For many people, Apple is one of the most popular companies worldwide. Apple’s ability to produce unique and consumer friendly products has propelled it to a global brand. However, Apple’s products face stiff competition from other established multinationals.
For that reason, Apple’s product s must be of high quality and affordable prices. This essay provides an insight into Apple’s marketing environment.
Apple is an American multinational that manufactures smart phones, music players and computer hardware and software. The company is a market leader in these industries (Mueller, 2010). Additionally, Apple was founded on April 1, 1976 in California (Freebase, n.d.).
Apple should be applauded for operating in some of the most vibrant industries. For instance, Apple faces stiff competition for its smart phones, music players and computer hardware and software from well established companies such as Dell, Hp Compaq, IBM, Samsung, Nokia and Motorola (Travlos, 2012).
Moreover, Samsung, Nokia and Motorola’s smart phones are cheaper than Apple’s. Therefore, Apple has an uphill task against these companies in iPhones marketing.
Apples purposes to invest in research and development in a bid to come up with original and unique products that attend to the changing needs of consumers (Hodgkin, 2010). For that reason, Apple aims at balancing technological needs of its customers with quality (Hodgkin, 2010).
In addition, Apple’s long term objective is to ensure that all customers afford its products (Christopher, 2011). However, this strategy has received a big blow from Apple’s high prices and the ability of its competitors to sell products at cheaper prices.
A company’s organizational culture is defined by its staff’s beliefs, values and behaviors (The One Page, n.d.). Organizational culture, therefore, directs an individual’s decision and action in a company (The one page, n.d.).
According to IBS Center for Management Research (2009), innovation sums up Apple’s corporate culture. Moreover, Apple’s organizational culture is driven by the desire to produce new and unique products.
The acronym, SWOT stands for a company’s strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats (Mueller, 2010). Apple’s main strength is the ability to produce superior products. Additionally, Apple has attracted a large pool of investors. Therefore, it has more capital than its competitors (Mueller, 2010).
Apple’s major weakness was its inability to match advancement in technology with quality and consistent products (Mueller, 2010). Although these flaws have been corrected, Apple still faces other technological problems.
For instance, customers are complaining about the high rate at which Apple is launching new products. This has resulted to the Apple fatigue. However, Apple has some opportunities to exploit. One of these opportunities is a competent and innovative workforce.
In addition, Apple has a very loyal customer base. This is why Apple has been able to realize high sales volumes despite its high prices. However, Apple’s greatest threat is the ease at which one can copy its technology.
For example, the Samsung galaxy and the Android are using some of iPhone’s features (Mueller, 2010). Furthermore, Apple’s high prices are forcing consumers to seek cheaper alternatives.
Apple has a number of strategic issues to deal with within the next five years. Firstly, Apple must ensure that its products stand out from the rest (Meyer, 2011). Secondly, Apple’s management must strive to fit in the shoes of Steve Jobs (Meyer, 2011).
In conclusion, it is agreeable that Apple is a market leader in the smart phones, music players and computer hardware and software industries. However, the company has no option, but to maintain its reputation among customers in order to maintain this lead. This is because most of its competitors are also very strong.
References
Christopher. (2011). Apple objectives. Web.
Freebase. Apple Inc. Web.
Hodgkin, A. (2010). What is Apple’s mission statement? Web.
IBS Center for Management Research. (2009). Apple Inc.’s corporate culture: the good, the bad and the ugly. Web.
Meyer, C. (2011). Apple’s strategic challenges: Taking a wider bite. Web.
Mueller, J. (2010). Apple: strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats. Web.
The One Page. What is organizational culture — and why does it matter? Web.
Travlos, D. (2012). Competition sets a high bar for Apple’s iPhone 5. Web.