Apple’s Strategy

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of smart phones grew by over 3 billion in just 2 years. Though phones powered by the Android system and Motorola mobile phones remain a major competitor for Apple, Apple has maintained a competitive advantage over other mobile phone manufacturers in the industry.

From a strategic standpoint, it has been sensible for Apple to remain in continuation with supplying products in the computer, media player, smartphone, and tablet computer markets. There are similarities in Apple’s value chain activities when comparing activities in producing and marketing these devices. Many of the resources used in the product development for the various products supplied by Apple has also contributed to the newfound fame of Apple for their products. Also, there are shared behaviors in the company’s functionalities, but also some differences including the fact that Apple has a different operational team for each product due to the variations in the specified products. In addition, Apple has had much success in the cellular phone industry, which has demonstrated continued sales growth. With respect to the computer industry, Apple has done extremely welling the United States, as the company’s market share for this product practically doubled over 4 years.

Apple’s Financial Performance

Given the information provided in Table 3, Apple’s performance as a company has been remarkable with the exception of the 2008 calendar year. However, we are aware that there was a recession during that time which has wide stemming impacts on companies and organizations throughout the country. Apple has consistently sold millions of computers, millions of tablets, millions of iPhones, and their sales generate to nearly $40 billion a year. The strength of Apple’s strategic process as a company coupled with their products have enabled the company to be able to remain fully functional even during economic difficulties without plummeting as a company, which is the contrary for some of Apple’s competitors.

Recommendations

As stated above, Apple generally is performing well but still has shortcomings, namely in the computer industry. Thus, it would behoove the company to incorporate change into their business model. It would also favor Apple to consider developing a more affordable computer product that are more comparable in price to the computers of their competitors, as this can drive sales growth. Finally, though Apple is doing very well in the cellular phone industry, it may help to develop more applications that are available to consumers for a small purchase through their app stores, as this will continue to increase the appeal for people to purchase iPhones as their choice of smartphones.

References:

Thompson, A. A., Peteraf, M. A., Gamble, J. E., & Strickland III, A. J. (2014). Crafting and Executing Strategy: The Quest for Competitive Advantage 19th ed. New York: McGraw- Hil