Strategic Management Assignment

APPLE CASE STUDY

By
Student’s Name
Faisal Ahmed (20192-25066)

Supervisor
Prof. Naveed Muhammad Khan

Department of Management
College of Business Management
Institute of Business Management (IoBM) Karachi
Summer 2020
Table of Content

This study source was downloaded by 100000800726201 from CourseHero.com on 07-17-2021 01:22:43 GMT -05:00

https://www.coursehero.com/file/77081800/2pdf/
Question # 1.....................................................................................................................................2

Question # 2.....................................................................................................................................3

Question # 3.....................................................................................................................................4

Question # 4.....................................................................................................................................6

iPod..............................................................................................................................................6

iPhone..........................................................................................................................................7

iPad..............................................................................................................................................7
Question # 1

Steve Jobs had a unique mindset. Do you think his child incidents had any bearing on his

unique mindset and making him a high achiever?

Yes, child incidents happen with Mr Jobs had bearing on unique mind-set which are the

words that described by Pual and Clara about the asked question by Jobs that “am I an

abandoned kid”. The three words “Abandoned. Chosen. Special” played a crucial role in

developing the personality and mind-set of Steve Jobs and that is how he regarded himself all his

life. Jobs was abandoned at birth and put up for adoption and was abandoned, but as he said

many times throughout his life, his adopted parents would not call it that, they would call him

special and chosen. They would emphasize throughout his childhood that they singled him out

and chose him, specifically. Moreover, Steve Jobs takes abandoned as positive and he did not

give up his adoption. The entire abundance is taken by Steve Jobs as motivation and proved that

he is selected and very special.

Question # 2

Steve Jobs never believed in doing marketing research when developing new products?

Out of 4 P’s he eliminated one P which one and why?

Out of 4Ps Steve Jobs eliminate the promotion because of the innovative mindset and

capabilities which encounter the role of market research. On the other side, this leads to the

differentiation of a product as well. Therefore, the products of Apple are leaders of the market so

there is no promotion on those products. The other rationale is that the belief and vision of Steve

Jobs towards products of Apple resulted in the elimination of promotion strategies that are

entirely related to the market research. The iPod, the iPhone, the iPad all of these products

pretty much
revolutionized their respective market “space.” Their success is a direct result of their marketing

strategies. Apple’s marketing mix creates raving fans who stand in line for hours and hours on

end, just to get the first iteration of any new product the minute it’s released throughout social

media. On the other side, Steve Jobs avoid price wars by emphasizing your unique value

proposition. Moreover, Apple works on mind of the consumers and design a better experience of

a customer which did not require any promotion. Moreover, the innovation and incremental

approach are always lead to growth and did not direct to marketing research because there is no

probability of doing market research. Conversely, the increasing production of quality along with

the satisfaction of customers towards the product also leads to eliminating market research.

Question # 3

In his life time, he disrupted eight industries. Kindly identify these industries?

The given below are eight industries that are disrupted by Steve Jobs in association with

Apple in his life that are mentioned in the given case as well.

1. Mobile Phones i.e. photography

5. Personal Computing
2. Music Industry/ Apple TV
6. Animation related to Hollywood
3. Computer operating System
7. Tablet Computers
4. Publishing/ News
8. Publishing

The innovation like touch screen and user interface introduced by Steve jobs along with

iTunes is a major source concerning to disruption of eight above mentioned industries. On the

other side, his love with Apple Inc created an additional focus, give additional time to the

company in critical health conditions and the motivation of his ups and downs in his career is

also the reason of transforming disruptive industries. The different managerial and

management skills together

with strength of hiring appropriate and suitable people through his skills and sustainability of

skilful people in the company also credited to Steve Jobs.

Firstly, the iPhone and the smart-phones that followed it have all but decimated the tablet

business, which recently hit a five-year low, while accelerating the replacement cycle for

personal computers. Curiously, the iPhone also made the telephone obsolete. But not because

people don't like talking as they do. It's just that the iPhone, and smart phones in general, are not

particularly good at voice. The music industry, lulled into comfortable overconfidence by 25

years of CD sales, was body-slammed by iTunes and an iPhone interface that gave consumers

the ability to buy only the songs they wanted to hear, and then listen to them while walking in a

park or running up a stair-master. The news industry isn't alone in how the iPhone forced

business to change how they try to get consumers to buy products and services. Reaching and

maintaining customers has always been the most pressing issue of any business. But those days

are over. The Mac now accounts for around 8% of Apple revenue. The iPhone and iOS now

generate by far the bulk of the company’s revenues. Apple has deprecated future Mac

development and eventually, the platform will be subsumed into iOS. The music distribution

business. Napster, iTunes, and related products overthrew the old “album” based model and

substituted something that’s still evolving.

Question # 4

Steve Jobs believed in a differentiation strategy and identifying the right opportunities.

Which differentiation strategies he adopted for iPod, iPhone and iPad?

How iPod, iPhone and iPad are different from competitors and what additional features

they are offering

iPod

This product is completely based on product differentiation strategy. The sleek design,

simple user interface and greater storage and soon it became the icon of the digital age. That

features in iPod which is at that time one of the major in a variety of portable digital players of

music relied on MP3 standards. It has been mentioned in the case that it was the iPod that set

Apple on the volatile path of growth. Nano iPod is one of the biggest examples in which biggest

differentiated component is its flash memory. On basis of above-mentioned advantages and

reliable features, Apple has been charging of $ 75 to $100 greater cost in comparison to their

rivals. Hence, competitors like Samsung, Creative, and Microsoft’s Zune line of music player

and SanDisk could not able to provide an effective product like Apple’s iPod. The first iPod

stored up to 1000 songs the other MP3 players could only store one hour of music. The

aforementioned strategies are the differentiated strategies implemented by Steve Jobs for Apple.

Moreover, Apple agreed to pay $ 500 million upfront in 2005 to Intel, Samsung and Toshiba to

ensure uninterrupted supplies of flash memory. Therefore, competitive companies like Samsung

and Intel are busy in providing the supplies of flash memories to Apple. The innovative iPod

released in 2007 the Touch was the first iPod that built-in Wi-Fi, 3.5-inch screen and a multi-

touch graphical interface. Some 50 million iPod Touch devices have been sold in 2010.
iPhone

This product based on both price differentiation and product differentiation. The

reason of this is because iPhone has a touch screen and for iPhone, it has been claimed that it is

an “Invention of the Year” because it is revolutionary 3.5-inch touch screen interface placed

commands at the touch of user’s fingertips without a physical keyboard. The initial phone of

iPhone was cost at $ 499 for a memory of 8GB phone and at a similar time, the price of a

competitor’s phone was $300. In iPhone Apple uses a 3G model which is also differentiated in

relation to competitors and improved the revenue as well.

iPad

According to the case the iPad based on the differentiation strategy of product. In

relation to the differentiation of product design when Apple introduced the iPod, iPhone, and

iPad, there were no similar consumer electronics products that included so many features in one

distinctive, iconic package. iTunes store is other supportive creation along with its application of

synchronization with computer desktop which also creates a different problem for the

competitors. From its Macintosh home computers to the iPod music players and iPhone and iPad

mobile devices, Apple has employed a differentiation strategy to target a section of the consumer

market and send a powerful message that its products stand out from the crowd. Apple attempts

to increase market demand for its products through differentiation, which entails making its

products unique and attractive to consumers. The company's products have always been designed

to be ahead of peers. Despite high competition, Apple has succeeded in creating demand for its

products.