Academic Report

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APPLE STRATEGIC PLANNING

Urna Semper
Instructor’s Name
30 December y

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We were founded by Steve Jobs in 1977 in California with the
objective of designing, manufacturing, and marketing a variety of
digital products. These include personal computers, mobile devices,
and portable music players. It is estimated that Apple is the second-
largest manufacturer of mobile devices in the world in terms of
revenue and assets. The company offers a wide range of related
products, including software, services, accessories, networking
solutions, and third party digital content, in addition to providing
software.

A key component of Apple's business strategy is to provide its

customers with innovative products and solutions that are at the
forefront of technology. Operating systems, hardware, applications
software, and business processes can all be developed from scratch,
which can be designed and developed. Approximately 147,000 full-
time equivalent employees will be employed by Apple by September
2020, as per the estimates. In 2019, the world's largest technology
company experienced an increase in revenue that surpasses the
industry's average rate of growth by 6%. This is $14.3 billion, making
it the most booming technology company in history. There was a
significant increase in growth in the categories of Wearables, Home

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and Accessories in the Annual Report, 2020. This growth has mainly
been attributed to these three product categories.

The business strategy of Apple involves constantly enhancing its

products and ecosystem, focusing on design and functionality. The
first company to reach a value of USD1 trillion intentionally cultivates
a reputation for not paying dividends to shareholders by cultivating a
reputation for not paying dividends. Within the next few months, Apple
plans to reduce its dependence on the sale of iPhones.

Apple is widely considered democratic in its leadership style. It is

widely acknowledged that Tim Cook is an effective leader who
practices "quiet management." Yet some commentators keep making
the assertion that he lacks the creative genius that Steve Jobs
possessed before he died.

Apple is organized in a hierarchical manner from an organizational

perspective. An organizational structure within the company is
characterized by product-based groupings and a strong commitment
to collaboration between departments and groups. In the meantime,
the corporate culture of the multinational technology company
facilitates creativity and innovation and is characterized by a heavy
workload for employees at all levels. A high level of secrecy and a
strong emphasis on diversity and inclusion are other characteristics of
Apple's corporate culture. The company is presently facing numerous
business challenges, such as quality problems. As a result, these
issues negatively impact the company's sales and brand image.

According to the report presented by this company, the company

applies a variety of analysts' frameworks that are used for business
analysis and strategic planning. In addition to SWOT, PESTEL,
Porter's Five Forces, Value Chain, and Ansoff Matrix, the organization
should consider McKinsey 7S as well. A thorough review of Apple's
business strategy, leadership, organizational structure, and
ecosystem is also provided in the report. Additionally, the report
analyzes marketing strategies, ecosystems, and discusses the issue
of corporate social responsibility

Analysis of Consumer Electronic

Industry - Apple Industry Analysis:

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Consumer electronics is currently experiencing rapid growth in
emerging markets. It is estimated that the market will be worth USD 1
trillion in 2020, and this growth is expected to continue. Additionally,
from 2021 to 2027 we expect the market for consumer electronics to
grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of over eight
percent. Moreover, China is the largest producer and exporter of
consumer electronics products in the world, particularly brown goods,
as well as the largest exporter of electronic products in the world. It
should also be noted that Chinese products are produced five times
as much as those produced in other countries such as the U.S. In
spite of COVID-19, the consumer electronics industry in 2020 was
negatively impacted by lockdown restrictions and declining income

levels among consumers, causing multinationals such as Apple,

Samsung, LG, etc. to resort to providing services to their customers.

It may be difficult for companies such as Apple, Samsung, LG, and

others to compensate for their poor product quality by suspending
their production at several manufacturing plants (Wadhwani and
Saha, 2020). While China is still on top of the list of exports of
consumer goods in 2020 despite the impact of Covid-19 on the global

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economy. Additionally, in 2020, the number one exporter of Chinese
goods would be the US, which would import 42 % of all Chinese
exports of electronic equipment. This table shows the exportation
statistics of electronic components from various countries for the
years 2020 and 2040.

