...Abstract This essay will explain the importance of a SWOT analysis for a business. It will research Apple, Inc., and explain their strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats. The paper will show how these aspects impact the company. It will provide methods that management can use to overcome their weaknesses and threats, as well as how to take advantage of opportunities and strengths. The importance of a SWOT analysis A SWOT analysis is important to an organization because it analyzes the climate of the company overall. It provides a candid look at the strengths and weaknesses of the organization. This allows management teams to decide how to best use the strengths of the company, and how to improve the weaknesses. When goal setting and long-term planning, these are areas that either can be exploited, or need improvement. When reviewing opportunities and threats, an organization must look at its corporate environment. The opportunities are aspects of the environment that a company can take advantage of such as a way to expand or grow customers. Threats to an organization can come in many forms. A company must make every effort to avoid or minimize threats to its bottom line, or even its mere existence. A SWOT analysis helps to identify what is good and what needs improvement in a company. While strengths and weaknesses are the internal indicators of an organization’s need for improvement, opportunities and threats are the external forces that determine needed...
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...Geneva Budd MBA 501 Apple- SWOT analysis Feb. 15, 2016 Strengths: Period of innovation was a huge strength for Apple. They were the first movers on Smartphones and mp3 devices. They had a dynamic leader in Steve Jobs, as the mind behind the innovation that was pumping out of Apple during the great times. There is also a huge Apple base. There is a true brand loyalty for apply products. Almost cult like following of apply products and people that still to this day claim they will never leave Apple. Weaknesses: The loss of their leader in Steve Jobs really hurt Apple. Many felt that the only reason Apple was doing well was because there was a genius at the lead of the company. Tim Cook tends to speak to the past instead of the future in his launch announcements which further adds to people feeling that Apple has hit it’s peak and will only go down from here. Tim Cook’s personality could be looked at as weaknesses because he is starkly contrasted to the personality of Steve Jobs. He would rather be out of the limelight and for a company that has been so vocal for the last couple of decades it could really hurt it’s image and brand. Opportunities: Apple should move into the next step of innovation. They have to keep the image of being the first mover and the new and hip thing. It seems like virtual reality seems like the new cool hip thing that Apple should be apart of. The driverless car is the new revolution in the transportation realm. It is also...
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...this has now changed. First, Apple now has a full range of apps, software and products that are interlinked and support each other. Second, new products and supplements will be released soon (iTV), hence expanding the ecosystem. Third, Apple has a strong customer loyalty, which increases due to Apple’s closed ecosystem, which, in turn, is supported by customer loyalty. So the combination of Apple’s expanding closed ecosystem and customers’ loyalty increases firm’s competitive advantage. 2. Apple is a leading innovator in mobile device technology. Apple has been chosen as the most innovative business in the world for the 3rd time in 2012. Company’s core competency of producing innovative products is the strength the company builds upon and is able to bring the most innovative products to the market. Apple is in 2012 voor de derde keer verkozen tot het meest innovatieve bedrijf ter wereld. 3. Strong financial performance ($10,000,000,000 cash, gross profit margin 43.9% and no debt). Apple’s financial performance is one of the best among many companies. Company currently (end of 2012) holds about $10,000,000,000 in cash, which can be used for acquisitions, buying back company shares and other matters. It also has higher gross profit margin than its main competitors, which is equal to 43.9%. Company has no debt and is not directly affected by interest rates or credit markets. Apple levert een zeer sterke financiële prestatie. Apple had eind 2012 ongeveer $10 miljard...
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...Proiect Comportament organizational - Planul de afaceri sl companiei APPLE - 2013 - 2014 CUPRINS: I.ISTORIC APPLE II.SITUAŢIA ACTUALĂ A. PERFORMANŢA ACTUALĂ A COMPANIEI APPLE B. POZIŢIA STRATEGICĂ A COMPANIEI III. MEDIUL EXTERN AL COMPANIEI APPLE A. ANALIZA PEST 1.FACTORII POLITICI 2. FACTORII SOCIALI 3.FACTORII ECONOMICI 4. FACTORII TEHNOLOGICI IV. AMENINŢĂRILE MEDIULUI CONCURENŢIAL A.MODELUL PORTER V. MEDIUL INTERN AL COMPANIEI APPLE VI. ANALIZA SWOT (Putere, Slăbiciuni, Oportunităţi, Ameninţări) VII. MATRICEA BCG VIII. ALTERNATIVE STRATEGICE ŞI STRATEGII RECOMANDATE A. ALTERNATIVE STRATEGICE B. STRATEGIA RECOMANDATĂ IX. MENŢINERE ŞI CONTROL I. ISTORIC APPLE În 1976, Steve Jobs şi Steven Wozniak porneau o firmă de produse electronice într-un garaj închiriat din Palo Alto, în sudul Californiei. Acest garaj este temelia a ceea ce urma să devină curând "Silicon Valley". Peste 37 de ani, alţi doi tineri, într-un alt garaj, porneau o altă firmă legendară: Apple, o afacere de zeci de miliarde de dolari a fost începută în acel garaj. Apple a proiectat, dezvoltat şi comercializat numeroase linii de produse şi servicii electronice. Compania îşi vinde produsele în domeniul educaţiei, oamenilor de afaceri oamenilor politici şi deasemenea clienţilor pasionaţi de electronice şi creativitate. În timp ce Apple îşi dezvoltă activitatea de comercializare, dirijându-şi activitatea pe diferite segmente, se...
