Submitted by: Submitted by teamsport3
Views: 389
Words: 2027
Pages: 9
Category: Business and Industry
Date Submitted: 02/06/2012 09:47 AM
Issue
Over the past decade, Apple Inc. has positioned itself as a leading innovator in the technology industry. The width of Apple’s product line increased with the development of the iPod and iPhone. Its entrance into the music and cell phone markets cemented its mission to become a cutting-edge digital hub. With the most recent addition of a PC tablet, the iPad, the value of the Apple brand has never been higher. Apple’s capitalization reached an all-time high of nearly $220 billion in 2010, approximately a 290% increase from just two years prior. The issue facing Apple is how to maintain and build on the momentum created in the last several years. Apple must devise a strategy to maintain its brand reputation and hold off the fierce competition in markets in which it holds a dominant share.
Major Issues
Competitors are trying to keep pace with the technological innovation from Apple. With each new device Apple creates, competitors are attempting to mimic or improve the technology. One of the issues it faces is how to maintain and potentially grow their product mix. Since the unveiling of the iPod in 2001, Apple has added depth to its product line with variations of the iPod to appeal to a larger segment and demographic. These effectively cannibalize more than 70% of the mp3 player market by 2010. It must use a similar approach to their other products and ascertain which products must be improved, modified, or deleted. This is critical to avoid companies from gaining a competitive advantage through updated products and technological enhancements.
The creation of the iPad was designed to be a multi-functional tablet, supposedly improving upon the one-dimensional Kindle, Amazon’s tablet for digitalized books. The issue is what applicable uses it offers to consumers as opposed to previously developed portable computers. It is anticipated that by 2012, portable PC’s will account for nearly 70% of all PC shipments worldwide. Apple must create a market development...