Apple Analysis

Apple Analysis

Executive Summary

Apple was created by Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak over 40 years ago. The current Apple brand is considered to be strong, profitable and stable, but in 1996 Apple almost went bankrupt. Steve Jobs transformed the past Apple brand to the current company most know and love today. His focus was on innovative and technologically advanced non-PC products in the 2000’s.

The ability for the management team at Apple to understand the data, interpret the data into useful information and the business intelligence and knowledge of Jobs has thrust Apple into the forefront of the market.

This paper will review key elements of Apple’s success. It will break down the strategies that were used to decide how to approach the market space with their current product. Even though the market competition is high, Apple is able to maintain a high market share with their innovative products. The Information Management Systems that Apple was able to apply allowed them to continue to be competitive. These would be the reasons why Apple implemented the technology they did, when they decided to do so.

How does Apple continue to maintain competitiveness in the market place? A combination of their accounting, sales, finance, marketing, operations management teams work together to create business ideas. Operating cross functionally within each of these teams, it leverages each of team to create the most effective system possible.

Apple’s product I-Tunes, do not give them a competitive advantage in the music download segment. Apple does have a competitive advantage in the I-Phone and I-Pad applications. Initially, Apple had the first mover advantage, since they were the first with a new competitive advantage (Baltzan, 2011). This was quickly duplicated and they have since lost their some of their competitive advantages. A competitive advantage, according to Baltzan (2011), is a feature of a product or service on which customers place a...