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...Yolanda Davis Scanning the Environment American InterContinental University Online July 4, 2013 Apple SWOT Analysis Strengths Key Factor-Innovation Apple has been the leader in technological innovation with the release of such products as the MacBook Computers, iPods, iPads, iPhone and more recently the announcement of iTV. According to the 2012 Global Innovation 1000 conducted by Booz & Company, Apple ranked number 1 for the 3rd year in a row. Although many may feel that innovation is about creating new products all the time, Apple’s idea of innovation is about creating quality products (Krasnv, 2013). By building on their strength over the years to create quality products they have also built a foundation as lead innovators and constantly change the technological game with their products. Key Factor-Brand As a leader in innovation, Apple has also secured their brand value by constantly creating products that are well designed but also by understanding that brand is less about the logo and more about aligning the business strategy and employee base with the ability to influence how the consumer felt about the product. This factor is demonstrated by the fact that at least half of every U.S. household own one Apple product minimum despite the price of their products (Gralnick, 2012). Although not infallible, brand power does reflect a company’s marketing ability and Apple has shown the world that they have marketing power by ranking number two behind Coca Cola in 2012...
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...designing of the hardware, through manufacturing of the product till the software design and implementation. This complete control helps Apple achieve the hardware- software integration which delivers an unique user experience. The rest of the market lacks such integration. And also its products are designed with minimalism and ergonomics in mind right from inception, this ensures that the users are delivered with products that are very simple to use and look also look aesthetically pleasing. With its mark in the music industry, computer industry, phones market, books market, cloud storage market, virtual wallet market and also its recent foray into the wearables market, Apple a diversified market presence. Apple’s unique UXD has an incredibly smooth learning curve that even children could get used to its softwares in a relatively lesser time. Apple has its own halo, which amasses brand loyalists in the every industry it is in. This indirectly helps the company in other businesses the company might set foot in the future. Apple follows the bricks and clicks model, it has an online store and also retail outlets across the globe, this gives it a solid market presence. 1.2 Weakness : The products from Apple are designed with an artistic mind and being premium priced, comes out as an luxury product that cannot be a orded by the masses. Apple products incur high design and production costs than products of other competitors. Apple’s OS, be it it’s mobile platform or desktop platform...
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...Apple Inc. is a very successful producer of computer software and hardware that leads in its competitive industry. To evaluate the progress, success, and faults of the company, the SWOT analysis is used. SWOT analysis stands for Strength, Weakness, Opportunity and Threat for a particular organization, which can help in formulating a strategy for its business and can also help in analyzing its internal environment (Strengths & Weakness) and external environment (Opportunities & Threats). First of all, according to the article “Apple Inc. : Services - Company Profile, SWOT & Financial Report”, the author states that strong R&D capabilities and great brand image are the biggest strengths of the company. Apple’s strength relies on focusing Research and Development, “In the last three years, the company invested more than $7,592m in research and development. The R&D team of the company executed several projects to enhance and develop various products and technologies.” (“Apple Inc. : Services - Company Profile, SWOT & Financial Report” 19). R&D helps the company to create innovative products and stand out from its competitors. Apple expenditure trend shows that the money spent for R&D increases year after year. Apple’s return of investment on R&D paid off with innovative products and with company’s revenues. Moreover, Apple’s brand image is highly recognizable and holds brand awareness to the majority of consumers. This solid brand image can increase the sales of the new products compared...