Several other countries, such as Hong Kong, the USA, South Korea,
Germany, Taiwan, etc., also export electronic goods. As shown
below, the consumer electronics goods industry is forecast to grow at

the following levels:

Accordingly, it has been found that the outbreak of covid-19 has had a
detrimental effect on consumer electronic product demand, but the
global market should grow by 6 percent in 2021 at an international
level. Additionally, it has been predicted that the Asian and American
markets for consumer electronics goods will grow by 7 percent by
2021. Additionally, rapid technological advances, such as artificial
intelligence, the Internet of Things, machine learning, and so forth, are
expected to profoundly affect consumer electronics market growth.

Additionally, India is also expected to become an influential

manufacturing hub in the upcoming years as the Indian government's
national policy on electronics (NPE 2019) looks forward to domestic

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manufacturing turning over $400 billion by the end of 2025. In addition
there are around 250 mobile phone and component factories in India
at present, and the Indian government is doing its part to promote
development of advancing technologies in the electronics sector by
implementing an array of incentive programs like the Electronic
Development Fund and the Modified Incentive Special Package
Scheme. Besides this, another factor that is predicted to affect the
growth of consumer-related electronics in India is a growing demand
for human labour and infrastructure in China, which will lead to a
decline in the local electronics manufacturing there and an increase in
the production in India.

Apple's products and strategies helped

it win before the release of the iPhone:-
With the release of the iPod in October 2001, Apple received a
resurgence that began in 1998, but it was the release of the iMac in

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1998 that served as the catalyst for the company's rise to the top of
the list of the world's most valuable companies. 

"Apple founder and CEO Steve Jobs explains that with the iPod,
Apple has created a new category of digital music players that will be
able to allow customers to always have their music collection with
them wherever they go and that they can listen to them anytime they
desire. It has always been commentated that listening to music will
never be the same following the introduction of the iPod. Digital
players existed before the iPod, but Apple's marketing skills always
resulted in their success."

It has been well documented that when the iPod came out in 2001,
Apple implemented a "digital hub" strategy. It has been well
documented that the iPod received unmatched publicity and
marketing campaigns. Introducing the world's first digital music player,
the iPod, Apple has created a new way for users to listen to music on
the move, and to carry all of their music library in their pocket.  

Originally, the device was available in five different storage capacities,

with a starting price of less than £300, coupled with a capacity of 5GB.
With the iPod's success, Apple's total revenue from the first quarter of
2000 to the first quarter of 2001 increased from $1.9 billion to $3.2
billion as a result of the iPod's success. 

Until July 2002, the iPod not only stayed at its highest position as the
best selling digital music player in history, but it became the best-
selling digital music player in history once Apple dropped the price to
$299 and made the iPod compatible with Windows operating
systems. 

It has occupied a dominant position in the digital music player market

since its entry in 2004. A lot of advertising was done for the iPod. On
television, billboards and print advertisements, shadow figures were
featured dancing to the music of their iPods in print, on television, and
on billboards. It was only a matter of a few years ago when Apple was
able to establish for the iPod a reputation that is considered both
iconic and appealing to both young and old audiences alike. This
period of time with the iPod lasted between 2001 and 2014.   

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Upon the launch of Apple iTunes in 2001, a vast new market in digital
music was opened up, a market that Apple has dominated for more
than a decade. Due to iTunes' amazing value and wide reach,
customers from every corner of the globe signed up for the service.
Music companies and artists too gained a great deal of benefit from
iTunes. Additionally, Apple was the first company to develop a
copyright protection system that was easy to use by its customers and
protected recording companies from infringement. Despite Apple's
dominance over the blue ocean for over a decade, as new
competitors entered the market, the challenge that Apple has faced
has been to stay focused on the expanded mainstream market rather
than to compete on the high end or benchmark for competitive
benchmarking practices.

