时间：2022-10-18 03:31:57
Abstract
Apple？ today announced financial results for its fiscal 2012 fourth quarter ended September 28， 2012. For the quarter， the Company posted a net profit of US$45 million or US$0.13 per share. These results compare to a net profit of US$66 million， or US$0.19 per diluted share， in the year-ago quarter （Bryan Chaffin， 2012）. Apple is ranked number six among the main computer makers， with a market share of 3.48 percent， and worldwide， it is in ninth place with only 2.4 percent market shares for the first quarter of the year 2012. As one of the computer giants， Apple’s predominance position is losing. Before we provide recommendations and suggestions for the future strategy choices and direction of the company， it is essential to have an integrative understanding of the external environment and internal environment， identifying the opportunities， threats， strengths and weaknesses， and explore the core competencies， which can generate competitive advantages.
Key words： Apple Computer Inc.； Strategic analysis； Recommendation
1. THE APPLE MODEL
As a computer and consumer electronics giant， Apple expands itself with four core philosophies， which are“Think Different” （continuous innovation spirit）， direct sale business model， customer-focused services and Apple brand power. With “Think Different” spirit， Apple innovates and upgrades its products inexhaustibly. As a successful imitation， Apple sells the products directly to customers over the web， by phone， and Apple stores in an endless stream. Implementing the customer-focused services and “Switcher” campaign， the population of Apple World and even People’s Republic of Mac （Feng， 2009） is proliferating day after day. Apple is not only an illustrious innovator and inventor， but also a successful imitator and strategist.
2. THE PROBLEM： HAMLET’S SOLILOQUIES： TO BE， OR NOT TO BE： THAT IS THE QUESTION
Comparing with Apple’s market shares for both the desktop and portable computer decreasing by half， computer maker Dell is in first place in U.S. market share with 26 percent and worldwide with 14.3 percent （Jim Dalrymple， 2011）. HP and Compaq， IBM， Gateway and Microsoft are also indulging themselves in “the excitement of combat， of living on the edge” （Nelson DeMille）.
Encountering those fierce heavyweights， how can Apple settle the deficit and effectively fight with those competitors in these arenas？ How can Apple recapture the market shares in the general computer battlefields and achieve continuous victories in the consumer electronic market？ The principle of survival of the fittest and the law of the jungle are always dominating the markets， so that how to defeat the adversaries is an enigma concerning life and death.
In the external environmental analysis of Apple Computer， Inc， I mainly utilize three tools and models.
First of all， in Appendix 1， PESTDG Analysis （Hitt， Ireland and Hoskisson， 2012） is employed to analyze the segments and elements in the general environment， which is constituted by political and legal segment， economic segment， socio-cultural segment， technological segment， demographic segment， and global segment.
Secondly， the five forces of competition model （Hitt， Ireland and Hoskisson， 2012） in Appendix 2 is introduced to operate the industry environment analysis， which refers to threat of new entrants， bargaining power of suppliers， bargaining power of buyers， threat of substitute products， and intensity of rivalry among competing firms analysis.
The competitor environment analysis （Hitt， Ireland and Hoskisson， 2012） in Appendix 3 is the final part of the external environmental analysis， whose components are future objectives， current strategy， assumptions， and capabilities. 3.1 The General Environment： PESTDG Analysis According to the PESTDG Analysis， main trends from those segments can be identified from those segments.
In political and legal segment， there is little evidence showing that political and legal elements are strongly influence the opportunity and threat toward Apple.
In economic segment， the commodity status of personal computer makes the battle for market share is all the more intense. The whole computing industry has been running into an era that only the strong survive. But the popularization of the computer with the potential profits is allurement to those players with the number of personal computers in use growing from 5.5 million in 1982 to 65 million in 1992.
In socio-cultural segment， entering the “Digital era”， the computer system is becoming more and more essential in any organizations， especially the governmental and academic communities， education sector such as schools， colleges and universities. The demands from these customers are continuous increasing. But unfortunately， Apple’s dominance in the education market throughout the 1990s is being lost to Dell. If Apple could recapture this traditional area of strength， it is sure to be a catalyst for the recovery and reboot.
Another motivation of the personal computer market is the emergence of digital-generations， who are both the existing and potential powerful consumer in the individual retail market.
The third assumption from the socio-cultural analysis is that with the society’s progressing， the people， especially the young generation would like to make choices which are intended to express their individualities and their differentiations from the others. They prefer the products which are designed to accompany them wherever they go. This trend is motivating those competitors to pursue the added-value from the customer-focused services and customized products， which are exactly advantage fields of Apple， who is marketing customizable servers， aiming at both high-end and low-end consumers， offering great color choices and artistically designing their unique and elegant-look products to interest customers， who are conscious of aesthetic factors.
