Apple Case Analysis - Essay Example

There was no surprise to see people standing in long queues eagerly anticipating the launch of ipad3, almost everyone wanted to get their hands on the newest gadget launched by Apple again underlining their dominance and global reach. Apple is arguably the best brand in the world because they have spent a lot of money on innovation and they have achieved their objectives in the recent past of making their gadgets better than other similar gadgets available in the market. Steve Jobs always wanted to make a computer which was easy to use and he managed to do it, Apple II was launched in the year 1978.

It was an easy to use computer, it is said that the launch of Apple II completely revolutionized the computing industry. Apple also became a leader after the launch of Apple II in 1978. Competitive Position Apple’s dominance was challenged by IBM, IBM entered the fray in the year 1981, Apple found their newest rivals in IBM. There was a major difference between the systems produced by the two companies, Apple’s computer was a prototype and could not be cloned on the contrary IBM’s system could be cloned by others very easily.

IBM heavily relied on Intel to supply processors but that was not the case with Apple. IBM’s entry into the market did not affect Apple’s revenue but IBM took away the market share from Apple to a certain extent and Apple had their eyes set on winning the market share once again and restoring normalcy. A significant changed occurred in the year 1984; a very young Steve Jobs presented Macintosh to the whole world in an endeavor to win back their lost market share. The technical elegance and the design of the new Macintosh, was captivating beyond imagination but when it came to performance the Macintosh disappointed its users.

It was really slow and because of these lags it did not sell as expected by the honchos at Apple. Between 1983 and 1984 Apple had a torrid time, net income of the company fell by 17% and suddenly the company was in crisis. Steve Jobs was removed from his post after these series of setbacks, John Sculley was at the helm back them. He was the same man who reinvigorated Pepsi and fought successfully against Coca Cola to gain dominance. Sculley worked on graphics and designs and knew that these were the two key elements that could take Apple to where it originally belongs.

Desktop publishing was another key area which Sculley targeted and Apple all of a sudden started producing systems which were best when it came to desktop publishing. Major Competitive Advantages As discussed earlier Apple’s design and elegance were two factors which gave it an edge over other companies but these two factors were anything but enough to propel the company to the very top. Several other competitive changes were made by Sculley during his time at the helm, his tie-up with Aldus which is now known as Adobe was a great move for Apple and it restored much needed stability in the company, products designed by Aldus were used for desktop publishing and the same made Apple one of the best in the world once again post the Steve Jobs era.

The Macintosh started selling like hotcakes once the products made by Aldus were used in the Macintosh, Apple recorded record sales of the Macintosh and that was when Apple regained its prominence. Accessories like laser printers were also sold by Apple and the same had unmatched capabilities and this is why