Apple is able to achieve digital dominance with the knowledge it

gained through the sale of music, which it has then applied to the sale
of TV shows, movies, and finally applications. Apple has been able to
achieve success in the digital arena through this skill set. The
company has developed a distribution strategy as well as a usage
model in order to maintain all three aspects that make up its
ecosystem.  

Steve Jobs' 15-inch MacBook Pro was an introduction in 2006, and it

was the thinnest, fastest, and lightest laptop he had ever produced.
Because the MacBook has been so successful, Mac sales have
grown three times as fast as PC sales over the last year.

Apple's TV was originally introduced to the world in March 2007 and

received much praise for its sleek appearance, hassle-free setup, and
overall ease-of-use - all aspects that marked a major departure from
previous network-enabled home entertainment systems of the
previous decade. Nearly a year later, the hardware of the device has
remained virtually unchanged, but a free software update has given it
a makeover. There was then a price reduction of $229 on the 40GB
model, and a price reduction of $329 on the 160GB model. 

Regardless of how long it takes, Apple maintains its high level of

innovation and quality in its products and services, including OS X,
iLife, and professional applications. It also played a major role in the
digital media revolution as a leading player in the portable music
player, iPod, as well as the iTunes online store, adding to its
reputation as a pioneer of mobile technology with iPhone. 

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Apple's iPhone, introduced in 2007, quickly became one of Apple's
most successful products because of its distinctive design, the use of
a touch-screen, and the lack of a traditional keyboard.

After Apple launched the iPhone, the

company's product strategies changed.
Apple's product strategy began with the introduction of the first-
generation iPhone, which had a clear message. Its aim was to
develop an advanced smartphone that put user convenience and
comfort ahead of making a slew of features readily available. 

There was no doubt that iPhone had more features than other
smartphones in terms of a mobile Web, email, and touch screen user
interface, but it was designed to stand out from the crowd. Moreover,
another way to create an advantage over your competitors is to use
superior technology. This includes the mobile operating system as
well as a multitude of mobile applications available through the App
Store. 

Apple had a revenue of $19.3 billion in 2006, and that figure rose to
$24.4 billion in 2007, $37.4 billion in 2008, and it increased to $41.3
billion in 2009 prior to the launch of the iPhone. Apple has been
generating most of its revenue from iPhones since 2008.

A supremely well-planned and executed media campaign by Apple

made this product launch one of the most eagerly anticipated
technological product launches in Apple history. I'm referring to the
share price of Apple's stock on January 9, 2008, after the launch of
the iPhone on January 9, 2007. It rose and doubled to a value of
$179.40 on that day. It has been described as a cross between
Apple's iconic iPod music player and a mobile phone that is capable
of browsing the Internet.

Apple made use of the reputation the company had established by

introducing the Apple brand and success of the iPod to penetrate the
competitor cell-phone market, a move which may have presented the

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company with a challenge as more firms launched smartphones with
substantial music storage and playback abilities.

During the initial two-year growth stage of the iPhone, Steve Jobs
sought to secure the iPhone's exclusive wireless carrier through a
campaign of marketing. The Apple iPhone came with a two-year
contract that forced customers who bought the device to sign up for
AT&T's wireless service in order to make calls or use other features of
the device. There have in fact been agreements with Viacom, Disney,
Google, and Yahoo for the inclusion of internet applications on the
iPhone that have been carefully chosen by Apple.

As mentioned above, Apple chose to follow a similar strategy to its

United States strategy in terms of promotions and delivery to
European countries. Among its French offerings was the offer of sole
distribution by France Telecom's smartphone affiliate, Orange.
Several countries have chosen to make their mobile operators sole
cellular providers for iPhone users with a two-year contract, including
the United Kingdom, where Telefonica's telecom division, O2, has
been selected.

A clear marketing strategy was developed and implemented by Apple

for the iPhone, which ensured that every aspect of the iPhone's
launch was successful. A hybrid mobile phone-music player has
always been a popular option among tech-savvy buyers who are
always on the lookout for new gadgets, and Bezos was able to create
a one-of-a-kind package that caught the attention of these buyers with
a well-managed marketing campaign and positive advertising. Both of
these initiatives markedly increased Apple's stock price and cemented
its status as one of the world's leading manufacturers of consumer
electronics.

