NOTE: Free essay sample provided on this page should be used for references or sample purposes only. The sample essay is available to anyone, so any direct quoting without mentioning the source will be considered plagiarism by schools, colleges and universities that use plagiarism detection software. To get a completely brand-new, plagiarism-free essay, please use our essay writing service.
One click instant price quote
Apple's Core (Competency) It's remarkable that Apple Computer Inc. , which has been on the rise for nearly a half-decade, was on the edge of collapse not so long ago. The refusal to license the Mac OS in the 1980 s; the out of date products, increasing expenses, and unstable management in 1990 s all these Apples past mistakes cost years of crisis difficult to overcome. John Sculley was the CEO of Apple in the early 1990 s. His priorities in the management of the company were first, to get companys price down to $ 1, 000, from $ 3, 000; second, to open up the architecture, by selling the OS and finally and the third, to make handheld devices big. But even being in the chair of CEO Scully couldnt change the strong culture of Apple.
He was changed by the German-born Mr Spindle and he in his turn was replaced by Gil Amelia, both determined brilliant managers. But the crises went on until in 1997 Steven P. Jobs who co-founded Apple Computer Inc. in 1976 retook the steering wheel of the company. He tightened up operations, re-energized Apple's talented and trigger troops, and in 2001 supervised the issue of a little device called the iPod, which has made Apple more powerful than ever. But the success of the company depends not only on the iPod generation but also on sales of Apples Macintosh PCs.
The Macintosh, is a line of personal computers, the original Macintosh was released in 1984. And it was the first commercially successful personal computer to use a graphical user interface (GUI) and a mouse instead of the then-standard command line interface. The current range of Macintosh varies from Apples entry level Mac mini desktop, to a mid-range server. Macintosh systems are mainly targeted towards the home, education, and creative professional markets. Production of the Macintosh is based upon a vertical integration model in that Apple facilitates all aspects of its hardware and creates its own operating system.
This is in contrast to PCs, where different brands of hardware run operating systems such as Microsoft Windows. Over the years, Mac software has come a long way; we now have a Mac version of Microsoft Office, and most of the tools used in a typical business environment. In graphic arts, the Mac rests a king; no one in that business will touch a PC. It appears that advantage in graphic arts is the card Apple intends to play with the OS X. Perhaps Apple is choosing between two separate audiences - graphics arts professionals and traditional office users. And it looks like Apple turns to the first category of users.
If we refer to the statistics data we clearly see that although Apple is clearly enjoying a strong lead with its portable music player and its online music store, the Mac becomes increasingly important for the companys development and it brought in only 39 % of Apple's sales lat year, and the music player market will be on the rise for only a couple of years. Dominating the digital music player market, which is expected to hit $ 12 billion in 2009, with a share of more than 70 %, Apple has just 5 % of the $ 75 billion home PC market. Apple's decision to switch from IBM to Intel as its microprocessor supplier is one of the greatest in the corporate history strategy. For Apple, this move has both risks and opportunities. Had IBM been willing and able to evolve the PowerPC line to meet Apple's perception, there was little reason for Apple to switch to Intel. The strongest Apple's marketing slogan was Think Different.
When competing against such a huge corporation as Microsoft, the more different you are the better. And PowerPC's different object code made it almost impossible for cross-platform viruses to propagate. Currently, Apple is struggling to meet demand for its new MacBook Pro laptop which cost $ 1, 900 that is nearly twice the price of its rivals. According the customers expectations the company has to launch out lower-priced Mac Books in the nearest future so that Apple could compete for the lion's share of the market.
So what is the Apples strategy nowadays? It is to focus on development of new markets with its proprietary, innovation-heavy approach, to harvest them, and to go on. But one big question surrounds the computer market: can Apple produce results impressive enough to satisfy the investor community? Notwithstanding the fact that Apple is doing phenomenally well at this time, there is always a place for scepticism. The question is if the new Apples strategy success can stand the test of time. If we take any branch of industry, we can see that during the early stages of its development, when the functionality and reliability of a product isn't yet adequate to meet customer's needs, a proprietary solution is almost always the right one, because it allows to assemble all the pieces together in the best possible way.
But once the technology matures and becomes popular, the industry standards show up. That leads to the standardization, which lets companies specialize on pieces of the general system, and the product becomes modular. At that point, the competitive advantage of the early leader dissipates, and the ability to make money moves to whoever controls the performance-defining subsystem. In the nowadays PC world, that means Microsoft and Intel, and the same thing may happen in the iPod world as well. So, the proprietary iPod is Apples competitive advantage only temporarily. Apple has some trump cards it can play to increase the Mac's market share.
Intel-based Macs will be able to run Windows programs right along with Mac titles. That could tempt flocks of irritated PC owners to give the Mac a shot, taking into account the fact that they can continue using familiar programs. But for the moment, Apple invests in its transition to Intel and is creating the next magical digital entertainment device. Customers expect the company to introduce to the market an Apple branded cell-phone-cum-iPod soon. All those Apples contributions to our every day life could help Apple maintain its success. But the long-term prosperity of the company depends on the Mac.
References Finneran. M. (2002). Apple Computer A Real Without A Clue. Computer Review, 32, 22 Burrows. P. (2006). Apple At The Crossroads.
Business Week, 3978, 68 Anonymous. (1993). Apple Computer Falling To Earth. The Economist, 328, 7826, 61 - 62
Free research essays on topics related to: apple computer, mac, apple, competitive advantage, music player
Research essay sample on Competitive Advantage Apple Computer