In technological segment， computing technology is rapidly evolving. It’s a golden opportunity to every player in this arena. Also， Apple should take the fortune at the tide with the latest technology development， in order to attract and satisfy the customers and enhance itself.
In demographic segment， from the May 2001 to now， approximately 50 Apple’s company controlled retail stores are in operation， most of which are located in high-traffic locations such as shopping malls and urban shopping districts. Those stores are attracting the digitalgenerations， contributing to the increase of the visibility of and excitement for Apple products.
While in global segment， all the players in this racing are endeavoring to scramble for the market shares， which are the lifeline concerning the future. Apple’s decreasing shares in the worldwide market lead to the reduction of the firm’s profit and if Apple couldn’t stop this disadvantageous trend， the case would only go worse and worse.
3.2 The Industry Environment： Five Forces of Competition Model
The threat of new entrants is medium. The fierce competitor is the most powerful deterrence to those firms who want to penetrate in to the computer market. The commodity status of the personal computer leads the competitors in this game to be fighting not only for the margin， but also for surviving in such a mature market. The others firms would even like to be a spectator rather than a player in this arena at this time. Moreover， even the computer giant Apple has adjusted its strategy to the variable market， attempting another fighting in the consumer’s electronic market， and seeking the products diversification.
Capital requirement in high-tech field is very high. In addition， the exiting competitors in this arena have controlled the supply and distribution channels. The newcomers may not easy to get the access to those channels. Besides， the economies of scales， which is attributing to the outsourcing of manufacturing and assembling work， are really great barriers to the new entrants.
Last but not least， another important factor the new entrants must take into consideration is that it seems not easy to convert the loyalty of the consumers from a certain range of choices to other brands.
3.3 The Competitor Environment Analysis
Apple’s goal is increasing the market shares in the general computer market， software market as well as achieving continuous success in the consumer electronic market. While others competitors， including Dell， HP and Compaq， IBM and Gateway， are all pursuing even larger market shares， generating more profit， dreaming of dominating and cornering the computer market. As a result， a close battle is ineluctable. Moreover， Microsoft wants to maintain its ongoing myth in the software arena and prevent Apple from ripping this myth off.
The emphasis for the future is to solve the problem of the $45 million loss and find an effective way of fighting in the general PC market with those competitors， especially in the education fields. Apple should also steadily implement the “Switchers” campaign， and strengthen itself in the consumer electronic market.
Although Apple isn’t occupying an advantage position in the PC market， with iPod， Apple has entered a brand new competitive arena with consumer electronics firms， producing products for the entertainment industry. And now iPad has constituted 12 percent of the company’s$5.4 billion revenue in the year 2011. In addition， Apple has implemented the “Switchers” campaign for the sake of attracting new customers away from competitors instead of merely retaining current customers. The strategy of Apple is effective to face the changes in the competitive structure.
Apple’s future in the general PC market may be very volatile because of the intense competition. At the same time， in the field of music player， the evolution of the technology has been introducing the volatile characteristic into the market.
What’s more， the Dell’s direct-to-customer business model is imitated and the competitors have been aware of the important role that the customer-focused service is playing. In the tough competition， the competitors make effort to develop their own differentiations and utilize advantages in every fields of computing technology.
Compared to others players in this arena， Apple have its own particularity. It has explored its own multi-business solutions rather than more industry-specific strategy implemented by other competitors. Apple has many avenues of generating profits， although the predominance position does not belong to Apple at present.
Firstly， resource audit （Appendix 5） is employed to identify the tangible resources and intangible resources. And resource gaps can be detected from this analysis. Secondly， the Porter’s value chain analysis （Appendix 6） is utilized to identify the competitive potential of capabilities. And finally， I use the value chain as an intermediary stage， with the four criteria of sustainable competitive advantage in the process of proving the core competencies of Apple.
