INTRODUCTION
In 1996, Apple was a struggling company that had lost more than 70% of its market capitalization in the past decade. Apple’s sales had fell dramatically and their new personal computers weren’t particularly popular with consumers. The return of Steve Jobs to the company was a turning point for Apple and initiated a new era for the firm. With the launch of innovative products such as the iPod, iPhone and iPad, Apple became the biggest brand in the world. Now it remained to be seen if Tim Cook would be able to continue to develop new products and maintain Apple’s success.

PROBLEM STATEMENT

ANALYSIS 1) Review Apple’s supply chain for the iPhone. What differences set it apart from its competitors?
The supply chain starts with the development of a new product each year, this lifecycle is shorter than the one for traditional products. During the development process, the design team works closely with the production team to ensure the feasibility of products in large volumes. In addition Apple products have a limited number of configurations, this allowed its supply chain to be streamlined opposed to some of Apple’s competitors (Dell) which have products with a large variety of characteristics. Another difference that set Apple apart from its competitors is that the company is highly integrated, with centralized R&D and accounting, instead of separate departments for each product. In the case of manufacturing, Apple likes to purchase key components in advance and also has a program to buy equipment for the suppliers in exchange for supply assurance and reaching cost targets. Product demand is forecast with 150 days of advance to allow adjustments in productions schedules but sometimes Apple altered orders at short notice and suppliers need to adapt. Apple also signs exclusivity agreements with key suppliers that allowed them to receive large