1.

Discussion
You need to discuss the following:

a. Identify the business’s main competitors. Explain how the business differentiates its product or
service from those competitors’ offerings. Identify its competitive advantage. Do you think the
advantage is sustainable? Why or why not?
Apple Inc. or formerly known as Apple Computer. Inc. the most recognized and popular company
around the world because of their innovative thinking creating sleek design and approachable interface They
are known for manufacturing computer software, personal computers and smart gadgets/devices like
smartphones and entertainment technology spaces. Some of its competitors are Dell Technologies, Lenovo
Group, HP Inc., Sony Corp., and ASUSTeK Computer Inc., Apple Inc. Apple sets itself apart from their
competitors by firstly thinking differently and they don’t let others do impact what their product and
services brings to the market which means that they are like the drivers of their own company wherein they
continue to develop new products driven by innovation. Another thing that differentiates Apple from its
competitors is their management style wherein apple has one central executive committee that works
altogether to make decisions and design products. Having a central committee that makes decisions these
will result to an organized organization and the employees will be working harmoniously. They don’t have a
department that works in isolation from others. Lastly is their pricing strategy when it comes to retailers.
They uses a retail strategy called “minimum advertised price” a policy that prohibits dealers or resellers to
advertise manufacturer’s product below the minimum price. Apple’s high-priced products is maintained
because they only offer retailers a marginal wholesale discount and these lessens the possibility that
resellers will compete against the main Apple store.
Apple’s competitive advantage is that they have their own hardware, operating system, applications and
services. By having their own hardware they can lessen their cost and can maintain the integrity and quality
of their products. iOS devices upgrades are generally available to all iOS devices compared to Android
devices wherein there manufacturers are the one who decides when to offer software upgrades and when
they offer software updates it is mostly later on the released date of the new software. Their competitive
advantage is sustainable because their management system holds a major role in sustaining these
competitive advantages of the organization. Remembering how Apple Inc. Is differentiated from their
competitors where they think differently they can always drive forward to their goal improving and
innovating their products not only for the organization but also for the consumers to ensure their loyalty to
the band and the company.

b. Conduct a customer analysis on the business’s product or service. Your analysis should include ALL
of the following:
 Identify the target customer. Is this customer base growing or is it decreasing? What are the customer
demographics (age, income, location, gender, politics, etc.)? What is the revenue of these customers?
How much discretionary income do they have?
 Understand the specific customer needs. Why do they buy certain brands? How do make their
purchasing decisions? Do they purchase in person or online?
 Show if and how the product or service you chose meets those needs.

Apple has a very wide range of products and are of different demand segments. They have over 1.5
billion of user and until now their market is expanding. Their current hardware products are Apple TV,
 Apple Watch, iMac, iPad, iPhone, MacBook and etc. there are also software services like iCloud,
iMessage, iLife, iMovies, iTunes and others.
Apples target market it age varies depending on the different types of products being availed. People
between 18-45+ years old are the age demographic of Apple users. Regarding on who are buying apple
by gender there are a lot of males Apple users than female with the ratio of 2:1 or 60.8% and 39.2% is
the user percentage. The average income group who prefers Apple products are the one with medium to
high-income households or individuals. The geographical market of Apple Inc. they do have markets in
fast-track city life and has store in 25 different countries and has an app store that offers apple products
to 155 countries. They have their own way to approach other regions to earn more customers. They have
students, executives, managers, professionals as their primary target market. Consumers does not only
buy things because they wanted to but because they needed it. Some consumers look for the quality and
aesthetics of products that they are willing to spend more for it. Consumer’s purchasing behavior is
influenced by many things, including environmental and marketing factors, the situation, personal and
psychological factors, family, and culture. Some customers usually go to the store to avail the product
but there are also other customers who wanted to avail or make reservations for the product online.

c. Evaluate the environment the business is operating in based on the four factors of change discussed in
your text: stability, complexity, resource scarcity, and uncertainty. Based on your analysis of these
factors, advice one or two areas where you believe the business should focus its strategy in the next
two years.

The stability of Apple Inc. is in the dynamic environment wherein the environment is rapidly
changing that the organization must be quick to react and should be flexible to respond. They should
continuously monitor and update their products for technology development must be upgraded every
time for new innovation and ideas always continue to just pop out. Changes is always everywhere and
anytime and if they fail to monitor and respond to these changes these will cause them to fail. For the
complexity of the