30-01-2013, 03:39 PM
COMPARATIVE STUDY OF CORPORATE STRAREGY OF THE APPLE COMPANY
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INTRODUCTION
Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL), formerly Apple Computer, Inc., is an American multinational corporation headquartered in Cupertino, California that designs, develops, and sells consumer electronics, computer software, and personal computers. Its best-known hardware products are the Machine of computers, the iPod, the iPhone, and the iPad. Its software includes the OS X and iOS operating systems, the iTunes media browser, the Safari web browser, and the iLife and iWork creativity and production suites. The company was founded on April 1, 1976, and incorporated on January 3, 1977. The word "Commputer" was removed from its name on January 9, 2007, reflecting its shifted focus towards consumer electronics after the introduction of the iPhone.
Apple has been one of the world's largest technology companies by revenue. It is the world's third-largest mobile phone maker after Samsung and Nokia. Fortune magazine named Apple the most admired company in the United States in 2008, and in the world from 2008 to 2012. However, the company has received criticism for its contractors' labor practices, and for Apple's own environmental and business practices.
Strategic Management
Apple
Apple Computer, Inc., is an American multinational corporation headquartered in Cupertino, California that designs, develops, and sells consumer electronics, computer software, and personal computers. Its best-known hardware products are the Mac line of computers, the iPod, the iPhone, and the iPad. Its software includes the OS X and iOS operating systems, the iTunes media browser, the Safari web browser, and the iLife and iWork creativity and production suites. The company was founded on April 1, 1976, and incorporated on January 3, 1977.The word "Computer" was removed from its name on January 9, 2007, reflecting its shifted focus towards consumer electronics after the introduction of the iPhone.
Apple has been one of the world's largest technology companies by revenue. It is the world's third-largest mobile phone maker after Samsung and Nokia. Fortune magazine named Apple the most admired company in the United States in 2008, and in the world from 2008 to 2012. However, the company has received criticism for its contractors' labor practices, and for Apple's own environmental and business.
Strategic intent
• Apple's strategic intent in releasing its product has hurt competitors in ways not have expected. Apple benefited by forcing consumers to wait for their new product release instead of buying a Kindle or Sony E-Reader. Customers are smart. They weigh the benefits and costs and make well-informed decisions.
• For many, it is worth the wait to see what the innovative engineers at Apple have cooked up in the labs. Thus, even though the product is not yet available for purchase, Apple has potentially stolen market share and at the very least delayed a customer's purchase of a competitor's product.
Corporate level strategy
Apple’s uses a corporate-level strategy competing on many different levels. Apple has a moderate to high level of diversification with related constrains. Apple offers home computers, personal computers, phones, music devices, software, and applications. All of their products use very similar design techniques and the majority of the applications can be used on multiple devices without changing the format. They are also one of the few computer base companies that also own retail stores. They customers can either order online through Apple.com or go to a Apple retail store and buy the same products. All of their businesses are linked and continue to move forward at the same time.
Business level strategy
Apple focus on making the best products. They are a company that focuses on innovation, and by that mean with new products, but also improvements on their existing products. They use the focused differentiation strategy, by making products that are exclusive, and pretty expensive. Not everyone can afford an Apple product.
The focus on aligning their business strategy and their marketing strategy with product development. This is something that they do much better than their competitors, and this is a huge advantage for them.
Rivalry between Competitors
While once an industry defined by few large companies and extremely expensive products, pursuing a niche audience, the advent of the personal computer (PC) has caused an industry explosion which now includes dozens of manufacturers pursuing many millions of customers in the United States. As a result of the penetration of computers into everyday life and business the PC is becoming more and more a commodity product. For most users, and business economy is more
Important that performance specification and other ‘bells and whistles.’