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CASE ANALYSIS: APPLE INCORPORATED

I. Identify the current situation of the company, current performance, current share,
profitability.
 Apple Computer, Inc. develops, manufactures, and distributes personal computers,
software, networking solutions, and peripherals, as well as a line of portable digital music
players. The Macintosh line of desktop and notebook computers, the iPod digital music
player, the Mac OS Operating system, the iTunes Music Store, the Xserve G5 server, and
the Xserve RAID storage products are all part of Apple's product portfolio. The
company's products are available for purchase online, through third-party wholesalers,
and at its own retail locations. Apple operates 125 retail stores in the United States, as
well as in Canada, Japan, and the United Kingdom. Steve Wozniak, 26, and Steve Jobs,
21, both college dropouts, founded Apple in April 1976. It’s a large company with good
financial performance. It achieved over 50% market share in the last year which was
propelled by the iPhone X, which is a high-end product. It also achieved a return of
investment of 18.53% in the last quarter of 2017. It also posted quarterly revenue of
$52.6 billion, which was a 12% increase from the past year (Zhang 10).
II. What is the strategic posture of the company: vision, mission, objectives, strategies,
policies, services? 
1. Vision
 Apple’s current vision statement is: We believe that we are on the face of the
earth to make great products and that’s not changing. We are constantly focusing
on innovating. We believe in the simple not the complex. We believe that we need
to own and control the primary technologies behind the products that we make,
and participate only in markets where we can make a significant contribution. We
believe in deep collaboration and cross-pollination of our groups, which allow us
to innovate in a way that others cannot (Apple, 2016)
2. Mission
 Established in 1976, the organization made the following mission statement.
“Apple designs Macs, the best personal computers in the world, along with OS X,
iLife, iWork and professional software. Apple leads the digital music revolution
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with its iPods and iTunes online store. Apple has reinvented the mobile phone
with its revolutionary iPhone and App store, and is defining the future of mobile
media and computing devices with iPad.”
3. Objectives
 To increase the number of Apple stores in the world.
 To develop commodities that can be found in every other retail channel.
 To penetrate and sustain premium pricing in the attempt to grow the market share.
 To grow its profit margins.
 To create hype and expectation for other upcoming products.
 To sustain and grow on its strong brand name
4. Strategies
 Develop a great team-building culture and promote research and development to
design ground-breaking products.
 Undertaking a detailed market study to understand the requirements of the
consumers to continue improving the current items.
 Creating stores in all big markets and follow the population and demand when
expanding.
 Rely on its strong brand name and high-quality items to price its products above
those of the competitors.
 Keep pushing for a lower cost to ensure it increases its profit margins.
5. Policies
 Hire competent individuals.
 Prioritize customer’s needs
6. Services
 Software and services – One of the competitive advantages of Apple lie in its
software and operating system which is the MacOS. At the same time, it
introduced various services Itunes, Ibooks, Icloud, Apple music, Iwatch and
Apple TV and others. Each of them is individually good, but together they drive a
strong revenue for Apple.
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III. External environment: opportunities and threats, strengths and weaknesses

A. Societal Environment
1. Economic
 There is an increased growth of the developing nations; thus, the organization has
an opportunity to continue expanding its operations.
 The economies of the developed countries are relatively stable.
2. Technological
 The emerging trends in technology provide an opportunity for the firm to grow its
operations.
 There is a growing mobile application market.
 Increased technological integration.
 The growth in the cloud computing trend.
3. Political-Legal
 Stable political environments in developed countries offering an opportunity for
growth
 The improvement of free trade policies ensuring that the company can penetrate
more markets without restrictions.
 Environmentalism being incorporated in laws relating to pollution and energy use.
 Increasing telecommunication regulations in the world might be a threat. 4.
Socio-cultural
 Increase in mobile penetration in various parts of the world.
 Increase in the use of social media.
B. Task Environment
 Buyer’s power is high since the switching costs are low.
 High rivalry with other players such as Samsung, Google, Microsoft, and Amazon
(Johnson, Li, Phan, & Singer 12).
 The barriers to entry in the industry are high because of the huge capital outlay
required.
 Substitutes are available in the market.
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IV. Analysis of strategic factors (Situational analysis)

A. Situational Analysis
1. Strengths
 The organization is known for its strong brand.
 Competent and dedicated employees.
 Efficient innovation process because of its investment in research and
development.
 The firm’s strong financial position allows it to undertake research and to market
its products to various markets.
 Its product differentiation strategy also ensures that it caters to different market
segments.
2. Weaknesses
 High prices for its commodities.
 Its distribution network is limited.
 Sales are only limited to the high-end consumers.
3. Opportunities
 It can expand its distribution network
 Growing demand for smartphones.
 Can add more products to the existing product lines.
4. Threats
 Products are at a risk of being imitated.
 Stiff competition.
 Labor costs are increasing in some countries where Apple Inc.’s plants are
located.