Apple Case - International Business Management and Strategy
International Business Management and Strategy
Mid Term Paper:
“Apple Inc in 2010”
1. Historically, what were Apple’s main competitive advantages?
Apple Computer’s 30-year history is full of highs and lows, which is what we would expect in a highly innovative company. They evolved throughout the years into an organization that is very much a representation of its leader, Steven Jobs. Apple made several hugely successful product introductions over the years. As the outset, Apple had many competitive advantages that allowed it to become a profitable business.
Apple 's innovation has always been its hallmark. Beginning with the first Apple till the iPad; Apple products have change the development of the market many times, especially during the last decade, with the first iPod 's lunch. Although Apple 's single technologies have not been walkthroughs created by the company itself, it has developed the characteristics of these technologies and combined them in a way that had never been done before.
Apple’s PCs relied on proprietary designs that only Apple could produce. When Apple developed the Macintosh, it was very easy to use, had an industrial design, and technical elegance. People craved these qualities in a PC, but the Mac was very slow and there was very few compatible programs due to the proprietary design. To combat this, Apple was able to tap into the corporate sector, as the Mac became the best PC with respect to desktop publishing. It was also able to hold more than 50% of the education sector. In addition, Apple was able to control the Mac completely in both hard ware and software. It was also able to develop its own peripherals that took advantage of a “plug and play” system.
Apple 's products are popularly considered as very intuitive and, although MP3 players already existed in 2001 or multi-touch surfaces in 2007, products like the iPod and iPhone allow the use of these technologies
Mid Term Paper:
“Apple Inc in 2010”
1. Historically, what were Apple’s main competitive advantages?
Apple Computer’s 30-year history is full of highs and lows, which is what we would expect in a highly innovative company. They evolved throughout the years into an organization that is very much a representation of its leader, Steven Jobs. Apple made several hugely successful product introductions over the years. As the outset, Apple had many competitive advantages that allowed it to become a profitable business.
Apple 's innovation has always been its hallmark. Beginning with the first Apple till the iPad; Apple products have change the development of the market many times, especially during the last decade, with the first iPod 's lunch. Although Apple 's single technologies have not been walkthroughs created by the company itself, it has developed the characteristics of these technologies and combined them in a way that had never been done before.
Apple’s PCs relied on proprietary designs that only Apple could produce. When Apple developed the Macintosh, it was very easy to use, had an industrial design, and technical elegance. People craved these qualities in a PC, but the Mac was very slow and there was very few compatible programs due to the proprietary design. To combat this, Apple was able to tap into the corporate sector, as the Mac became the best PC with respect to desktop publishing. It was also able to hold more than 50% of the education sector. In addition, Apple was able to control the Mac completely in both hard ware and software. It was also able to develop its own peripherals that took advantage of a “plug and play” system.
Apple 's products are popularly considered as very intuitive and, although MP3 players already existed in 2001 or multi-touch surfaces in 2007, products like the iPod and iPhone allow the use of these technologies
References: 1. Birnbaum, B. (2000). Strategic Thinking, A four Piece Puzzle. Birnbaum Associates 2 3. June 2, 2008. Retrieved August 18, 2008 4 5. Charles W.L. Hill and Gareth R. Jones, Strategic Management Theory: An Integrated Approach, 9th ed., Houghton Mifflin, 2009 6 7. Huzefa, A. N. Deepti, Dinesh Gaurav, Vinay, and Harmanjeet Singh. A Strategic Analysis of Apple Corporation Scribd.com, 9 Feb. 2009. Web. 13 Dec. 2009. -----------------------