The Strategies That Apple Inc. Has Put In Place To Remain Competitive - 2200 Words

The Strategies That Apple Inc. Has Put In Place To Remain Competitive (Research Paper Sample) Content: Strategic Plan – Apple Inc. Student’s name Instructor’s name Course title Date Strategic Plan – Apple Inc. Executive Summary Apple Inc. is a technology giant based in Cupertino, California with broad base globally. This paper will seek to elucidate on the history of the company, the products and services, the operations it handles, the vision and mission statements, corporate values and cultures, SWOT analysis, competition, management and leadership, the financial outlook and finally the strategies that Apple Inc. has put in place to remain feasibly competitive. The strategic plan will delve in depth to shed light on the company as a whole and will pay close attention to the prospective ways through which Apple Inc. will maintain unmatchable growth and undeniable success. â€Æ' Company Overview It is irrefutable that a conversation can ensue in the line of advanced technology in this day and age without mentioning Apple Inc. Apple is a global technology company headquartered in California. It is the second-largest info tech company by revenue in the globe. The firm is vehemently responsible for the design, manufacturing and marketing of among the most impeccable mobile communication, media services, portable digital music players as well as personal and office computers. Due to the demand pressure on its products and services, as of 2016, Apple Inc. was in full operation of brick and mortar merchandizing stores in over eighteen countries with a remarkable presence in the United States having occupied at least forty five out of the fifty states (Farfan, 2017). Also, the company operates twenty three extra internet retail shopping platforms worldwide. In fact, as of January 2016, Apple Inc. was operating over four hundred and fifty stores globally with approximately fifty tho usand employees. According to CNN, the busiest Apple Store globally is the Nanjing East store located in Shanghai, China. The store is known to attract approximately twenty-five thousand customers on a daily basis (Apple Inc. Company Profile, 2017). Company History. On April, 1st 1976, Apple Computers Inc. was founded by the articulation of forces between Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak. The company owes its debut to Steve Job’s dads’ garage. The first product was then released as the Apple 1 personal computer which was ultimately sold to a local computer shop then known as Byte Shop. Only two hundred of these apple 1 personal computers were made. In June the following year, the company released Apple 2 which was a huge success in the market. In December 1980, the Apple Inc. listed by way of an initial public offer offering 4.6 million shares at the par value of $22 each. In 1983, the company in a bid to diversify introduced a new brand of personal computers known as Lisa which was later discontinued in 1985 after a rather disappointing run. In 1984, Apple introduced Macintosh computer which was viewed as the success the company needed. In 1985, Steve Jobs, the founder CEO was forced to leave the company forcing him to start a softwar e company called NeXT that was bought off by Apple Inc. however, in 1997, Steve Jobs returned to the company as an interim CEO leading to innovation in iMac personal computers the following year before becoming a permanent CEO in 2000. In 2001, Apple Inc. introduced iTunes and the iPod MP3 player later in October. Two years down the line, the company released the Safari web browser and the iTunes music store. In the years between 2006 and 2010, Apple Inc. rolled out the Intel-based computers, the iMac, the MacBook Pro, the iPhone, the iPad and the Apple Television. In 2011, Apple introduced the iCloud as an online media stowage platform. The same year marked the resignation of Steve Jobs as the CEO leaving Tim Cook to take over the reins. 2014 marked a beehive of activities for the company following announcement to buy Beats for a price of $3 billion. During the same year, the company conducted a stock split which reduced the price from $ 647.50 to $92.44. Notably, also in 2014, th e company released the Apple watch and also won the antitrust lawsuit that had been pursued by eight million iPod owners who claimed that the company was abusing its overall monopoly power in the music sector. In 2015, the company released Apple Music while in 2016 the company was ordered to pay $626 million in lawsuit damages following the infringement of another company’s patent. This year, the company has well unveiled the iPhone x to go hand in hand with the iPhone 8 and 8 plus all of which have a distinct feature inclined towards supporting wireless charging (CNN, 2017, September 12). Products and Services. Apple Inc. offers a broad array of products in the music, entertainment and technology industries. The products include among others the remarkable iPhone, iMac, Mac Pro, MacBook Air, MacBook