Market assessment, planning and strategy of Apple Inc Essay

Market assessment, planning and strategy of Apple Inc - Essay Example The firm that is analyzed in the paper is Apple. It was co-founded by Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak in California in 1976 as a micro-computer manufacturer. The following year the company was incorporated and released one of the first commercially successful personal computers, the Apple II. In 1984, the company released the Macintosh, which changed the computing world with its revolutionary graphical user interface. Following the success of these two products in the market, Apple had its IPO in1984. In 2001, the company changed from being a personal computer manufacturer to a consumer electronics company. Today, the company designs, manufactures and markets mobile communication and media devices, personal computers, and portable digital music players, and sells a variety of related software, services, peripherals, networking solutions, and third-party digital content and applications. Apple Inc. has a worldwide presence and sells its products globally through its retail stores, online stores, and direct sales force, as well as through third-party cellular network carriers, wholesalers, retailers, and value-added resellers. Between 1994 and 1997, the company experienced record-low stock prices and severe financial losses, a scenario that only begun to be corrected with the re-instatement of Steve Jobs as the CEO in July 1997. Currently, the company boasts of being the most valuable company in the world with one share valued at US$ 598.35, net sales in 2011 of US$ 108.6 billion and free cash flow of US$ 33.27 billion. As at September 2011, Apple has a workforce of 63,300 employees.... The company’s obsession with excellence means that it only participates in markets where it can have a significant contribution (Chaffin, 2009). For this reason, Apple Inc. believes in focusing on few projects at any given time. With this mission statement, Apple categorizes its customers into three segments: consumer, small and mid-sized businesses; education; and enterprise and government. The company believes in giving its customers a high quality buying experience, therefore, in its major markets Apple sells many of its products and third-party products directly to consumers and businesses through its retail and online stores. In other markets, the company invests in programs to enhance reseller sales by placing high quality Apple fixtures, merchandising materials and other resources within those locations (Apple, 2011). To better meet the needs of its global market, Apple’s business is divided geographically into the Americas (North and South America), Europe ( Europe, Middle East and Africa), Japan, Asia-Pacific (Australia and Asia) and Retail (Apple-owned retail sales globally). Examination of the Market Environment Cooperative environment With the introduction of services such as iTunes Store, iBookstore, App Store, Mac App Store and iCloud, Apple moved from being merely a product manufacturer and seller to providing a platform that supports different business ecosystems. For example, the iBookstore supports the eBook business that comprises of authors, publishers and customers. In fact, in 2009 Apple came up with a new type of pricing strategy in the eBooks industry that shifted pricing power from the retailers to the publisher. Under the iBookstore agency model,