APPLE Inc.

STRATEGIC
MANAGEMENT
Assignment

Photo Source (MacRumors, 2022)

Submitted on
17th June 2022
By Kaishyap Shrestha
 Apple Inc. Strategic Management MBA Assignment l 17 June 2022

Executive Summary

For some businesses, technology is a source of fresh competitive advantage, while for others, it is a threat to
their long-term existence. As a result, the line between business and technological strategy is becoming
increasingly blurred—each must inform the other. The global economy has evolved throughout millennia as a
result of a variety of events and forces that have formed the global economic landscape into what it is now.
The most important economic revolutions in the modern era were the agricultural revolution in the 17th
century, the industrial revolution in the 18th century, and the technical revolution in the 19th century, which
quickly evolved into the scientific-technical revolution. We are currently living through the information and
telecommunications revolution, sometimes known as the digital revolution, which began in the 1980s. The
current revolution is fuelled in large part by technological developments in the realm of information technology.
IT companies that were well established at the start of the digital revolution, as well as new start-ups with the
right business mentality, financial resources, and flexibility to adapt to the new fast-paced advancements in
the electronics field, grew massively over the course of a few decades and are now major players, not just in
their field, but in the global economy.

This report will focus on the world’s largest publicly traded company, Apple Inc. who is being ranked as
number 1 company worldwide with market value 2,825 Billion USD on January 2022 (World Top Companies,
2022). Later section of this report will showcase why Apple is the most successful company in the world and
will try to analysis its strength, weakness, opportunity and threat using SWOT analysis, PESTEL and Porter’s
Five Forces. In addition to this, we will also analysis its market map based on the customer segment and
geography in USA.

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CONTENTS

1. Introduction- Apple Inc................................................................................................................................................3

2. Mission & Vision of Apple Inc.....................................................................................................................................3
3. Apple Inc. Internal Analysis and Summary..............................................................................................................4
4.1 Strength....................................................................................................................................................................4
4.2 Weekness..................................................................................................................................................................8
4. Market Map - Geography & Customer Segments..................................................................................................9
5. External Analysis.......................................................................................................................................................10
5.1 PESTEL Method.......................................................................................................................................................10
5.2 Porter’s Five Forces................................................................................................................................................11
6. Threat & Opportunities..............................................................................................................................................12
7. Swot Analysis and Summary...................................................................................................................................12
8. Conclusion..................................................................................................................................................................13
9. Recommendation.......................................................................................................................................................13
Bibliography..........................................................................................................................................................................14

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1. INTRODUCTION- APPLE INC.

Apple Inc., originally Apple Computer Inc., is a global firm based in the United States that designs and
distributes computer hardware, software, personal computers, and mobile devices. Apple was founded in
1976 by Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak, and Ronald Wayne, and it was incorporated in 1977. Apple went public
in 1980, to instant financial success. Apple has a 30-year history, and during that period, the corporation has
had its ups and downs in terms of financial performance. The corporation took a big step forward in 1984
when Apple launched the Macintosh computer, which gained them a lot of attention. Since then, the company
has focused on research and development, which has aided in the introduction of high-quality items to the
market. With the introduction of the iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad in 2007, Apple finally attained broad
success. The company is famous for developing computers and other gadgets and devices becoming a first
firm to feature innovative graphical user interfaces (GUI). In August 2018, Apple became the first publicly
traded US corporation to be valued at more than $1 trillion, followed by $2 trillion in August 2020 and $3 trillion
in January 2022. The corporation is occasionally chastised for its contractors' labor policies, its environmental
practices, and its corporate ethics, which include anti-competitive practices and materials sourcing. Despite
this, the corporation has a high level of brand loyalty and is considered one of the most valuable brands in the
world (Apple_Inc, 2022).

Apple Inc.'s global headquarters are located in Apple Park, a large circular ground scraper complex with a
one-mile radius in Cupertino, California's Silicon Valley (1.6 km). More than 12,000 people are housed in the
building, which opened in April 2017. During 2001, Apple stores were a huge success, outselling competitor
stores in the area and reaching $1 billion in yearly sales in three years, making it the fastest retailer in history
to do so. Apple has increased the number of retail locations and geographical coverage of its stores
throughout time, with 519 stores across 25 countries worldwide as of May 2022 (Apple_Inc, 2022). Apple is
one of the most recognizable brands in the world today due to the smartphone revolution with the iPhone
which generated 52% of $365 billion revenue in 2021. Apple envisioned the tablet as a hybrid device that
could function as both a smartphone and a laptop. Apple Watch was introduced in 2015 as an iPhone
accessory that tracks numerous health and fitness parameters. Then came AirPods, which cleared the door
for wireless headphones to become popular. It has also brought its subscription services to include music and
video streaming, video games, fitness, and cloud storage. This segment alone generated $53 billion in
revenue in 2020, making it Apple's second largest segment. Since 2018, Apple has split its business into five
segments: iPhone, iPad, Mac, Services and Wearable, Home and Accessories. The iPhone accounts for the
majority of Apple's revenue, but Services, Wearables, Home, and Accessories have both seen increased
priority in recent years as Apple seeks new ways to avoid revenue stagnation.