It has been a common practice for companies after they launch their
first product such as the iPhone to learn to patent everything they do.
Apple's approach to patenting has helped shield the company from
competitors developing similar products. In addition to that, it has
helped provide Apple with a legal arm for the future. 

"We focused on patenting everything at first  and we tried to patent it

in as many different ways as we could, even the stuff we were not
100% sure would be introduced into the product." said one of Apple's
attorneys.  

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Also, the inventions made by Apple's design team have been
patented and implemented, putting the entire technology sector in
danger. There are many ways to patent a product, from its ornamental
appearance to its useful components, for example, such as designing
patents, which protect a product's ornamental appearance rather than
the functional elements. 

Apple market Capital 2020

According to current statistics, Apple Inc. produces a majority of its

total revenue from iPhone sales, which, at the moment, generates
more than half of all the company's revenue. As for the contribution of
the iPhone to Apple Inc.'s annual revenue in 2020, it represented
approximately 50.19% of the total revenue for the year, while in 2019
it represented approximately 54.7%.

Having examined the strategic aspects of the company, let me turn

my attention to some financial information about them, including
growth numbers and revenue metrics for the past couple of years, as
well as its projected growth for the next few years.  

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This is how Apple's financial
performance looks like
Revenue for the last five years (in billions of
dollars)
In its fiscal 2020 year, Apple generated revenue of US$ 274.52 billion,
a substantial increase from US$ 260.17 billion the previous year. Its
annual revenues have quadrupled over the last ten years. Apple, with
a market capitalisation of $2.12 trillion as of June 2021, remained the
largest company in the technology sector.

Apple's latest 5G iPhones are credited with helping boost smartphone

revenues to a record high. This is credited with leading to a 57%
increase in China revenues in 2020, according to a recent report.
Sales increased by 21% to $111.44 billion in the fiscal quarter ending
December 26, 2020, for the company. 

Additionally, Apple's CEO stated that the firm has an active installed
base of 1.65 billion devices, an increase from 1.5 billion devices a
year earlier. 

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An analysis of last three years'
revenue (by sector)
Among all of Apple's product categories, revenue for the iPhone
category was the highest over the past three annual reports. Detailed
information is provided below:  
• It's well known that Apple's net revenue for 2020 fell significantly
in comparison to 2019. This was mainly because there were no
new iPhones for sale in the fourth quarter of 2020 and the dollar
depreciated against it. However, the iPhone SE launch in the
third quarter of 2020 partly made up for this.
• In 2020, Mac net sales rose compared to the same year in
2019, mainly due to the higher sales of MacBook Pros. 
• It is expected that iPad sales will rise in 2020 in comparison to
2019, as a result of the increase in net sales of 10-inch iPads,
iPad Airs, and iPad Pro's.
• It can be said that revenue from services increased in 2020
compared to 2019. This was due largely to an increase in
revenues from the App Store, advertising, and cloud services. 
•

CONCLUSION
Investing heavily in Research & Development has resulted in
increased revenues for the company.

It has become clear that Apple has amassed tremendous status and
reputation across the globe and this cannot be disputed. In order for
Apple to be able to maintain and satisfy its users within its ecosystem,
it must be able to retain and satisfy them effectively. 

REFERENCES

https://assignmenthelp4me.com/strategic-analysis/apple.html

https://www.greyb.com/apple-business-strategy/

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https://www.apple.com/in/newsroom/2021/10/apple-reports-fourth-
quarter-results/#:~:text=CUPERTINO%2C%20CALIFORNIA
%20October%2029%2C%202021,per%20diluted%20share%20of
%20%241.24.

https://exclusivepapers.com/essays/analytical/how-apple-forecasts-
demand-and-manages-inventory.php

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