AGGREGATE DEMAND AND

AGGREGATE SUPPLY

MACRO ECONOMICS

Submitted by:
Harsh Gupta – 1820411

Kanika Bothra – 1820441

APPLE INC.

Tim Cook’s Personality as a Strategist

 With having leadership skills, Tim Cook carried forward Steve Job’s philosophy and
even improved them.
 He trusts his colleagues and believes their ideas to be innovative and brilliant.
 He knew he had to take risks when he was appointed as the CEO of Apple Inc.
 Among his other qualities, he appreciates people having different perspectives on an
idea. He values effective collaboration.
 Moreover, his humble nature suggests that he is down-to-earth, and not swept by the
fortunes made by his company. Not allowing the vices to get to him is yet another
great personality trait of Cook.
 While Steve Jobs was aggressive, Tim Cook chose to remain true to his virtues by
staying calm and passive and thereby, leading the company to new heights with his
own strength.
 However, under Cook’s term of serving the company as the CEO, he hasn’t really
brought about any new significant product innovations like Steve Jobs’ iPhone
(except the Apple Watch).
 Tim Cook places risky but well-thought about bets on his latest company innovations.
For example, Apple TV+ and HomePod are too risky ventures due to the prevalence
of already well-established competitors in the market.
 He believes in what he’s doing and admits when he goes wrong.

Product Development and Categorization of Apple Inc

Apple Inc’s products and services are classified as below:

1. Apple – I : Personal Computers (1976)

2. Apple – II (1978)
3. Apple – III (1980)
4. Macintosh (1984) – advanced capabilities with an intuitive GUI but closed operating
system
5. Discontinuation of several products with the rejoining of Steve Jobs such as, Newton
PDA, the LaserWriter printer line, and the Apple QuickTake Camera (1997)
6. New website launch to sell Apple products directly to customers online (1997)
7. iPod, a portable digital music player (2001)
8. iTunes, a digital store front (2003)
9. Switch from closed to an open-source, UNIX based operating system, Mac OS X
(2005)
10. iPhone (2007)
11. iPad (2010)
12. Apple Watch (2015)

Several incremental product innovations were also brought in these products.

Along with these, Apple also entered other segments such as digital content (Apple TV+),
acquisition of Beats Electronics for its premium consumer headphones – Beats by Dr. Dre.
Apple Inc also launched HomePod (Siri) as a digital assistant to compete with Amazon’s
Echo (Alexa). Launched in 2014, Apple Pay represents Apple’s approach to mobile
payments. Apple also partnered with Goldman Sachs to launch a physical credit card to help
users better manage their money.

Competitors of Apple and Their Strategy

Following are the major competitors of Apple Inc. and their strategies are highlighted in bold.

1. Samsung
Samsung is the one of the top competitors of Apple in the Smartphones segment.
Samsung is the pioneer in selling smartphones in the entire industry, in terms of units
sold. Apple iPhone and Samsung Galaxy are unequivocally contending to increase
market share. Unlike Apple which outsources manufacturing to Foxconn, Samsung
manufactures its own smartphones along with the parts, giving it a cost advantage.

2. Alphabet’s Google
Google is known for its search engine, online advertising, cloud
computing, navigation system, Operating systems, mobile
applications, etc. Google’s diversified acquisitions and ventures
pose a rivalry to Apple Inc’s product lines. It is also discussed that in
future, Google might attempt to compete with Apple Watch.

3. Amazon.com
Amazon, with its diversified product lines, offers every imaginable product online
along with its own line of consumer products. The company’s digital assistant Alexa
directly competes with Apple’s Siri. Amazon’s new earbuds, called Echo Buds,
compete with Apple’s AirPods, capturing 53% of the global market share. Moreover,
in 2016, Amazon began to offer its video-streaming services – Amazon Prime Video,
competing directly with Netflix and Apple TV+.

4. Chinese Competitors
Apple’s iPhone faces stiff competition from China (Huawei, Xiaomi, Oppo, and Vivo)
accounting for over half of Chinese smartphone market. In order to regain the market
share, Apple launched a series of iPhones in late 2019 with improved camera quality
as that is a major deciding factor amongst the people of China when it comes to
buying smartphones. Apple sold these iPhones at a lower price than the previous
models. Increased competition from local smartphone makers in China and
trade tensions between US and China have led to a steep fall in Apple’s sales
since 2016.

SWOT Analysis of Apple Inc.


STRENGTHS
1. Strong brand image
2. High profit margins
3. Rapid and effective innovation
processes
4. Expansion in services and
product lines
5. Abreast with latest technologies
SWOT ANALYSIS OF
APPLE INC.
OPPORTUNITIES
1. Phenomenal customer retention rate
2. Smart wearable technology
3. Qualified professionals
4. Expansion of distribution network
5. Development of new product lines
WEAKNESSES
1.High selling prices
2. Limited distribution network due to
exclusivity policy
3. Entering into areas of non-competency
such as digital content streaming, credit
card, etc.
4. Incompatibility with other softwares
5. Inability to attract more new customers
6. Lack of significant innovative products
THREATS
1. Aggressive competition
2. Coronavirus Outbreak
3. US-China trade tensions (China Tariffs)
4. Market penetration
5. Lawsuits (eg. Samsung vs Apple Inc.)