2. MISSION & VISION OF APPLE INC.

Mission Statement: “Bringing the best user experience to its customers through innovative hardware, software
and services.”

We can learn from the mission statement that the Apple Inc. is committed to provide best product to users to
meet unique needs which has contributed to the company success. Its mission statement has three main
components.

 Best user experience.

 Innovative Products.
 Innovative software and services.

Like its mission statement says, with no doubts, Apple products are elegant in design with maximum attention
to detail and highly engineered to its best level of hardware performance producing high quality products in
order to enhance the users experience.

Vision Statement: “We believe that we are on the face of the earth to make great products, and that’s not
changing.” Apple vision statement tells us about the company decision making processes, strategic
management and operations. As stated, Apple has always tried to make innovative high-quality product to

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hold its leadership in product design amongst its competitors. Likewise, the vision statement also tells us that
how apple is trying to produce less climate impact products. (Vision-Mission Statement, 2022)

3. APPLE INC. INTERNAL ANALYSIS AND SUMMARY

4.1 STRENGTH
Apple Ecosystem

“The ecosystem business model is a method of business development when you design a product in a way
that the value is delivered through an ecosystem of surrounded experiences created by the integrity of native
devices, software, wearables, accessories, payment technology, infrastructure, and digital services (Loboyko,
2021).” Apple makes tons of devices iPhone, Mac, Apple TV, iPad, Apple Watch, HomePod, AirPods along
with developing lot of software and technologies like airdrop, airplay, continuity, iCloud, facetime, iTunes etc
that ties up all devices together. For example, if you buy iPhone, you will be lured to buy other apple devices
because they interface and communicate with each other very well. Most of the other companies has also
tried to create this ecosystem but Apple has done it so well among all in creating unique Ecosystem by
allowing its users to start a task on one device and finish it on another as they share a common interface.
Apple Ecosystem is like a “Walled Garden” (Techopedia), you will get wired to its ecosystem which is difficult
to change.

Design and Quality

Apple is famed for its inventive product designs, which are both simple and elegant. Example is the iPhone: it
always has such a simple construction with no make-over, but it always carries that grace. And they've
become the embodiment of wealth and power. Apple ensures that a high-quality product is produced using
cutting-edge technology. This is why no Apple user ever complains about the product's quality. As a result,
there are a plenty of Apple service programs in place to assure excellent quality and client happiness .

(World Top Companies, 2022)

Technologically Advanced

In terms of technology, Apple has always been a step ahead of its competition. Airdrop and Siri are only two of
the most well-known features that have always attracted purchasers. Apple pioneered the concept of a high-
quality camera in a mobile phone, which was eventually adopted by its competitors. Apple has always had an
advantage over its competitors due to technological advancements.

Huge Market Share

The quantity of real and potential buyers is critical for any business. In terms of Apple, the company has a
sizable market. In 2022, it was estimated that over 1.8 billion Apple products would be in use (Hilliard, 2022).

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Diverse Product Range

Diversification is necessary for any business to expand by addressing market gaps. Apple has improved its
product line over time. Although its goods were initially fairly specific and exclusively tied to computers, they
gradually expanded their product line to include iPods, iPhones, Macbooks, Desktops, Smartwatches, and
much more. Aside from smart devices, Apple offers a wide selection of electrical accessories, like wireless
headphones, Airtags, iPhone cases, and more.

Convincing Annual Financial Report

Apple posted financial result of 1 st quarter FY 2022 with revenue record of $97.3 billion, up 9 percent year
over year. Both Apple’s product and service business grew during the year (Apple Newsroom, 2022).

(FY22 Q1 Consolidated Financial Statements, 2021)

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(FY22 Q1 Consolidated Financial Statements, 2021)

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(FY22 Q1 Consolidated Financial Statements, 2021)

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4.2 WEEKNESS
EXPENSIVE PRODUCT

Apple items can appear to be a luxury due to their high price. The products are priced to appeal to people in
the middle and upper classes. Apple products are out of reach for low-income people. Apple's biggest flaw is
its astronomically high costs. Hence, the product reaches only certain group of people who can afford the
high-end devices. This is when people start looking for its substitute where they can get still high-end
performance products but in affordable price.