4.1 Resource Audit and Resource Gaps
Both the tangible and intangible resources （Appendix 5） of Apple are very abundant. Steve Jobs and his efficient management team have outsourced most of the manufacturing， assembly work， logistics and transportation planning， which is a cost leadership strategy and construct an integrated supply chain and distribution system. “Careful management of suppliers is increasingly critical to Apple’s success. The company lets its suppliers keep in inventory certain “industry standard” parts and components， Cook says. “（Doug Bartholomew， 1999） Over 50 company controlled stores， whose “concept is 27 units strong-a significant milestone for both Apple and Jobs， who “guaranteed” at least 25 units by yearend.” （Tim Craig， 2012）， are in good operation. In addition， Apple’s delicate alliance with Microsoft in the software field and cooperative relationships with Dell in the distribution sector are “WIN-WIN Strategies” among the competitors. With continuous innovation spirit， the successful customer-focused services and “Switchers” campaign， which are a differentiation strategy， Mac people and the brand reputation， are proliferating.
From the Resource audit， two main resource gaps are explored. One is technology gap. Apple’s software， including operating system and applications still do not have the perfect compatibility， bringing the problem that Apple software sales are limited by the amount of Apple hardware sales.
Another is finance gap. $45 million deficit has been posted in the fourth quarter of 2002 is a financial abyss that Apple is facing. It is occupying a precarious position on the lower tier of financial performance in the computer industry.
The first core competency from the value chain analysis （Appendix 6） is “Think Different” philosophy， namely， Apple’s continuous innovation spirit. It is a core philosophy which is complemented within every sector of both primary activities and support activities. It links Apple’s innovation with several new product offerings and technology， Apple’s taking the lead in successfully attempting and penetrating into the consumer electronic market， build-to-order model， customer-focused services strategy， exclusive “store-in-store” program， “Switchers”campaign， aggressive advertising strategy， and Macworld Conference and Expo. The “Think Different” philosophy is not only utilized in the technology innovation， HRM field， and customer services， but also in channel management and operation sectors. It is a valuable capability because it helps Apple to generate brand new strategy， adjust the current strategy flexibly to the changeable market， capture the latest technology and keep the profitability of the company. As such， it assists Apple to neutralize threats and exploit the opportunities. In addition， “Think Different” is a rare capability as well as a costly and difficult to imitate capability since few rival firms possess this valuable capability and it is a unique organizational culture during every stages of the company development， continuously promoting differentiation achievement.
Another core competency is Apple’s brand power. With super eminent customer-focused services strategy as well as the aggressive advertising strategy， excellent reputation， goodwill and image have been built up among the consumers. In addition， the “Switchers” campaign was starting up as another aggressive bid to win over Windows users. Just as the proverb goes， “No pains， no gains”， on advertising and “Switcher” campaign， Apple spent nearly three times the percentage that Dell spent in the four quarters ending March 2002. “It’s a really powerful brand，” said Robin Rusch， editor of the Brandchannel. com， which awarded Apple “Brand of the Year” in 2001.“The overwhelming presence of Apple comes through in everything they do.” （Leander Kahney， 2002） This is also one of the achievements by Steve Jobs， who is devoting himself assiduously and faithfully to rejuvenating the Apple brand. Apple’s original minds and advertising can be found everywhere in the world， with this name nearly coming to define the word “ubiquitous”.
Firstly， Apple should continue to implement the hybrid strategy， which is integrated by cost leadership strategy and differentiation strategy， continuously carry out outsourcing strategy and promote economies of scales to decrease costs as well as further develop the “Think Different” philosophy， innovating in the products， management process， marketing and services， which is the groundwork of differentiation strategy.
Secondly， Apple should persist in the “Switchers”campaign， customer-focused services strategy and aggressive advertising strategy， driving the users away from the Microsoft to Apple， and expanding the market shares.
Thirdly， Apple should not only lever existing competencies to compete in the consumer electronic market， but also built new competencies to fight for the predominance， accelerating the self-enhancement. For example， it could invent new edges for this market， besides iPod series products.
Fourth， Apple should establish a close relationship with the governmental and education organizations， which can constitute the major source of profit in the general PC market. After all， Apple’s core markets are schools--a lowbudget， limited-growth sector （Michael Boland， 2012）.
Last but not least， enhance the compatibility of the software and hardware as well as properly settle the loss to fill in the gaps.
The semiannual Macworld Conference and Expo is really the carnival of Apple fans from all over the world. For them， the name of Apple is always breathing the magic with the legendary innovation spirit. Steve Jobs’ dilemma is not very hard to settle， if he could find the right position to inhabit and right way to go.
In the near future， the hybrid strategy will definitely give Apple a leg up， which supports Apple to insist its cost leadership strategy， differentiation strategy， outsourcing strategy and the customer-focused services strategy under the guidance of the “Think Different” philosophy.
At the same time， with the improvement of the compatibility of Apple’s software and hardware， Apple’s new situation can be expected soon and a new fashion is under Apple’s leading.