market players that have been in the arena over number of years.

Its main obstacles are Nokia, Samsung, and Sony Ericson. The open source interface offer by couple of brands is also a challenge in terms of efficient R&D of the organization. In the field of tablets and laptops, Sony, H.P, Dell, Toshiba, all stand as real threats against Mac-book As for I-pod, its rival is Zune from Microsoft. . Introduction of many stylish Mp3 players by other companies including Samsung is a threat to the I-pod These were the challenges faced by the products manufactured by Apple Inc.

From company point of view, it faces challenges of other sorts. For any company that is associated with state of the art inventions, Consistency is a must, Success always attracts competition, and company has to keep pace with the fast changing trends of technology. It cannot bank on one single product or feature. Innovation has to be part of the company mission. On legal front it faces challenges like peer to peer music sharing features provided by other sources. The prime example is that of Lime wire.

Customers share music without any hurdle on that platform. .Further, Satellite radio poses serious treat and acts as divergent towards its customers .Examples in this case are XM and Sirius. These serve as the threats from substitutes Distinction must be achieved on Price and features, because the computer series of the company is not as common as other companies’ laptop products. It must derive a strategy that is based on market oriented prices and without any compromise on quality. AT&T’s performance and Apple’s corporation with the incumbent has left more than can be desired over period of time.

Serious speculations are around whether Apple should stick to AT&T or move on. Microsoft’s operating system is a serious challenging force against its own operating system Challenges faced by Apple Inc : Competitive market Time to Market Capitalization on market specific strategies Investors faith after departure of Steve Jobs New Entrants in the industry Peer-to Peer sharing Entertainment Media Global Recession Arch Rivals Open source competitors Market share Avoid technological obsolescence Open source operating systems C.S.R handling Online music stores Bibliography: 1- BACH, B. (2007). Implications of enabling technologies for Apple Inc.

Cyber marketing & enabling technologies. München, GRIN Verlag GmbH. http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:101:1-2010082127784. 2 LINZMAYER, O. W., & LINZMAYER, O. W. (2004). Apple confidential 2.0: the definitive history of the worlds most colorful company. San Francisco, Calif, No Starch Press. 3 - Rubicon. (2008). The Apple iPhone:Successes and Challenges for the Mobile Industry. 35.