NOT ENOUGH DIGITAL ADVERTISING AND MARKETING

Apple, unlike most other major brands and corporations, spends far less on digital advertising. Apple has
absolutely no TV ads or social media ads compared to other businesses like Samsung and Pepsi, yet they still
manage to achieve record sales year after year. Apple's digital advertisement spending fell by 68 percent
(Pathmatics Blog, 2020 ) in 2019 compared to the previous year. Imagine they could produce more income if
they did a better job of marketing their items through digital and social media.

RELIANCE ON IPHONE

Apple's iPhone sales account for the majority of the company's revenue. Despite efforts to expand its product
line, Apple's revenue is still primarily reliant on the iPhone. This reliance might land Apple in big problems if
people quit buying iPhones for whatever reason.

PRODUCTS ONLY COMPATIBLE WITH APPLE’S SOFTWARE

When customers enter into the Apple ecosystem after purchasing an Apple product, they have to purchase
only Apple software or accessories to keep using their Apple products. Apple's products are incompatible with
other devices since they don't support other applications or technology. In addition to this, most of the
software and functions are geo-restricted in some countries like United Arab Emirates. For example, the most
fascinating features of iPhone - FaceTime is not working in UAE as all internet calling app has been blocked
by the government, probably for security reasons and to protect the monopoly state-run telecommunications
corporations' income. (IPS, 2022).

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4. MARKET MAP - GEOGRAPHY & CUSTOMER SEGMENTS

Apple Target Segment
       

Type of Segmentation Services: iTunes and the

Operating system & Accessories: Apple
segmentation criteria Devices: iPhone, iTunes Store, Mac App
software: iOS, OSX, TV, Apple Watch and
iPad, Mac, iPod Store, iCloud, Apple
iLife, iWork related accessories
Pay,

Region US and international US and international US and international US and international

Geographic
Density Urban Urban Urban Urban
Age 18 – 45 18 – 30 20 – 35 20 – 45
Gender Males & Females Males & Females Males & Females Males & Females

Bachelor Stage Bachelor Stage

Newly Married Newly Married
Couples Bachelor Stage Couples
Bachelor Stage
Life-cycle stage Newly Married
Newly Married Couples
Full Nest I Couples Full Nest I
Demographic
Full Nest II Full Nest II

Income High earners High earners High earners High earners

Professionals, Professionals,
Students Professionals,
Occupation managers and managers and
Professionals, managers managers
executives executives

‘Hard core loyals’ ‘Hard core loyals’ ‘Hard core loyals’ ‘Hard core loyals’
Degree of loyalty
‘Switchers’ ‘Switchers’ ‘Switchers’ ‘Switchers’

Sense of
achievement and Speed of service Efficiency Recreation
belonging
Benefits sought Self-expression Efficiency Speed of service Self-expression
Speed of service,
Behavioural
advanced features
and capabilities
Determined and Determined and Determined and Determined and
Personality
ambitious ambitious ambitious ambitious
User status Non-users, potential Users Users Non-users, potential
users users

Non-users, potential Non-users, potential

 
users users

Social class Middle and upper Middle and upper Middle and upper Upper class
Psychographic classes classes classes
Lifestyle Resigned Aspirer Aspirer Succeeder Aspirer Explorer
Explorer
Aspirer Succeeder Explorer

Succeeder
Explorer
Risk aversion Risk avoiding Risk avoiding Risk avoiding Risk avoiding
Risk neutral Risk neutral Risk neutral Risk neutral
Risk loving   Risk loving

5. EXTERNAL ANALYSIS

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5.1 PESTEL METHOD

1. POLITICAL FACTOR

Apple manufacturers its products in China because of the lower cost of manufacturing. Hence, any political rift
between the US and China may affect its operations. In many nations, there are numerous more political
issues that can influence Apple's performance. Apple generates about 59% cent of its total sales from
international markets outside of United States and any kind of turbulence in politics in the region may deplete
the sale of the Apple Inc. (Annual Report, 2020)

2. ECONOMIC FACTOR

Apple is influenced by a wide range of economic issues, both directly and indirectly. These factors include the
market's overall macroeconomic climate, inflation and interest rates, as well as foreign currency exchange
rates. Further to this, Apple chose China as the location for its manufacturing facilities because of the cost-
effectiveness of resources in general and the lower cost of human resources in particular. Rising labor costs
are a crucial economic aspect that has a direct impact on a company's profitability. The profit margin of the
world's largest IT company by revenue is being eroded by rising labor costs.

