MARKETING

MANAGEMENT-I

Apple Inc. in 2015

CASE ANALYSIS REPORT

COURSE FACILITATOR:
Prof. NILAMADHAB MOHANTY

PREPARED BY:
GROUP: THE KINGPINS

GAUTAM KUMAR
MD SAQUIB UMAR
SAKET
 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Apple, the most valuable company in the history of the world, initially started as Apple Computer on

April 1, 1976, by two technology enthusiast college dropouts, Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak, with a core

mission to introduce a easy-to-use computer in the market. Jobs believed in creating a product that a

customer thinks of, instead of developing a product which already exits.

With this vision under the leadership of Jobs, Apple set out to lead the market by staying ahead of its

competitors through truly innovating products and establishing a level of excellence for other products

and players in the industry. With Jobs as CEO, Apple have revolutionized music, phones and computing

through its iconic and ahead of time products, i.e., iTunes, iPod, iPad, iPhones, Macintosh. Since, these

products were a hit in their segments, iPhones exceeded the expectations of the company and

overshadowed the sales of other products. In 2012 and its following years, the sales of iPod and iPad

dropped significantly and reached a seven year low to 22% in 2013. Apple PCs were struggling to get a

double-digit market share in the global market which is dominated by the Windows-based PCs. All of

these concerns resulted in an over dependency on iPhones for revenue generation. With the emergence of

low-cost competitors in the smartphone industry, and the competition getting intense, it will get difficult

for Apple to retain market share and increase revenues from its under shadowed products.

In 2015, as Apple surpassed the milestone of $700 billion market capitalization value, Tim Cook, the

CEO of Apple launched two products as his first strategic move- Apple Watch and Apple Pay. With these

two products Apple tries to sustain its achievements, but the company’s main objective of staying ahead

of competition have become questionable without truly innovative products. Apple should conduct

market research to gain insights on falling products like the iPad and iPods. Apple should reconsider its

strategy and R&D processes to realign with the company’s vision of innovating new products ahead of

consumer wants.