Apple Incorporated (Research Paper Sample)

Apple Incorporated Name Class Course Affiliation Date Introduction             Apple Inc. is an American corporation that is a designer and seller of electronics which include software’s for personal computers. Apple Inc. is one of the world’s best known technology company that deal with the design and development of personal computers, consumer electronic such as the smart phone and the table and other software for running the computer devices. Apple is best known for its products that include; the iPod, iPad, iPhone and the Macintosh computer (Schneiders 2011, p. 13). In addition, there is apple is recognized for the Mac OS X. Apple was established on April 1, 1976 in California after which it was incorporated in 1977. Initially it was known as Apple Computer, Inc. and this continued for a period 30 years. Later on the word "Computer" on the company name was removed in the year 2007. This happened at the same time the company was shifting its focus from personal computers to the now much growing area of consumer electronics. 1. Apple External analysis The Smartphone Tablet Industry In recent years Apple has become a major player in the global Smartphone tablet industry with a loyal consumer growing base. For instance, in the year 2011 had a total of 357 stores in about ten countries worldwide. Moreover, apple has a wide presence in the online market with online stores. Apple is also among the major corporations which are traded in the stock exchange by measure of the market capitalization. In revenue and profit terms, Apple has become one of the world largest technology corporations and more Microsoft and Google combined (Bach 2007, p. 14). The idea behind the development of the smartphone and tablet technologies has been in existence for a while but their introduction into the consumer electronics market has become serious within the last two years. The best example to illustrate this is the Apples’ iPad and iPhone which have revolutionized the tablet and the smartphone markets ever their launch into the market. It has been predicted that tablet and smartphone industry will continue to grow in sales to about 300 million by the year 2015 (Schneiders 2011, p. 27). This means that technology firms such as Apple will continue to grow since they need to expand in order to meet the growing demand. Currently this industry is considered enormous and with the forecast of the industry is now so big, and with such immense growth continued immense growth it is expected that more firms. Apple’s Products The iPod- The iPod is one of the most successful products for Apple computer. The most recent iPod is available GB which has the capability of playing both audio and video files. The iPhone - The iPhone is evolution to the area mobile communication which designed to combine email, mobile phone, internet as well as other information services. The iPhone has been designed as a consumer electronic device that has all things in one place. The Mac mini - This is the company’s lowest costing desktop computer. It has become to be widely used globally for both leisure as well as business. The iMac - The iMac is designed using the same idea just like the original Macintosh personal computer which is that both the computer as well as the monitor is within a single unit. Currently the iMac is the third major design widely used globally and is always upgraded as time passes together the changing needs of the consumer or the end users (Park, Hong & Moon 2012, p. 37). Merging Emerging Industry Apple Inc. is a major player within several very competitive markets which include the personal computers with its Macintosh, consumer electronics with its iPod and iPhone. Apple computer is engaged in the distribution of digital content which is owned by a third-party by using the online music store called iTunes Store. It is important to take note of the fact that this area of content distribution is extremely competitive and hence requires aggressive marketing strategies. The company has gained the reputation as a major technology innovator in the area of consumer electronics and personal computers. Apple Inc. has a belief that a sufficient investment in the area of research, advertising, marketing and development is very critical in its efforts to remain relevant as well as competitive in the highly technological market (Bach 2007, p. 25).             Apple’s Competitor Analysis             Apple computer is faced by very tough competition from all areas of the technology business. The consumer electronic markets, software markets, personal computers and other peripheral products have become extremely competitive. The main features of the fast growing technology markets which include both software and hardware is that it has substantially grown in the ability as well as use of digital electronic products such as the smart phone and tablets and desktop computers. In the recent years the aspect of price competitions in the technology market has become more intense. Most of the competitors of Apple Inc. tend to sell their personal computers which use the operating systems of other developers. This has had an impact on their performance in that their prices have been greatly reduced as well as the market share. The major factors of competition include; Price, Relative Performance, Product Quality and Reliability, Design Innovation, Availability of Software, Product Features, Marketing and Distribution Capability, Service and Support and Availability of Hardware Peripherals. Opportunity and Threats to the Industry Throughout the whole of January 2005, Apple opened more than 102 retail stores. Although these expansions were beneficial, most of the Apple retail stores are negatively affecting the businesses of the resellers and this can cause their downfall (Cusumano 2008, p. 27). This can have a much significant impact on Apple since the resellers account for more than 50% of the domestic sales. There are many questions going around as to why Apple holding a lot of cash. the aspect of having plenty of cash reserves might imply that Apple computer is not in a strategic position as to how to invest the cash and this can lead to the rise of a negative perception on it future potential investment. Apple is among the major technology companies where the growth as well as the fortunes of the company always appears to be closely connected to the person in charge. The visionary talents which are associated with Steve Jobs contribute to growth and success of the company. Therefore, the news of cancer surgery on Steve Job and subsequent demise might have lead to the rise of succession problems and perception of a not so bright future for the company. Smartphone and Tablet Industry Life Cycle The growth of the smartphone and tablet industry can be best emphasized by this fact, that it took the radio about 38 years to get to 50 million users but it has taken the tablets and the smartphone only 1year to get to 50 million users (KICKHAM 2011, p.33). Following the launch of the iPad one of the major tablets, many other technology companies sprung to design and produce tablets and this has led to the increase as well as growth of the smartphone and tablet market. Apple’s main Competitors  HYPERLINK "http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=AAPL"
AAPL  HYPERLINK "http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=GOOG"
GOOG  HYPERLINK "http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=HPQ"
HPQ  HYPERLINK "http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=RIMM"
RIMM  HYPERLINK "http://finance.yahoo.com/q/in?s=AAPL"
Industry Market Cap: 531.35B 197.44B 47.54B 6.14B 528.54B Employees: 60,400 33,077 349,600 16,500 106.70K Quarterly Rev Growth 58.90% 24.10% -7.00% -24.60% 24.30% Revenue 142.36B 39.98B 124.98B 18.44B 142.36B Gross Margin 43.95% 64.88% 23.24% 35.76% 43.95% Operating Margin 35.69% 32.11% 8.41% 10.69% 39.26% Net Income 38.62B 10.83B 5.94B 1.16B N/A  GOOG – Google Inc. HPQ – Hewlett Packard Company RIMM- Research in Motion Limited Others in the Technology Industry – Personal Computers Competitor Dynamics Apple computer has an expectation of intensified competition as more and more competitors have began to imitate Apple’s marketing strategy by using introducing products of almost similar quality and employ the marketing strategies that Apples uses. A few of the current potential competitors have a lot of resources at their disposal which gives the ability to become a formidable force against Apple in the coming future. One of the ways they have started to use their strength in their efforts to increase their market share is by selling their products. There is no assurance that majority of these technology companies will continue to offer products as well as services which are competitive in the market. Apple computer may be required to address the issue of price competition where it would end up lowering it prices in order to deal with the competition of from the other companies (KICKHAM 2011, p.29). Issues that Apple is not aware in the Technology Industry There are several issues that Apple is not aware of within the technology industry. Some are related to and affect the users on a daily basis such as the troubling issues with Wi-Fi in the company’s operating software the OSX Lion. The iPhone 3.2 which is used on the iPad does not renew the DHCP. There are common problem with the Apple Mail. These are issues that appear to be minor but tend to have a profound effect on the future perception and eventually performance of the company in terms of sales. The fact that Apple products are designed for the high end market, has led to the emergence of negative image of Apple as more and more people see it as a company that is for the select few. For the company’s competitors, this is an advantage as they have started to make consumer electronic products that target the different consumer purchasing ...