Apples Modern Trade - Case Study Example

?Findings As a business enterprise that provides technology for better productivity, Apple Inc. was able to generate 598,500 jobs spread throughout the 50 States in the USA alone. These are made up of people in different industries wherein the technological components like the iOS processors and the iPhone glass are manufactured and installed, plus jobs for the development of applications. Software applications had reached 850,000 at Apple Inc..Their usefulness for the public can be seen by over 49 billion downloads worldwide as of the latest (Apple Inc. 2013a). Jobs were also created by 250 Apple Retail Stores in 44 US States with an average of over 100 employees per retail store and about 20,000 other jobs related to the construction of Apple stores. Of course the products required customer service. And Apple Inc. positioned Customer Technical Support mostly in the USA but partly outsourced to India because of the 50% lower cost. In the US alone, there are about 10,000 AppleCare Advisors applications in 24 States aside from 3,300 home based Advisors, and 600 part-time employees who are college students. In 2010, Apple Inc. realized 58% of total revenues from countries outside of the USA (Kane and Rohwedder 2010). The management therefore launched iPhone 4 in 88 countries to compete against other brands of iPhones manufactured by other companies. In 2009, Apple Inc.’s iPhone 3GS reached 64 countries. Unlike the Apple Macintosh computers which could not compete, the iPod music players of Apple Inc., the iPad Tablet Computers, and the iPhones were able to penetrate the international markets. And the sales of Apple Inc. are gradually being improved via retails stores specialized with Apple products. It was done through aggressive marketing effort wherein new stores of Apple Inc. in places like London and Shanghai accounted for more than 50% of all the new stores of the industry wherein Apple Inc. belongs. By May 2013, as a result of sustained globalization effort to penetrate the markets in many countries, Forbes (2013) identified Apple Inc. as the # 1 most powerful brand in the world, # 1 in market value, # 2 in profits earned, # 26 most innovative company, # 15 in sales, and # 15 in the world’s top 2000 global companies. The products sold are made up of mobile phones, portable media, personal computers, music players that are digital and portable, software, services, and peripherals. Well known brands that were sold included the iPhone, iPad, Apple TV, iOS, iCloud, iTunes, iBookstore, and so on. Apple Inc. capitalization exceeded $ 400 billion. And the channels of distribution now include direct sales aside from online sales and actual retail stores. Wholesales and resellers were tapped along with cellular network carriers.. Technology, as a whole, has been changing the lifestyle, pace, and pattern of people in different parts of the globe. For example, in April 24, 2013, software developers around the globe will learn from Apple Inc. engineers about deploying followed by integrating iOS and OS X technologies in 100 sessions during a conference in June 10-14, 2013. Programmers worldwide will gain the knowledge of creating new features and applications from that Worldwide Developers’ Conference directly from 1,000 Apple engineers who will be there to teach programmers in hands-on laboratories. Such an opportunity to be updated in terms of technology normally takes many months or even years of further education via schools or online universities. This will take only days. And the value for participants will be in the form of better business performance through better services to customers who need improvements in their Apple devices. (Apple Inc. 2013b) Just to give an idea of the size of that business opportunity from just one application alone, the well-known iTunes, Apple Inc. (2013c) reported that over 25 billion musical downloads had been sold worldwide by the online iTune Stores for nusic, TV shows, and movies. The store averages 15,000 iTune songs being downloaded per minute. The owner of an Apple device with features to do business via their link to the online iTune Store will have an instant means to earn extra if only software developers worldwide can configure their customers’ devices to earn from iTunes Store. The feature is readily available in 119 countries. Thus, so many people can benefit through such a small business opportunity for music, TV, and movie lovers. The iPods, on the other hand, was reported to have generated 200% more jobs abroad compared to the jobs created in the USA. However, the income or salaries paid to Americans, when added up, was more than double the figure paid to workers in other countries. To be more exact, Linden et. al. (2011, p.229) calculated the salaries to be $ 750 million paid to 13,920 American workers versus $ 320 million paid to 27,250 non-Americans in 2006. The figures are definitely much higher in more recent years. In that report, conclusions showed how Apple Inc. converted innovative products into jobs in America as well as jobs abroad. The results coming from respondents of the questionnaire showed at least 6 benefits experienced by the Apple Inc. innovations patronized by American and many other countries. It appeared that the usefulness of software for the human intelligence was most appreciated by 36% of respondents. This was followed by the convenience of shopping online for Apple products appreciated by 24% of the respondents. In terms of the significance of these, one can predict that people in other countries will most probably find a similar importance of acquiring Apple products to serve their needs. Thus, customers worldwide may be considered to be satisfied with such benefits gained for them, given the years of sustained growth experienced by Apple Inc. And so, aside from the employment being generated by Apple Inc. operations, the satisfaction given to many people worldwide would be in the form of services and convenience realized out of utilizing Apple digital products. Innovations actually made it more enjoyable for music lovers, for example, to listen to a wider variety of musical downloads through iTunes. Before, people would have to bear with finding good music over the radio and having to listen to advertisements in stations that play the preferred music. Apple Inc. gives people millions of musical choices without having to listen to advertisements, and without obliging people to wait for a long time before the radio finally plays a preferred music. Apple Inc. changed lifestyle to make people enjoy musical downloads more wherever they go 24 hours a day. In this sense, the company has contributed to the improvements to make people happier than