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As at the end of 2009, what was the major strategic challenge facing Apples senior management?
Apple is a global brand and a market leader. However, it is now battling to keep up due to strategic crisis resultant from a range of internal and external factors core to its design and related business strategy specifications. Although computer sales soured considerably for Apple prior to 2008, the companys management faced numerous challenges in deciding on its various product categories and had to take precautionary measures to avoid the following notable issues that stood out in its previous years of operation (Apple Inc. 4).
- Emphasis on the use of proprietary designs as opposed to mutually exclusive designs that can be cloned by other manufacturers.
- Placing excessive focus on style and design at the expense of the real performance of its products.
The above were the companys key business strategic specifications.
Apples generic strategy and a brief description
Overview
Apple Inc. has gone out of its way to bring about strategic value in the manufacture of computers and other related products in its industry of operation. The company has managed to stand out from its competitors with its emphasis on design, quality, elegance, outstanding customer service while at the same time outsourcing actual production to trusted electronics manufacturers. Even so, Apple has encountered various challenges ranging from stiff competition to the commoditizing of the notebook market (Apple Inc. 8).
Generic strategy
Since its inception, Apple has been pursuing a wide differentiation strategy by producing exceptionally high quality designs with customized service. The companys strategy is broad, placing emphasis on unsophisticated product users to special needs high end users.
The competitive intensity in the industry segments in which Apple competes
The advent of personal computers and notebook usage have resulted in intensive competition characterized by dozens of manufacturers selling in the already saturated computer market globally. Consequently, the penetration of computer in the day-to-day life of individual customers and businesses has led to the gadget becoming a necessity and more of a commodity product. Most users place more emphasis on business economy as opposed to sophisticated features.
Consequently, this has led to the upsurge of low end products from such competitors as Dell, Lenovo and HP. Further, the similarity of product features resulting from standardized industry settings has set the stakes high hence necessitating Apple to rethink its strategy (Apple Inc. 15).
The specific strength or weakness, opportunity or threat that explain the challenge, e.g. a strength that is threatened, an external threat that is looming, etc.
The most apparent threats facing Apple Inc. include relatively prices on the companys products, incompatibility with other company products and increased competition from such companies as Dell and HP. In addition, there seems to be increased music downloads with increased competition.
The above can be perceived to be the main external threats facing Apple Inc. All in all, Apple has designed a strategy to stay aloof of the competition by coming up with high end products while still producing products for low end users. This factor has played a huge role in preventing market share erosion. Case in point is the production of the high end iPhone 4S while still maintaining the production of the free on contract iPhone 3gs.
In addition, Apple Inc. has proven that it does not need to be the market leader. This is because the company has managed to maintain a growing customer base with the production of subsequent devices. Consequently, the firms revenues have continually superseded those of competitors. With continued innovations in such areas as cloud computing among other areas, Apple Inc. is bound to stand out from the existing and future competitive forces (Apple Inc. 16).
Works Cited
Apple Inc.: The Steve Jobs Effect. Apple Case Study, 1-16. Web.
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