Top Competitors in The Personal Computer Industry

In 1996, Apple was a struggling company that had lost more than 70% of its market capitalization in the past decade. Apple’s sales had fell dramatically and their new personal computers weren’t particularly popular with consumers. The return of Steve Jobs to the company was a turning point for Apple and initiated a new era for the firm. With the launch of innovative products such as the iPod, iPhone and iPad, Apple became the biggest brand in the world. Now it remained to be seen if Tim Cook would be able to continue to develop new products and maintain Apple’s success.

Overall in the past few years Apple has become more and more successful through preparing for the growth of E-Business for today’s society. The company has taken in and analysed competitors behaviour in order to remain market leaders and stay at the forefront of high end products such as IPhone and there IMacs range. Apple have tried to create a unique feel for their products when compared with Microsoft they have been trying to play catch up with Apple in all the same categories they both operate in. Apple use very different marketing techniques compared to Microsoft which has made Apple the number one brand in the world.

One of the major challenges facing Apple was to get the appropriate replacement of the company’s visionary Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Steve Jobs who died on October 2011. The CEO was responsible for turning Apple into what it is today. Apple is in this case challenged to purse the strategies employed by Steve, that propelled the company to new heights, and which saw the company become a

All of these elements are key factors in Apple’s Strategy. Apple has also provided competitive prices compared to other companies like Android. Apple’s products started at much higher prices and are now competitively priced based on comparable products. These key elements fit together to complete Apple’s ever changing competitive strategy. Apple has clearly been successful in adapting their strategy based on internal and external changes. Apple has been able to create strong customer loyalty and maintain ambitious leadership. Buyer power, rivalry and treat of substitutes are also key elements in Apple’s strategy. Music, internet and computers are all areas for long term development.

At first, technology is the most crucial element that shaping the brand of Apple and it operations. There are three components in this element are innovation, convenience and internal development. Firstly, let talk about innovation, one of the components that fabricated the success of Apple. Years ago, Nokia and Motorola were companies that dominated the mobile phone and software market. Therefore, in order to survive, prospect and remain competitive, Apple applied the philosophy of innovation by creating new products with unique design and function (Nonaka & Kenny, .n.d.). The circumstance forced Steve Jobs to become not only creative, but also demanding, strict and persuasive executive to motivate employee in the process of creating new mobile phone device and software, which led to the creation of the IOS system, iphone and Mac software. In every operation, he is extremely strict and even autocratic in setting goal and strategy and reward based on employee’s performance with the standard of excellent result and has no qualm in berating

Differentiation: Apple is an ideal example of an organization utilizing a differentiation strategy (Rothaermel, 2013). Apple seems to be able to “create customer needs (even if customers are initially unaware of the need)” (Rothaermel, 2013, p. 155). Apple’s value chain will differ from Walmart, and other cost-leadership strategy firms, in that it will have a greater focus on the development of their products and in its marketing and customer service. It will focus on product development in an effort to ensure their products continue to set the bar in their respective categories (Rothaermel, 2013). Apple will also focus on marketing and customer service to ensure that new and current customers are aware of the products’ areas of superiority (Rothaermel, 2013).

When jobs return to Apple in 1996, company was about to die. At that time Apple was transformed to a general electronics company which used to make a lot of accessories along with its main production of computers. The Steve Jobs analyzed its capabilities, assessed its employed and make a new strategy using transformational leadership style. As people were persuaded by his intelligence and extra ordinary capabilities, he rejected all un-necessary products and focused on very fewer products. 5.His leadership of being passionate, impulsive, overly critical, abrasive, and aggressive drove Apple company to the top of the computer industry.

One of the worlds most valuable company is Apple. Apple leads the world in innovation with iPhone, iPad, Macs and many other devices. It all started when the 21 year-old college dropout. It was no straight path for him to get to what he created. It was more like a windy road. It was evident from his early years that he had no grand plan to do what he has done. However, Steve’s windy road growing up, jobs found inspiration and creativity and most

The closest comparison to this small computer at the time was the Altair 8800 and the Intel microprocessors used in calculators and watches. An improved version of the Apple 1 developed into the Apple 11, the first personal computer with graphics and a keyboard, and IBM soon followed Apple’s lead with their version of a small computer. The market for personal computers had been primarily in the business industry. Apple Computer sales netted $50 million by the last quarter of 1979 (Gitman & McDaniel, 2009) and Apple soon became the personal computer of choice for many small businesses and families, especially when Apple introduced the more user- friendly Macintosh computer in the 1980’s. The Macintosh was Apple’s first major step in adapting the personal computer to the desires of corporate America. In ten years, Apple had grown from two employees in a garage to a $2 billion company with over 4000 employees (Jobs, 1985). What began as a hobby for Jobs and Wozniak soon became an essential part of many households and established the foundation for the Apple empire.

They have the ability to create products that people will buy despite the state of the economy. Apple is a unique company in the way that there is a very prominent amount of consumers that will buy everything that Apple puts on the Market. This type of supporting allows Apple to charge higher prices for their products. In saying this alongside Apple’s consumer loyalty they have created numerous low priced products. The IPod Shuffle is an excellent example, which can be purchased directly from the Apple website for just $49.

performance making changes to improve their brand. Apple is a company that has learned from

The repositioning of the company in 2007, from Apple Computer to Apple Inc, was a clear indication that the main focus was no longer attributed to the PC market. With this change in prioritization, one could imagine that Apple’s competitive position in regards to PC’s would be weakened, due to capital and R&D efforts being directed elsewhere. But this is not the case. In fact, Apple’s new broadened portfolio and “hub” strategy has only helped to fuel the PC sales even more. This development boils down to several factors, including a strengthened brand image that the new products have contributed to, and the success of the “ecosystem” that the company has created around its products. Although Apple is now making its profits in many new areas, the PCs still account for a great part of the total sales. The price for a MAC is relatively high compared to the competition, and Apple is able to keep the price at that level because their PCs serve the luxury end of the market. Many design conscious consumers prefer the MAC and this niche strategy contributes to securing Apple’s position. The company actually tried to introduce a cheaper PC version, but this was not a success.

Even though Apple has encountered many setbacks, it continues to bring new and improve products to the market. Apple’s competitive strategy has been innovation. They have made an extraordinary effort developing, implementing, and executing its very unique strategy through innovation which has resulted in new product, and the enrichment of the existing ones. More specifically, Apple attempts to meet and supply the needs of a global market, by offering eager and enthusiastic consumers with innovated and high-quality products and services. Apple has employed a differentiation strategy linked to innovation with its three core products (computers, personal media player, mobile phones, tablets and other accessories). A key piece of their strategy involves meeting the needs of the converging digital electronics and computer markets. Apple has elected to implement its strategy by designing and developing proprietary operating systems and software technologies, thus allowing for strict protection of its intellectual rights.

Dell’s competitive advantage was based on PC sold directly to the customer and cut out wholesale and retail, so that it can give customers lower prices, leading to higher sales. Dell’s website allowed customers to mix and match product features. Dell used information, which customers provided when they purchased online, as the reference for demands in real-time to input to suppliers, so that suppliers can change their production component matching Dell needs in short time (Jones, 2013).

Apple Inc faces great competition form other companies in the PC industry such as Dell, Compaq and Gateway. This forces Apple to come up with competitive strategies which