3. SOCIAL FACTOR

Apple's business is affected by social or socio-cultural developments, so this will address some of those
aspects. There are a few socio-cultural trends that are crucial to Apple's success. In this day and age, the
world would be unimaginable without gadgets, mobile devices, smartphones, and tablets, therefore Apple has
established its dominance in foreign marketplaces. Some sociological reasons include changes in customer
taste and desire, population growth and population migration to cities. All of these things will have an impact
on the business. To overcome this factor, Apple has always stayed on top of the newest design and
technological trends.

4. TECHONOLOGICAL FACTOR

The taste of the consumers towards high tech devices and products seems increasing day by day and today
many high-valued technological products are being offered by other companies at affordable price in the
market. However, the growth in the demand of high-tech devices increases the growth of opportunity for
Apple because of its innovative approach in product development and customer brand loyalty. But still Apple
needs to update its products more often to beat its competitors easily.

5. ENVIRONMENTAL FACTORS

Apple's dedication to environmental protection is ingrained in its business processes. Apple actively works to
enhance its product design, manufacturing, energy use, and recycling initiatives to support a clean and
healthy environment for everybody, including (Environment, 2022) :

• Choosing materials and substances that are environmentally friendly

• Getting rid of waste in the manufacturing process
• Providing software tools that allow users to regulate their systems' energy-saving characteristics
• Customers all across the world benefit from our product recycling initiatives.
• 34% reduction in carbon footprint, 100% tungsten in the taptic engine, 100% final assembly sites
verified zero waste, no outer plastic wrap, 100% aluminium enclosure, no mercury no PVC no
beryllium no BFRS, 100% Polyester yarn are the few steps already taken by Apple Inc. on its
products with a plan carbon neutral in all products by 2030.

6. LEGAL FACTORS

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All the companies are influenced by the laws and regulations. If any company fails to follow the legal
directives, the company may face lawsuit which will not only affect the reputation of the company but also the
sales, directly or indirectly. Some of the examples are following proper business ethics, preserving labor
rights, following regional laws etc. Even though Apple claims to follow all legal factors but still the Apple is
being dragged into different controversial lawsuits like storing iCloud subscribers' data on third-party servers
without informing them (Avery, 2022 ). Recently, Apple Inc faces new lawsuit in UK for misleading iPhone
customers. According to the lawsuit, Apple abused its strong market position by falsely misleading customers
that software updates from late 2016 improved battery life when, in fact, they reduced it. This could attract
hundreds of millions of pounds in compensation for iPhone users (Gemmell, 2022).

5.2 PORTER’S FIVE FORCES

Apple’s strategies are partly based on the need to address forces in the external business environment. This
Five Forces analysis, based on Porter’s framework, points to the following strengths or intensities of external
factors in Apple Inc.’s industry environment.

1. Competition in the industry (Strong force)- According to an examination of Apple's competitors,

numerous companies compete directly with Apple, including Google, HP, Samsung, and others. Every
business invests much in research & development in order to introduce the most cutting-edge
products and win market share. As a result, the research of Apple's competitors reveals the industry's
fierce competition. The following are some of the elements that contribute to this force:
 The high aggressiveness of competitors in R&D and innovation is a strong force.
 Low differentiation of products is another strong force.
 Consumers can buy a new product without substantial investment, so the low switching cost
is another strong force.

2. The threat of new entrants (Moderate force)

The threat of new entrants is low to moderate in Porter's five forces for Apple. Creating a large
corporation in the industry is incredibly costly, and it necessitates the use of cash, people,
infrastructure, and marketing. Making a name for yourself in the world of personal computing and
devices necessitates brand recognition, which is an additional cost. The key aspects are:
 High investment requirements are a weak force.
 Brand development cost is another weak force.
 New entrants' potential and capacity development is also a tough call, which is a strong force.

3. The bargaining power of suppliers (Weak force)

Customers' bargaining power is influenced by both individual and group bargaining power, according
to Porter's five factors for Apple. Individual bargaining leverage is limited because Apple's revenue is
unaffected by the loss of a single customer. Collective bargaining power, on the other hand, is a
powerful factor.

4. Threat of substitute products or services (Strong force)

We perceive a weak danger of replacement items in Porter's five forces for Apple. This is a weak
force because there are currently no items that can match the features offered by Apple's products.
The following is a list of contributing elements to the threat of alternative products.
 Moderate to the high availability of substitutes is a moderate force.
 Inadequate substitutes are a weak force.