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...SWOT Analysis Apple Strengths Apple is considered a successful company. Due to the good profits of the iPod music player, it was a booster for Apply to bring up a whole new series of products that form up the Apple brand. Apple is one of the established IT brands in the world. They have enthusiastic and loyal customers. In 2011, they came up with iCloud. This enables the users to store their things remotely on a computer and it will automatically synchronize with your iPhone, iPad and other apple products when it is connected to Wi-Fi and is charging. When you change or upgrade to a new iPhone model or product, you can download the contents stored previously on the new gadget. It is also known as the remote storage. iMessaging is made available in 2011 for Apple products. It is a free messaging system from Apple to Apple product using the 3G network. This is a big boost and many said that it is due to the already available Blackberry Messenger. Weaknesses There was a report that the Apple iPod Nano might have a faulty screen. Apple has also commented that the batch of its product has screens that comes to impact would break. Apple replaced all the faulty items. In addition, early iPods had faulty batteries. Thus the customers were offered free battery cases. The music industry has also added pressure on Apple to increase the price of its music download file. Many of those companies make more money from iTunes (the downloadable music files) than the original CD sales...
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...Apple SWOT Analysis II MGT/521 Management October 31, 2011 Erick Espinosa Abstract Apple is a company that concerned of the environment and has been working for more than 20 years to minimize the impact their products have on the environment. Apple has developed and formulate an environmental policy in 1990 and since then, Apple has continue making their products more energy efficient, eliminating toxic substances. Apple is also the only organization that all the products they sell not only meets but exceeds the firm energy guidelines of the ENERGY STAR specification. In 2009 become the first company to report their total carbon footprint giving the opportunity to their clients to see Apple progress and efforts. Studying the financial statements of Apple investors and also costumers can determinate the health of the company, with the statements investors can decide if is a good investment risk by studying them in depth because the financial statements inform all of the business assets and liabilities and also include information about how much shareholders would receive as dividends from each share of stock. Companies calculate the earnings per share by dividing their net income by the total number of outstanding stock. Apple SWOT Analysis The environment of Apple is unique in this type of industry, because they focus on all the steps that their products pass through, Apple calculate their carbon footprint establishing the impact the company has in the planet...
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...Abstract This individual project is a SWOT analysis on Apple. We will analyze the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. Once the analysis is completed, we will propose a strategy and a product to take advantage of their vulnerabilities to increase the company’s market share. The strategies will be used to make sure the highest benefit to the company will be looked at with great detail. The evaluation would suggest the need to extend with the strategy or to redefine them. SWOT Analysis of Apple Apple Incorporated is managed by CEO Tim Cook. Apple manufacturers’ computers, computer software, computer hardware, electronics. Apple has grown since 2001 when they launched the iPod mp3 player. Apple is the most prosperous electronics company in the world and has $156.508 billion in revenue and has profited $41.733 billion all in the year 2012 (DataMonitor, 2006). SWOT ANALYSIS Strengths 1. Strategic Alliances: Apple has been thriving in increasing and improving strategic alliances with lateral manufacturers and intermediate connection giants like Verizon, Comcast, Disney, and TBS. Strategic alliances have been a source of comparable benefit as the association can focus on making innovative products like iPod, iTunes, and iPad. 2. Creativity: Creativity is apples well renowned strength in the entire industry. Apple has continued to be creative, an example of which is the creativity it conveyed to the OS and hardware conceive...
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...SWOT Analysis Apple Strengths ?Apple is a very successful company. Sales of its iPod music player had increased its second quarter profits to $320 (June 2005). The favourable brand perception had also increased sales of Macintosh computers. So iPod gives the company access to a whole new series of segments that buy into other parts of the Apple brand. Sales of its notebooks products is also very strong, and represents a huge contribution to income for Apple. ?Brand is all-important. Apple is one of the most established and healthy IT brands in the World, and has a very loyal set of enthusiastic customers that advocate the brand. Such a powerful loyalty means that Ample not only recruits new customers, it retains them i.e. they come back for more products and services from Apple, and the company also has the opportunity to extend new products to them, for example the iPod. Weaknesses ?It is reported that the Apple iPod Nano may have a faulty screen. The company has commented that a batch of its product has screens that break under impact, and the company is replacing all faulty items. This is in addition to problems with early iPods that had faulty batteries, whereby the company offered customers free battery cases ?There is pressure on Apple to increase the price of its music download file, from the music industry itself. Many of these companies make more money from iTunes (i.e. downloadable music files) than from their original CD sales. Apple has sold about 22 million...
