...Apple Incorporated is a U.S. based computer and electronics firm that manufactures products such as the iPod, iPhone, Macintosh computer, iPad, and Apple Watch. Apple Incorporated was founded in 1976 by Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak, who released the Apple II computer in 1977 (Apple Inc…, 2015). The next product launched by Apple Inc. was The Apple Lisa which was released in 1983 and was the first computer to have a mouse and a graphical user interface (Apple Inc…, 2015). The first Macintosh computer came in 1984 however it was not successful due to the lack of market share to compete with IBM (Apple Inc…, 2015). After several years of financial losses, Steve Jobs launched a product redesign in 1997 that led to the iMac in 1998 (Apple Inc…, 2015). During the 2000s, Apple began to focus on portal MP3 devices such as the iPod and mobile phones like the iPhone. Then Apple began a new line of business in the music industry with iTunes. Today, Apple Inc. is a major competitor within the computer and consumer electronics industry. Apple Inc. is headquartered in Cupertino, California and has 76,000 employee based in the United States. Apple Inc. has directly and indirectly created and supported 1.9 million jobs in the United States (Israel & Johnson, 2016). Apple Inc. has stores located in 18 countries including the United States (Apple Inc., 2016). After a brief overview and history of Apple Inc., this critical analysis will take a look at the industry in which it operates,...
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...production are limited. We can use economic analysis to understand the consequences of our choices as individuals, organizations, and society as a whole. Here are the main points of the chapter: • Most of modern economics is based on positive analysis, which answers the question “What is?” or “What will be?” Economists contribute to policy debates by conducting positive analyses about the consequences of alternative actions. • Normative analysis answers the question “What ought to be?” • The choices made by individuals, firms, and governments answer three questions: What products do we produce? How do we produce the products? Who consumes the products? • To think like economists, we (a) use assumptions to simplify, (b) use the notion of ceteris paribus to focus on the relationship between two variables, (c) think in marginal terms, and (d) assume that rational people respond to incentives. • We use macroeconomics to understand why economies grow, to understand economic fluctuations, and to make informed business decisions. • We use microeconomics to understand how markets work, to make personal and managerial decisions, and to evaluate the merits of public policies. Learning Objectives 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. List the three key economic questions. Discuss the insights from economics for a real-world problem such as congestion. List the four elements of the economic way of thinking. List three ways to use macroeconomics. List three ways to use microeconomics. 1.1 What Is Economics? Economics...
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...Current Market Conditions Competitive Analysis Microeconomics 365 December 8, 2014 Introduction/ History of Apple, Inc. When participating in an increasingly competitive industry like the cell phone industry one must be prepared for any thing their competitors come out with. In order to stay ahead or at least in the game is to know your competitor and their product. Apple is one of the biggest cell phone competitors there is and knowing about them will always help out. Apple Inc. is a multinational corporation with 284 retail locations spanning 10 different countries. Apple has developed a unique reputation and is currently the largest technology firm in the world; with its stock market value reaching $500 billion in sales for 2011, (History of Apple, 2012). With headquarters located in Cupertino, California, Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak successfully invented, and launched the first personal computer kit on April fool’s Day in 1976; known as the Apple I. The following year, the Apple computer, or Apple I, led to the incorporation of Apple Computer, Inc. As technology grew through the 80’s and 90’s, Steve and Steve continued to manufacture personal computers, or PC’s, including product lines such as Apple II, Macintosh, and Power Mac. Advancement of Apple Computer Inc. Steve and Steve continued to grow Apple Computer Inc., becoming the multinational leader in the consumer electronics industry and in 2001, dropped ‘computer’ from its name; after the successful...
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...paper is written in response to the University of Phoenix Eco365 class. In this paper I will define economics, microeconomics, the Law of supply and demand and I will also identify the factors that lead to changes in supply and demand. The business world is very susceptible to the nuances of consumer choices. The ability to anticipate the trends in consumer consumption patterns is vital any company who seeks to be a leader or major player in their field. Constant research and analysis is performed each year to determine or create the trends not only in who are the company’s current customers but future customers as well. This research is also used to determine what those customers want and why. To really understand trends in consumption patterns, you have to first understand the basic principles of economics. Economics Economics is the science that studies the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services and with the theory and management of economies or economic systems (Colander). One example of economics is the new job tax credit that President Obama has proposed. This credit encourages businesses to expand their workforces and operations by offering $3,000 for each new job that a company creates and places someone in, thereby increasing production of products with the intent to lure consumers to spending more. Microeconomics Microeconomics is the study of the operations of the components of a national economy, such as individual firms, households,...