6. THREAT & OPPORTUNITIES

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Apple's supply chain was severely disrupted as a result of the Coronavirus outbreak in China. As a result,
Apple suffered significant losses. One of the initial losses suffered by Apple was the loss of $100 billion
(ZEEBUSINESS, 2022) in stock value as a result of the iPhone's late release. Although the situation appears
to be under control at the moment, you never know. A surge in Covid cases in China could result in lockdowns
once more, putting Apple in financial jeopardy. Year 2022, while the world economy was recovering from the
C19 impact, another major incident “Russia-Ukraine Invasion” depleted the world economy again. Apple also
has got shocked due to this unforeseen event and Apple has to halt its sales in Russia (Bloomberg, 2022) due
to which Apple might face loss of USD 3 mn in iPhone sales daily (IANS, 2022 ). In other way, Apple US has
equally threated by imposition of high tariffs on China, due to which the cost of imports from China has
increased. This will increase Apple’s production cost, increasing the prices of its products (Helmore, 2019).

However, despite of such threats, Apple's success can be ascribed primarily to its business approach. The
company has to put more effort on combining its design strength, hardware competence and software
prowess to ensure that users don’t leave the Apple Ecosystem and business is on long run. The Apple should
focus on bringing new product line with elegant design and seamless functioning devices. This will also help
to strengthen the Apple Ecosystem by increasing consumers experience reducing the business’s reliance only
on iPhone sales. Apple should also go into digital marketing to promote it products rather than only massive
launch event. Towards grabbing new opportunities and increasing its brand value, Apple is working on at least
two AR projects, one of which is an augmented reality headset that will be delivered in 2023 and the other of
which is a sleeker pair of augmented reality glasses that will be released later. The AR/VR headset isn't
expected to be available until 2023 at the earliest. According to reliable sources such Bloomberg's Mark
Gurman (Mark, 2022), the headset is expected to be released in 2023, with the glasses following in 2024 or
2025. However, this timeline for bringing a high-volume consumer AR headset to market raises threat about
whether Alphabet Inc./Google, Facebook Inc., or Magic Leap will be the first to accomplish so. If they do, it
won't be fatal for Apple's AR aspirations, but it will make for a fascinating battle between these huge brands.
Competitive Strength it can leverage by-

 Great engineering and design make Apple products strong in the fight of wearable gadgets.
 Hardware, Software and Services integrations works so smoothly in Apple devices same like Apple
Watch that connect to the iPhone and due to this feature, it was sold above 200 million units annually.
 The Apple Brand- Apple is the only firm on the planet that can generate excitement for a new
consumer electronics device like no other. And an ardently committed iOS user base has repeatedly
demonstrated its willingness to test out new Apple products.

Another major opportunity for Apple is the expanding demand for cloud computing, building up an extended
cloud framework could expand the benefit of the business in offering cloud-computing services.

7. SWOT ANALYSIS AND SUMMARY

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After analysis the SWOT of Apple Inc. Apple is in a reasonably good position since the strengths and
opportunities outweigh the weaknesses and threats that the company faces. It is clear that Apple's strengths
and opportunities give it a strategic advantage over its threats and weaknesses, which is mostly due to the
company's consumer reputation. However, the firm will benefit from addressing the above-mentioned flaws by
implementing effective management methods and removing any potential dangers it may face in the future.

8. CONCLUSION

Apple is a multinational corporation that is influenced by and can be influenced by market conditions. As we
can see from this study, and after examining Apple's strategy formulation and implementation, we can
conclude that Apple employs the most well-known tactics in the world, which are also available to other
companies, but they differ from their competitors in their execution method. Apple takes a unique approach to
the same tactics that are available. They're doing things in such a way that it's difficult for other companies to
compete with Apple in the market. Apple is one of the leading industries in the high-tech industry, competing
with other global giants such as Samsung, Sony, and Microsoft, and in order to maintain their position, they
must continue to develop long- and short-term strategies to avoid being demoted.

9. RECOMMENDATION

1. Apple should try to reach all size of customers by making the product more affordable to all class of
customer. Having said that Apple has tried to minimize the cost of iPhone or other devices but by
compromising the size of the storage capacity. The device with highly advance in all functions and
memory but less in the storage, how well the device will perform and will it be worth to buy such
devices ? It is hard to answer but Apple should enhance its strategy on creating devices using cheaper
but quality and sustainable components.
2. Apple should bring more new innovations before other rival company does. What we have seen is Apple
is releasing the upgraded models existing devices. New devices are very few- countable on fingertips.
Adding new devices will add values to its ecosystem boosting the sales revenue of the company.
3. Apple should enhance Business Continuity Plan to make themselves ready against any unforeseen
incidents in future.

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