Case Analysis 1

Business Strategy and Management Principles

MGMT 510-50

Project 3
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History, Development, and Growth

Apple Computer Incorporation has achieved a lot being one of the most valuable companies

globally. The company became the first among all multinationals to peak its value at $1 trillion

in 2018. This is a record that the company broke again in 2020 when it reached a market value of

$2 trillion. The success of the company has been a milestone of years of both disappointments

and mega projects to boost its profits. As a company that has excelled in technology

development, its competitors have also risen to actively compete against its market, ideas,

products, as well as compete in innovativeness. Apple Incorporation journey to success will be

narrated in the historic analysis from the periods of when it was just a garage company to

becoming the most valuable business globally.

Figure 1. The History of Apple Logo

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In 1976, Steve Wozniak founded the first device which was the Apple I. This was just a

motherboard meant to change the game in manufacturing of the personal computers. This was

followed by the Apple II which helped the company withstand the market for a longer period.

The Apple II was marketed by Steve Jobs, who integrated with Steve Wozniak to form the Apple

Company. This led to sourcing of capital from major investors who increased the value of the

company and made it a major actor in the technology and computer manufacturing market. As

the company was growing, a lot of changes occurred in its management that included the

stepping down by Steve Wozniak to become a teacher despite being a major shareholder in the

company. Additionally, Steve Jobs was soon ousted as the Chief Executive Officer of the

company in 1984. This due to the failures based on the release of Macintosh which was released

in the same year. However, the machine was successful in penetrating the market as it was with

IBM’s machine which was more popular. This led to internal wrangles and the board of directors

deciding to let go of Steve Jobs who was replaced by John Sculley.

Figure 2. First Macintosh Machine

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John Sculley served until 1993 when the company experienced strong product growth. During

these years, Apple Company developed a lot of products which penetrated the market and

improved its market value as it still sold its products at a premium price. The margins from the

premium prices acted as profits to the company which still achieved increase in its growth during

this period. Nevertheless, the issue experienced during this period was the availability of cheaper

alternative products in the market. The products such as windows and Microsoft products

penetrated the market and acquired massive consumer engagement. This hurt the sales of Apple

Company which further led to increased concentration in its management. The issues, led to

purchase of Steve Job’s other investment, NeXT Inc. and his acquisition as an advisory to the

leadership of the business. The stalling Apple Company changed its leadership and later settled

on Steve Jobs as the CEO to the company and to improve its sales against the changing tides

introduced by Microsoft products.

Steve Job’s second tenure as the CEO of the company led to introduction of IMac. These

products were almost similar to the operating system and software used by the Macintosh

introduced 12 years prior to the IMac. The growth of the product is credited to the intensive

marketing approach introduced by Steve Jobs. This has also been the culture at Apple based on

their intensive marketing approaches to maximize market knowledge and demand for the new

products. Additionally, the reinstatement of Steve Jobs as the CEO of the company also led to

introduction of i-series of products, from computers to phones, and other devices. ITunes was

among the first i-series of products which enhanced listening and downloading of music in the

Apple iPhone. Additionally, the company introduced various series of Apple phones which was

accompanied by the iCloud to expand the cloud space to the consumers of their products. This

was a move to integrate different product and maximize the value fo the product to the
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consumers. Unlike its competitors, Apple Company established their software system, music

downloading system, acquired a headphone brand, and improved on the design and beauty of

their products to maximize their sales.

Steve Job succumbed to pancreatic cancer in 2011 and handed over the company to Tim Cook.

This was established due to their working relationship, abilities to maintain innovativeness, and

success of the brand against its competitors. The demise of Steve Jobs led to minimal wrangles

of whether the choice of Tim Cook was meant to transform the company or boost its

innovativeness. Needless to say, Apple Company has expanded immensely, having grown in its

revenue as well as the company value. This is the period when Apple Company improved both in

its sales, value, as well as revenue. The success can be based on the already established brand

name, the new series of Apple phones, as well as the innovative ideas from the brand.

Figure 3. Steve Jobs and Tom Cook

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The major innovative creations from the company included establishment of Apple TV and

Apple Watch. The two innovative ideas have since become major establishments after the

demise of Steve Jobs, but has also been labelled a stalled project by the company. Several critics

have mentioned that the company has come from being innovative to being more transformative.

Tim Cook’s leadership led to transformation of the Apple Phone series, the production methods,

as well as business processes. As much as it is an appropriate approach to gain sales and value

for the company, Apple Company visibility in terms of their innovativeness has been minimal.

The competitors to the brand such as Samsung are seen to be more innovative and geared

towards improving their products and brand against those of Apple Company. Despite the

concerns over Apple’s innovativeness and improvement in sales, the company has struggled to

maintain its position as the most valuable brand globally. This is also due to the increased

interests of the consumers of more innovative products compared to improvements of the

previous series.