Apple company analysis (Essay Sample)

Apple Company
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Apple Company
Introduction
Apple is one of the leading producer and suppliers of computer products in the world after Samsung. It is one of the companies in the competitive communication information industry. Apple Inc. was established in 1977 by Steve Jobs, Roland Wayne and Steve Wozniak. It has it’s headquarter in California. It is the second largest company in the world that deals with information technology. The company designs, develops, produces and sells electronics, personal computers, software and applications (Sutherland, 2012). Apple is a worldwide renowned brand. The creative, innovative personnel are the key to its success. The vision and power of understanding consumer demand has brought it to the current situation. The company has implemented a number of strategies to sell its agenda. These include product, price and target market strategies.
Industry analysis
The information communication and computer industry is dominated by Samsung, Nokia, Microsoft, Toshiba, and other companies. The industry is very competitive and requires a lot of innovations to remain top of the industry. Samsung is currently the leading company in this industry, followed by Apple. Some companies such as Motorola have since been faced out due to the intense competition. The industry is growing at a rapid rate with new players entering the industry. The global demand for information communication products is increasing day by day forcing companies to come up with new products to meet the needs of customers.
Market structure and marketing strategy of Apple
A market is defined by the strength of its sellers and buyers and the type of competition that that exists in the market. There are four basic types of market structure, and they include: pure competition, pure monopoly, monopolistic competition, and oligopoly. The information communication and computer industry belongs to the oligopoly system since it has been dominated by only a few but sizeable sellers. High investment costs make it difficult for many people to join this market system. Products in this market structure are similar but slightly different (Mania, 2007). Currently the market system has slightly change to incorporate other types of market structure since the number of producers computers, mobile phones and smart phones have increased and the number of customers is also on the rise. Apple has been able to have a share of the market by producing innovative products.
The main business line of the company
Apple offers the greatest computing experience to people of all walks of life by developing cutting edge digital products that comprises of innovative hardware, software and applications. These products include IPads, macintosh personal computer, iPhones, Apple TV and iPods (Official Apple Store, 2013). The company has its business line all over the world to market and distribute its products. It has established its corporate offices in several parts of the world in countries such as China, England, United States of America, Canada and Japan
Competitive Analysis
Apple faces fierce competition in its line of operation and must strive to remain among the best, through continuous research and development to come up with unique products that not only stands out but meets the ever changing needs of the consumers. The company is committed to continual investment and expanding its platform to incorporate third party content and applications. The company is able to counter stiff competition from other companies by focusing on its strength and anticipating new opportunities. Apple is good at introducing differentiated products in the market. When Apple introduced the iPod, there were several portable music players in the market, but still it managed to pull a surprise by launching a music player with high quality sound and extensive storage. Apple products have features which are hard to be copied by the other players in the market. Microsoft also introduced a music player, but in front of iPod, it was unable to achieve success. Apple is doing business based on offering value added product at premium price and making their competitors impossible to imitate them.
Consumer analysis
The company produces user friendly products that meet the needs of individual of different personality and background such as students, corporate professionals, academics and educators, business men and other consumers. Apple always looks forward to new opportunities to introduce unique electronic products. Its chance of success is high due to its brand image and reputation. As people know that it is a reliable brand, so whatever it introduces, will be embraced positively. Apple’s strength is its biggest opportunity as people know that Apple ensures quality and they can rely on the company.
Product strategy
The company aims at bringing great user experience to its consumers by its innovative hardware, software, applications, electronic gadgets, and services. This is achieved by making use of their unique ability to come up with own operating systems. Apple Inc. strives to make its customers masters of the products they have bought by enabling smooth customer interaction (Lashinsky, 2012).
The vision of Apple is to provide quality products at premium price. The company dominates the market based on this. Apple competes based on their product specification and quality. Innovating new products at regular interval is a key to their success. Apple may not be the market leader in the industry, but still it earns a lot of revenues. Its desire is to give the consumer something new and amusing. Consumers usually feel proud of being identified with Apple’s unique products. It is a sign of status to most consumers. As a result, they always strive to have the latest products from Apple. The company is dedicated to expanding its distribution network to reach more customers and provide them with high-quality sales and after sales services. It has established many Apple stores in fourteen countries from which Apple products are distributed to all corners of the world through their distribution channels (Sutherland, 2012).
Pricing and marketing strategy
Samsung and Nokia are some of the companies that compete with Apple in producing smart phones. These two companies tend to employ a strategy that aims at considering what the consumers are willing and able to pay for their goods. Therefore have smart phones for different categories of their clients depending on the size of their pocket. Although Apple products generally seem expensive but they are able to make huge sales by their well targeted pricing stra...