Phl 320 Critical Thinking And Decision Making Research Paper

SWOT and Strategy Evaluation Paper
Kristen Cohen
PHL/320 Critical Thinking and Decision Making in Business
Due February 16, 2015
Michael McQuinn

SWOT and Strategy Evaluation Paper

The Apple Company is a giant in the electronic industry and have proven themselves most successful over the past 40 plus years, and continue to be innovative and grow with the ever changing industry. Apple is most well-known for the iPod, iPad, iPhone, iTouch and the mac computer. These devices are mostly sold in their retail stores and the company’s online site, and third party cellular network carriers worldwide. The company is also well known for their iTunes and App Stores. Apple’s strengths consist of a vision of the late Steve jobs, who
Apple currently has an almost-20% piece of the global PC/tablet pie (ahead of such rivals as Lenovo and Samsung), but we see this number increasing in the years ahead, especially as the company gains ground in China and the rest of the Asia/Pacific region. iPhones are also growing from being outsourced and offered to more influential local wireless carriers here and overseas. The acquisition of Beats Electronics is one of the largest deals in their history which took place in August 2014. The company looks to have paid a huge price, but it seems, given that a 2013 investment by the asset management firm Carlyle Group had valued Beats’ assets, including its high-end headphone line and streaming music services, at around $1 billion. The acquisition makes strategic sense. The up-and-coming music properties will likely prove to be a nice complement to Apple’s free iTunes radio service, which has generally garnered mixed user reviews and is going up against popular streaming offerings from free music web sites such as Pandora and Spotify. And Beats’ electronics unit should prove helpful when it comes to developing the iWatch and other smart, wearable devices. Notably, Beats, founded by respected music industry veterans Jimmy Iovine and Dr. Dre, has a highly creative management team, so the talent infusion will
Main threats consist of the ever constant changing technology and their ability to keep up with the changing times and be able to produce a more techie product with more and more features with each new model of their products. Gross Margin Pressures are also a threat. This can happen when competition steps up their game and finds the next newest and greatest feature to make their product better than Apple. In conclusion, challenges lie ahead for the Apple Company. Apple’s positives easily outweigh its negatives at present. The stock remains something of a bargain in this frothy market, too, notwithstanding its recent rally. Indeed, trading at about 16 and 14 times the consensus share-net estimates for fiscal 2014 and fiscal 2015, respectively, the good-quality issue still looks to have room to run. Dividend growth will likely be healthy, as well, with the company now looking to return more of its cash hoard to shareholders. And Apple’s excellent finances make its shares suitable for most