Pro, the iPod, the iPad, the Apple Watch and the Apple TV. Besides, the company sells software including the Mac OSX, iOS, iMovie, iTunes, iPhoto, iCloud, Apple Pay, Logic Pro as well keynote. The company also offers a unique range of accessory, service as well as support assistances to its customers across the globe. Operations. As has been for a long time, the iPhone accounts for approximately two-thirds of the revenues derived from sales made by the company. In addition, another ten percent of the income is derived from the sale of the tablets and the iPad. Another ten percent comes from the sale of the Mac Computer series including iMac desktop and the MacBook laptops while service offering ranging from iTunes store to the Apple Pay mobile payment contribute another ten percent. The Apple watch and the Apple TV account for the remaining percentage which is by far very minimal. Apple's products typically focus on two operating systems. First, mobile products run on iOS, while on the other hand, the computers function on OS X. Apple Inc. apprises its operating systems annually. Apple Inc. manufactures some of its products in production facilities based in Ireland and the United States. Be that as it may, most manufacturing is conducted by third-party contractors including Hon Hai Precision Industry in Asia (Lusted, 2012). Vision. Apple Inc.’s vision statement posits â€Å"We believe that we are on the face of the earth to make great products and that’s not changing. We are constantly focusing on innovating. We believe in the simple, not the complex. We believe that we need to own and control the primary technologies behind the products that we make and participate only in markets where we can make a significant contribution. We believe in saying no to thousands of projects so that we can focus on the few that are truly important and meaningful to us. We believe in deep collaboration and cross-pollination of our groups, which allow us to innovate in a way that others cannot. And frankly, we don’t settle for anything less than excellence in every group in the company, and we have the self- honesty to admit when we’re wrong and the courage to change. And I think regardless of who is in what job those values are so embedded in this company that Apple will do extremely well (Rowland, 2 017, January 29).† Mission Statement Apple Inc.’s mission statement is â€Å"Apple designs Macs, the best personal computers in the world, along with OS X, iLife, iWork and professional software. Apple leads the digital music revolution with its iPods and iTunes online store. Apple has reinvented the mobile phone with its revolutionary iPhone and App store, and is defining the future of mobile media and computing devices with iPad (Rowland, 2017, January 29).† Corporate Values and Cultures. Apple Inc. hinges on five corporate values that guide its direction (Meyer, 2017, January 29). * Top-notch excellence. The company is renowned for hiring just the bets of the best. The company does not compromise on the excellence of its employees. This tradition was unveiled by the founder CEO, Steve Jobs, who was well known to fire employees who did not meet his expectations. * Creativity. Owing to the fact that Apple Inc. competes in somewhat dynamic and rapidly evolving sector, the company hires the best skilled and knowledgeable individuals especially to take part in the product design as well as developing procedures. Creativity is critical in meeting the consumer’s needs. * Innovation. Apple Inc. employees are fostered to be very innovative in their assignments by contributing feasible ideas to steer the company’s product development forward. Innovation is primary in Apple Inc.’s business. * Secrecy. Apple Inc. has been renowned for optimal levels of confidentiality among its employees. Such a culture is upheld in order to mitigate the risk of data leakage to competition and even the adverse occurrences emanating from incidences employee poaching. * Moderate Combativeness. Apple Inc. management has the tendency to regularly challenge its employees in a bid to find out whether they have what it takes to work at the organization. As such, the company only retains the best (Meyer, 2017, January 29). SWOT Analysis. * Strengths. Apple Inc. possesses the following strengths: The company prides in having a vast and competent workforce which is carefully handpicked to fit the business needs efficiently. Secondly, the company has a solid brand image and impeccable marketing and advertising strategies that have put it at the forefront. Thirdly, Apple Inc. has a considerable segment of utterly loyal customers who are intrigued by the Apple culture as it offers excellent customer service as well as in-store experiences. Fourth, the company has an appealing design that trumps other product designs in the same market. Finally, Apple Inc. trains its employees to keep them ahead of the competition. * Weaknesses. Apple Inc. phones are more expensive than other smartphones. Secondly, the company does not have a variety ...