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...Competitive Analysis Rishi Madhav ECO/ 365 June 18, 2014 Professor Renee Barela-Gutierrez Current Market Conditions Competitive Analysis Here at Apple Inc. we are coming to our years end with the success of the iPhone 5s. With the iPhone 6 in development, it is that time of year where we must look at our new product and determine its potential success. With all newly upgraded software and added features such as a new camera system, it vital that we show our customers just how much more beneficial our product remains as the best. We will look at our competitors and more importantly their products that can potentially compete with the iPhone 6 and how this will affect our prices. Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak founded the company back in 1976, and both have driven Apple Inc. to be the largest computer companies in the world. While both were very smart, they decided to drop out of college and pursue their passion in the technology industry. Wozniak has a passion in computer design and eventually created the Apple I. Steve Jobs however always looked to the future and was able to convince Wozniak to sell the machine and eventually helped to start Apple Computer. Many people did not take the Apple I very seriously, and it was the design of the Apple II that helped launch Apple. Fast forward to 1982, apple because the fastest company to make $1 million in annual sales and by 1985, turmoil struck the company that eventually led to Steve Jobs firing. Once he left, Apple declared...
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...Current Market Conditions Competitive Analysis: Apple, Inc. ECO/365 February 23, 2015 Current Market Conditions Competitive Analysis: Apple, Inc. Apple, Inc. is a multinational corporation that creates consumer electronics, personal computers, computer software, commercial servers, and they distribute media content. Their leading product is a smartphone called the iPhone, which began selling in the early 2000's. It has made them billions of dollars over time, because their cost to manufacture the phone is less than what they can charge to sell the phone to consumers. This leads to Apple producing larger profits for their shareholders. Besides manufacturing the iPhone, Apple is also responsible for the iPad, iPods, and Mac computers. Apple is known to have expensive products, but their products still have a high consumer demand. The first iPhone was unveiled in the market and sold to consumers on June 29, 2007. The device is unique because it is centered on its touch screen user interface, Wi-Fi, and downloading capabilities. According to Steve Jobs, Apple’s former CEO, “iPhone is a revolutionary and magical product that is literally five years ahead of any other mobile phone…” (Apple Press Info, 2007). The special capabilities of this phone have since led to seven versions of iPhones being produced and released to market. Factors that can affect the supply and demand and hence the equilibrium price of iPhones are varied. When iPhones first came on the...
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...Market Structures ECO 204 Principles of Microeconomics Instructor: Christine Villasenor August 26th, 2013 Market Structures Every business throughout the business world will run their company in one of the four business structures. I am going to show the different examples of the different market structures of perfect competition, pure monopoly, monopolistic competition and oligopoly. Perfect competition is a big number of firms all making a familiar product that not one producer can affect the change in price. “If changes in nominal aggregate demand do not affect real output and employment, a financial crisis cannot be very important. However, the neutrality result does not really apply in the real world, either in the short or long runs.”(Ng, Y. 2009) An example of pure competition would be farms that produce common vegetables that we buy at the grocery store. There are so many farmers that produce fruits and vegetables that if one of them were to try to affect the market by lowering or raising prices, it would not really affect the prices of the rest of the market. But if a large portion of farmers where to work together about raising or lowering prices, we would see it affect the market more. “In reality, perfect competition is more theory than actual fact. While there are rare situations in which a marketplace functions with pure competition for a short period of time, the situation normally shifts as various factors change the stalemate created by...
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...company will follow this policy then the competitors will have no effect on the company. Products Sony Corporation is offering basically three types of products; 1. Electronics 2. Entertainment 3. Financial services 1. Electronics The electronic business of the Sony Corporation consists of the following products; * Digital Imaging * Personal computers * Smart Phones * Tablet * Television 2. Entertainment The entertainment products of the company are; * Music * Games 3. Financial Services The financial service business of the Sony Corporation consists of; * Sony insurance co. ltd. * Sony Assurance Inc. * Sony Bank Inc. Choice of Products/Product Lines The product line that I have selected for marketing report is the electronic products. I will conduct analysis of electronic product line of the Sony Corporation. Customers’ needs and wants Customer is the king. Customer is revenue for the...