before. Implications of Research In the process of discovering the past and recent globalization-related activities of Apple Inc., the concrete impact in various parts of the world can be written about as they actually happened. One good example is that which happened in China where there are about 1.3 billion people who can benefit from products of Apple Inc. Barboza and Wingfield (2013) noticed how a great population of China can be mobilized by the government just to deal with an issue about the warranty of Apple devices. This means a lot of work in terms of technical support in the coming one or two years since the warranty was extended to two years instead of one year. However, it also means that more Chinese might decide to buy Apple devices because of the longer warranty and usefulness compared to lower quality competing devices. If the Chinese population patronizes Apple products and there are hundreds of millions of Chinese who might ask for technical support for repairs and maintenance, Apple Inc. Customer Care in the USA would have to be increased both in the USA and in China. This will mean substantial job opportunities for both countries. It will also mean that there should be skills development programs to educate potential technical support personnel in the handling of Apple device hardware and software issues for the coming years. Such a scenario will be very probable because the Chinese economy has been growing at very high annual growth rates annually. It implies how the Chinese can soon afford American products because of the relatively higher quality. The other implication will be that the quality of services in Apple Inc. must be made satisfactory in order to have a competitive advantage over competitors. The worldwide expectation will be high considering that the quality of Apple devices is known to be of higher quality compared to other devices. In the report about Apple globalization, Linden et. al. (2011, pp. 231-232) determined the importance of educating the youth for higher value knowledge and skills like programming, since statistics showed a declining and less stable trend for the lower skills like factory work and retail jobs. On the overall, there are quantitative implications as well as qualitative implications. Innovations to fuel the globalization of trading Apple products resulted in letting Americans earn out of revenues coming from abroad. People in other countries also experienced having more job opportunities with Apple Inc. products and innovations. This made them earn wages in the retails sector, services, and even manufacturing of some parts for Apple Inc. products. And on the qualitative side, innovations by Apple Inc. have made life more enjoyable for many people worldwide. Another implication of this research would be an awareness of how global trade would have to be understood such that USA can sustain the growth in its businesses in many parts of the world and not just the USA. How can Apple Inc. establish itself in many other countries given the possibility of “new entrants” that might compete with Apple inc. anytime? That is to say that innovation cannot be controlled by Apple Inc. such that competitors may not be allowed to innovate from the latest technology of Apple Inc. itself. And how about the possibility of “cloning” and the violations against the anti-piracy laws? USA cannot go after software pirates in other countries – at least not through an expeditious way. This will imply the risk of piracy as the future problem that can, all of a sudden, force Apple Inc. to realize substantial losses in the near future. In the light of the present findings, will it be safe to assume that business progress should be forecasted only for the short number of years, perhaps only 2-3 years because one of the threats to business can be encountered within that short period of time. This would be unless Apple Inc. generates one or more innovations per year and hopefully, that innovation finds a good market acceptance. How about if the foreign relations between USA and China becomes sour? These scenarios will have an impact on the employment of thousands of people depending on the products of Apple Inc. Being aware of these possibilities will allow students to plan their careers more wisely based on a probable forecast of events that can happen. While not yet working and in the process of comprehending the knowledge needed for the future, a perspective of the globalization trade should be kept in mind, so that by the time the student has to work, there will be a clearer understanding of current events taking place. Perhaps flexibility with accepting whichever work will be required might be very advantageous for those who want to make sure they will never run out of employment. One must keep learning new skills found to be in demand. Innovations come and go. Thus, the related skills of such innovations can likewise experience a decline in demand. To be flexible means being ready with the use of another skill wherein business is flourishing. It also implies the importance of being willing to learn new skills or new programs and not depend on past skills or old programs. One must be willing to keep on learning even after graduation. References Apple Inc. (2012). Creating Jobs Through Innovation. http://www.apple.com/about/job-creation/ Accessed May 12, 2013. Apple Inc. (2013a). Hot News. http://www.apple.com/hotnews/ . [Accessed May 12, 2013]. Apple Inc. (2013b). Apple Worldwide Developers Conference to Kick Off June 10 in San Francisco. Apple Press Info, April 24, 2013. http://www.apple.com/pr/library/2013/04/24Apple-Worldwide-Developers-Conference-to-Kick-Off-June-10-in-San-Francisco.html, [Accessed May 12, 2013] Apple Inc. (2013c). iTunes Store Sets New Record with 25 Billion Songs Sold. Apple Press Info, February 6, 2013. http://www.apple.com/pr/library/2013/02/06iTunes-Store-Sets-New-Record-with-25-Billion-Songs-Sold.html [Accessed May 12, 2013] Barboza, D. and Wingfield, N. (2013). Pressured by China, Apple Apologizes for Warranty Policies. The New York Times. April 1, 2013. http://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/02/technology/apples-chief-tim-cook-apologizes-to-china-over-warranty-policy.html?_r=1& [Accessed May 12, 2013] Kane, Y.I. and Rohwedder, C. (2010). Apple Strives for Global Market: Electronics Giant Speeds Overseas Rollout of New iPhone to 88 Countries. The Wall Street Journal, June 8, 2010. http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703302604575294530119152528.html [Accessed May 12, 2013] Linden, G.; Dedrick, J.; and Kraemer, K.L. (2011). Innovation and Job Creation in a Global Economy: The Case of Apple’s iPod. Journal of International Commerce & Economics. pp.223-240 Read More