What Historically Have Been Apple’s Competitive Advantages?

What historically have been Apple’s competitive advantages?

Apple follows a differentiation approach since its inception in 1976. Only once has Apple presented a computer targeting for the general population, but it was relatively quick that Apple stuck to its plan and strategy to be different and followed its differentiation approach. This differentiation tactic was at one point reinforced by a robust marketing plan with the goal of to being very different than that of the Macintosh among deep competition in the personal computer business. Apple has always been a groundbreaking personal computer producer.  Historically Apple’s competitive advantage has been initially was to offer the first easy-to –use computer to the market. Steve Jobs one of Apples founders and one of the builders of the first Apple computer first tasted success in 1977 with the Apple II. It’s the first personal computer sold in large quantities to anyone who could afford it which made its use highly critiqued, especially in the education segment. In 1978 this two year old company had already ignited a real insurgency in the computer industry.         

The Harvard business article states “Apple competitive position changed fundamentally in 1981 when IBM entered the PC market. The IBM PC, which used Microsoft’s DOS operating system and a microprocessor also called a CPU Intel, was relatively open system that the other producers could clone. Apple on the other hand practiced horizontal and vertical integration; it relied on its own proprietary designs and refused to license its software to third parties. Apple responded by introducing the Macintosh in 1984. I believe the slogan for Apple should have been “be different” exclusively for the fact all the products that apple builds versus its competitors are different or better. The evolution of the personal computer was not much of a success simply because they were building something they did not know, and it was great product but the edge goes to IBM and the competitors. In the coming years Apple has focused on taking other products and making them different and better, the iPhone is a great example it was not the first smartphone, but it became the barometer for smartphone for many years to come and one can argue this for many of apples products, it continues to follow its being different strategy.

Analyze the PC industry. Why did Apple struggle historically in PCs?

The personal computer industry is made up of 3 vendors that have complete domination in that market. Lenovo, Hewlett-Packard and Dell are the major players in the personal computer industry all covering different territories. Lenovo has a 35% market share due to the fact of its strong position in China. Hewlett-Packard holds the second largest holding in the personal computer market with a 17 percent worldwide shipment in market share. In third we have Dell with a 13.5 of worldwide market share of worldwide PC shipments. With these giants controlling a vast majority of the market share it is very difficult for apple to enter the market of personal computers. Being the first does not always means being the best, Apple was the first to create the personal computer but it was firms like IBM which took the personal computer mainstream.

Apple struggles historically in the personal computer market due to its price point on its personal computers and all of the equipment inside of the personal computer which were very tough to manufacturer in mass due to its specificity. I also believe since the Apple II which was released in 1977 I believe they did not have a follow up till many years later. The Macintosh was the next release for the personal computer market and by then it was competing with the likes of IBM.  Apple could never really get a full grasp on the personal computer market due to the product. Apple sells a very good computer with unique features as its operating system but at a high cost to the consumer. The key to the game will always be low cost to the consumer and high volume sales. This was the only strategy Apple could have followed to be successful early on. Apple serves a special market which will always be limited to a smaller audience because of its operating system the apple computers run on. The operating system was software specifically designed for the apple computers and could not run on other computers, I believe this also a failed strategy only limiting yourself to your proprietary software. This would hinder Apple in the future but also be a blessing in disguise by allowing Apple to create a network of users who can run the operating system off multiple platforms. This includes, mobile, laptops, personal computers and far into the future wrist watches. By Apple creating the network also allows them to monopolize their perspective industries with the creation of the iTunes and the IOS platform you can only use these them by having an Apple product. It was a struggle for Apple to plant themselves as the industry leader in personal computers and overall technology and innovation but with Steve Jobs leading the revolution, Apple was destined to flourish into the bright and successful company it is today.  

How sustainable is Apple's competitive position in smartphones?

The iPhone, my greatest technological possession that can do anything and everything for me, but what I love about my iPhone is its simplicity. As non tech person the Apple iPhone is convenience and efficient to answer my daily needs of a smartphone and personal secretary and sometimes videogame controller. The sustainability of the Apple smart phone can be disseminated in three ways, hardware and software, iTunes and digital asset management. Apple will have a sustainable competitive advantage in the smartphone division as along as it continues to follow its core business model of being different. The hardware of the iPhone is a magical piece of technological equipment, its sleek curves and tempered glass makes it’s a very durable phone compared to its rivals. “Every once in a while a revolutionary product comes along that change everything” Steve Jobs the iPhone was introduced in January of 2007 by Steve Jobs at Macworld and he was right the iPhone changed and entire industry. ITunes and software are at the heart of Apple as a company.

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