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...Generation’s Market Conditions This analysis focuses on market conditions for the smart phone device, the “Generation,” set to be released by the team’s company, “Centurion Mobile,” this fall. This new device is similar to Apple’s iPhone. As a result, some of this analysis focuses on the competition of Samsung on Apple. This analysis will also provide a description Samsung that will be Centurion Mobile’s main competitor. It will also focus on issues that Apple has had in the marketplace because these issues may pertain to problems that Centurion will face in implementing the Generation (University of Phoenix, 2011). Competition Samsung is a global leader for electronic devices. However, unlike most others the company did not start dealing with electronics, but with groceries and from 1958 started expanding to other industrial sectors such as media, chemicals, and shipbuilding until the 1970s. Samsung began dealing electronics in 1969 when it established the products Samsung is known for like mobile phones, computer devices, and other electronics. In the 1990s, the company began to establish factories in other parts of the world like The United States of America, Germany, Thailand, Mexico, and China. Toward the end of the 20th century Samsung developed smart phones and phones combined with MP3 (Rowley, 1998, p. 108-110). Today the company focuses to the 4G industry in which it has made steady growth. The Samsung Galaxy Note 4 may provide the most competition...
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...Competitive Organization and Product in Organization ECO/365 Market Analysis and Recommendations Team B is a strategic planning group assigned to complete a competitive market analysis of the smart phone industry in preparation for our company’s potential new smart phone product. This paper is intended to summarize the research findings on the current leading competitor in the market, the iPhone s5 and our recommendations on how to successfully compete and maximize profit in the smart phone market. History of Apple Apple Computers was founded in April 1976 by Steven Jobs and Steven Wozniak. The company built computers and operating systems that were revolutionary for the industry. The company has had some competition, and therefore has had some ups and downs financially. Top management in the company has changed over the years and the company had difficulty competing with other computer companies. However, in the late 90s and early 00s the company had an increase in profits because of innovative products. In 2001, the company introduced the iPod. This little device was just a small music player. It played and stored music files that the customer could download on the Internet. Apple Inc. dropped the “computer” out of its name in 2007; the same year it introduced the iPhone (Sanford, 2013). The first phone made by the company was a success. In the following years the company continued to improve its product; introducing the iPhone 3g, iPhone 3gs, then the iPhone4, iPhone4s...
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...CHAPTER 1 | Economics: Foundations and Models Chapter Summary and Learning Objectives 1.1 Three Key Economic Ideas (pages 4–8) Explain these three key economic ideas: People are rational; people respond to economic incentives; and optimal decisions are made at the margin. Economics is the study of the choices consumers, business managers, and government officials make to attain their goals, given their scarce resources. We must make choices because of scarcity, which means that although our wants are unlimited, the resources available to fulfill those wants are limited. Economists assume that people are rational in the sense that consumers and firms use all available information as they take actions intended to achieve their goals. Rational individuals weigh the benefits and costs of each action and choose an action only if the benefits outweigh the costs. Although people act from a variety of motives, ample evidence indicates that they respond to economic incentives. Economists use the word marginal to mean extra or additional. The optimal decision is to continue any activity up to the point where the marginal benefit equals the marginal cost. 1.2 The Economic Problem That Every Society Must Solve (pages 8–11) Discuss how an economy answers these questions: What goods and services will be produced? How will the goods and services be produced? Who will receive the goods and services produced? Society faces trade-offs: Producing more of one good...