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...1. Swot analysis Strengths: Apple is a successful company with a well known brand. They have longevity in the market place and are a very profitable company. In the quarter ended September 2011, Apple had its all time record high sales of Macintosh and iPhones, ever. They posted a quarterly revenue of $28.27 billion and a quarterly net profit of $6.62 billion. International sales accounted for 63 percent of the quarter’s revenue, according to a press release on their website announcing their financial results for the fiscal fourth quarter. Apple has a very loyal set of customers and the company continues to provide new products to its customers due to its easy to use product range. Startup costs are extremely high so the probability of new entrants is low. The existing companies have capitalized on the distribution channels and have created strong branding awareness that makes it difficult for new comers to compete. The probability of success is so low that competitors pursue niche markets rather than trying to compete with the bigger companies. Apple positioned itself years before so it has created its space in the computer industry just as IBM, Hewlett-Packard, Gateway and Dell. Weaknesses: Pricing is high on many of their products. Proprietary operating system. Opportunities: Loyal customers, successful iPad and iPhone product lines, good reputation. A new version of Apple TV could leverage the web, and capitalize on the issues that Netflix has recently...
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...Apple SWOT Analysis Purpose of SWOT analysis The main purpose of the SWOT analysis is to identify the most significant factors that affect a company and its market both internally and externally (Hooley, G. 2004). This analysis provides Apple with quick, executive keys by looking at strength and weaknesses alongside opportunities and threats. It’s designed to help the company’s strategy formulation. The company will be able look at which strengths should be developed and best deployed, which weakness will be the most vulnerable to market change and competitor action and which relevant future strategy for building new strengths will be most profitable in the market. Strengths Apple is a company, which manufactures a variety of products including computers, operational software, mobile phones, portable digital music and related accessories. The brand is well known for high quality products, which help differentiate them from competitors. The company owns one of the top brand names in technology worldwide with 54% of their profits coming from foreign markets (Apple Annual Report, 2006). As highlighted by Everett M. Rogers, customers are always interested in trying the latest and up to date pieces of technology. By understanding customers and knowing how to fulfil their wants, Apple’s products are created with a unique design with hi-tech capabilities, attracting the attention of their target audience. As a result, market share is continually increasing. The company...
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...Business 200W – Business Research and Communication Individual Case Analysis Apple Inc. SWOT Analysis Company Overview Apple Inc. is an American multinational corporation which focuses on designing and manufacturing technology products such as consumer electronics, personal computers and software. Apple Computer, Inc. was established in Cupertino, California on April 1, 1976 and incorporated on January 3, 1977 by Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak. The company used this name for the first 30 years until it removed the word “Computer” on January 9, 2007 to reflect its expansion into the consumer electronics market in addition to its original computer market. Apple designs, manufactures and markets personal computers, servers, network solutions, peripherals, mobile communication devices, portable digital music players, and related accessories, software and services. The company’s product portfolio comprises Mac computer systems, iPod portable digital music and video players, iPhone mobile phones, iPad portable multimedia, and Xsan and Mac OS servers. The company’s applications include Mac OS, iTunes, iLife, iWork, iClould, Safari, QuickTime, MobileMe and others. Apple mainly operates in the United State and manages its business primarily on geographic structure. It develops global market through five operating segments: the Americas, Europe, Japan, Asia-Pacific and retails. The company sells its products through online...
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...Jeremy White Kaplan University Dr. Sjuib May 17, 2012 Executive Summary: Apple Inc, is an American multinational organization which deals in manufacturing, designing and marketing computers, computer software and different consumer electronics. The company has been listed in NASDAQ exchange under ‘AAPL’ ticker symbol. The company is headed by Mr. Bill Campbell. The present CEO of Apple Inc. is Mr. Steve Jobs, who has a strong focus on innovation. The company works strongly on innovation and technology, so as to have a competitive edge in the market, with a strong focus on innovation, the company is able to makes differentiated products which makes Apple Inc. one of the most successful company. Company overview: ‘Apple Inc, is one of the biggest manufacturer of personal PC’s , mobile communication devices and portable music and video players. The Company’s products and services include the Mac line of desktop and portable computers, iPhone, the iPod line of portable digital music and video players, Apple TV, Xserve, a portfolio of consumer and professional software applications, the Mac OS X operating system, third-party digital content and applications through the iTunes Store, and a variety of accessory, service and support offerings. The Company sells its products worldwide through its online stores, its retail stores, its direct sales force, and third-party wholesalers, retailers, and value-added resellers. In addition, the Company sells a variety of third-party...
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