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...Fast Food Industries: Surviving the Economy Alicia Fernandez Microeconomics Research Paper January 5, 2013 Fast Food Industries: Surviving the Economy The first thing that comes to mind when I think of going out and grabbing something to eat is burgers and fries. McDonald’s, Burger King, and KFC are the first place that my mind would wander to when choosing a place to grab a meal to go. These three places are part of an industry that has been around for centuries. Fast food industries have been around for centuries. They have played a part in structuring our economy in the workforce and the market place. They also impacted us, the consumers, on how we eat and manage our budget. When it comes to employing teenagers, unskilled, or low skilled workers, fast food industries is the answer. Fast food industries are the top employers for low wage or minimum wage earners. To understand how fast food industries became one of the top employers for minimum wage earners, we first need to understand the industry. It does not require a lot of skills to work in one of fast food restaurants. Fast food industries focused on high volumes of preheated or precooked food that were served or prepared by an assembly line (Fast Food Industry Analysis 2013). This type of system gave fast food industries the opportunity to employ workers who are willing to work on minimum wage. For a long time fast food industries have been reaping the rewards of low wage earners. “Roughly 90% of...
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...5Frederick E. Webster, Jr. The Changing Role of Marketing in the Corporation New organization forms, including strategic partnerships and networks, are replacing sinnple market-based transactions and traditional bureaucratic hierarchical organizations. The historical marketing management function, based on the microeconomic maximization paradigm, must be critically examined for its relevance to marketing theory and practice in the 1990s. A new conception of marketing will focus on managing strategic partnerships and positioning the firm between vendors and customers in the value chain with the aim of delivering superior value to customers. Customer relationships will be seen as the key strategic resource of the business. .^ ., OR the past two decades, some subtle changes in the concept and practice of marketing have been fundamentally reshaping the field. Many of these changes have been initiated by industry, in the form of new organizational types, without explicit concern for their underlying theoretical explanation or justification. On the academic side, prophetic voices have been speaking (Amdt 1979, 1981, 1983; Thorelli 1986; Van de Ven 1976; Williamson 1975) but seldom heard because, representing several different disciplines, they did not sing as a chorus. More basically, perhaps, few listeners were ready to hear the message or to do the intellectual work necessary to pull the several themes together. Like the Peruvian Indians who thought the sails of Ihe Spanish...
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...Learning Objectives Chapter 1 Distinguish between microeconomics and macroeconomics. Explain the factors that drive demand and supply. 2 Describe each of the four different types of market structures in a private enterprise system, and compare the three major types of economic systems. 3 3 Identify and describe the four stages of the business cycle. Explain how productivity, price level changes, and employment levels affect the stability of a nation’s economy. 4 Discuss how monetary policy and fiscal policy are used to manage an economy’s performance. 5 Describe the major global economic challenges of the 21st century. Economic Challenges Facing Contemporary Business Rudyanto Wijaya/iStockphoto Copyright ©2012 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. NASCAR Tries to Restart Its Engine ASCAR is widely known as the most popular spectator sport in the United States. Yet even its most diehard fans are tapping the brakes when it comes to buying tickets to their favorite speedway. Tracks in cities such as Phoenix and Talladega have reported double-digit percent declines in attendance. Just as worrisome is the fact that, instead of watching races at home, fans are changing the channel. Some critics of NASCAR blame a drop in dramatic action and a mandated car chassis design that leaves car models undifferentiated. Others say that the races are just too long and the broadcast commentary is boring. But NASCAR defenders argue that there’s another huge obstacle: the...
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...THE CHANGING ROLE OF MARKETING IN THE CORPORATION Frederick E. Webster, Jr. For the past two decades, some subtle changes in the concept and practice of marketing have been fundamentally reshaping the field. Many of these changes have been initiated by industry, in the form of new organizational types, without explicit concern for their underlying theoretical explanation or justification. On the academic side, prophetic voices have been speaking (Arndt 1979, 1981, 1983; Thorelli 1986; Van de Ven 1976; Williamson 1975) but seldom heard because, representing several different disciplines, they did not sing as a chorus. More basically, perhaps, few listeners were ready to hear the message or to do the intellectual work necessary to pull the several themes together. Like the Peruvian Indians who thought the sails of the Spanish invaders on the horizon were some phenomenon of the weather and did nothing to prepare themselves for attack (Handy 1990), marketers may ignore some important information in their environment simply because it is not consistent with their past experience. The purpose of this article is to outline both the intellectual and the pragmatic roots of changes that are occurring in marketing, especially marketing management, as a body of knowledge, theory, and practice and to suggest the need for a new paradigm of the marketing function within the firm. First, the origins of the marketing management framework, the generally accepted paradigm of the marketing...
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