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with a market share of 12.9 percent at year-end
2008. Smart phones, which were multifeature mobile phones capable of sending and receiv-ing e-mails, browsing the Internet, viewing photos and videos, and listening to music, were the fastest growing type of mobile phone and sold at the mobile phone industry’s highest price points. A n additional concern centered on what effect the economic recession in the United States and other developed countries would have on Apple’s revenues and profits. Eco-nomic data released by the U.S. Department of Commerce in July 2009 indicated that the reces-sion of 2008 and 2009, as measured by declining gross domestic product (GDP), was the longest and most severe economic downturn since the Great Depression. The effect of the recession on the consumer technology sector had been considerable with overall consumer technology revenues declining by 4 percent in 2008 and worldwide PC shipments falling by 5 percent during the first six months of 2009. The recession likely contributed to the 7 percent year-over-year decline in Apple’s third quarter 2009 iPod sales and its lackluster 4 percent year-over-year growth in third quarter 2009 computer sales. It was unknown what effect the flagging econ-omy would have on Apple TV movie and TV programming rentals or music downloads from Apple’s iTunes Store. Although Apple’s senior management might be tempted to c elebrate the
A pple Inc. in 2009
L ou M arino
T he University of Alabama
J ohn H attaway
T he University of Alabama
K aty Beth J ackson
T he University of Alabama
H eading into the fourth quarter of 2009, man-agement at Apple had much to be excited about. Steve Jobs had returned to lead the company as CEO after receiving a liver transplant earlier in the year, the company had set revenue and earnings records during its most recent quar-ter, the new iPhone 3GS had sold more than 1 million units within three days of its June 19th launch, and consumers had downloaded more than 1.5 billion iPhone applications by the first anniversary of The App Store launch. However, Apple also faced some significant challenges as it entered the final quarter of 2009. There was some concern that Steve J obs would not be as effective at the helm of the company as in the past since he would be working only part-time as he further recovered from his surgery. In addition, the role of former acting-CEO and current chief operating officer Tim Cook was not readily apparent as Jobs returned on a part-time basis. A nalysts were also concerned that Apple might struggle to sustain its growth in the smart phone market as Nokia, Research in Motion (the maker of Blackberry smart phones), HTC, LG, and Samsung moved to copy many of the iPhone’s features. The iPhone was criti-cal to Apple’s continuing growth in revenues and net earnings since the company was the world’s third largest seller of smart phones,
C ase 6
C
opyright ? 2010 by Lou Marino. All rights reserved.
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company’s recent successes, the convergence of such serious challenges facing the company called for an evaluation of its strategic situation and its approach to sustaining advantage in the consumer technology sector.
H istory of Apple Inc.
S teven Wozniak and Steven Jobs founded Apple Computer in 1976 when they began selling a crudely designed personal computer called the Apple I to Silicon Valley computer enthusiasts. Two years later the partners introduced the first mass-produced personal computer, the Apple II. The Apple II boasted the first color display and eventually sold more than 10,000 units. While the Apple II was relatively successful, the next revision of the product line, the Macintosh (Mac), would dramatically change personal computing through its user-friendly graphical user interface (GUI) that allowed users to inter-act with screen images rather than merely type text commands.
T he Macintosh that was introduced in 1984 was hailed as a breakthrough in personal com-puting, but did not have the speed, power, or software availability to compete with the PC that IBM had introduced in 1981. One of the rea-sons the Macintosh lacked the necessary soft-ware was that Apple put very strict restrictions on the Apple Certified Developer Program, which made it difficult for software developers to obtain Macs at a discount and receive infor-mational materials about the operating system.
W ith the Mac faring poorly in the market, founder Steve J obs became highly critical of the company’s president and CEO, John Scul-ley, who had been hired by the board in 1983. Finally, in 1985, as Sculley was preparing to visit China, Jobs devised a “boardroom coup” to replace him. Sculley found out about the plan and canceled his trip. After Apple’s board voted unanimously to keep Sculley in his posi-tion, Jobs, who was retained as chairman of the company but stripped of all decision-making authority, soon resigned. During the remainder of 1985, Apple continued to encounter prob-lems and laid off one-fifth of its e mployees while posting its first ever quarterly loss. In addition, Sculley entered into a legal battle with Microsoft’s Bill Gates over the introduction of Windows 1.0, which used similar technology to the Mac’s GUI. Gates eventually signed a document that in effect ensured that Microsoft would not use Mac technology in Windows 1.0 but claimed no such promises for any later ver-sions of Windows. Essentially, Apple had lost the exclusive right to use its own GUI.
D espite these setbacks, Apple kept bringing innovative products to the market, while closely guarding the secrets behind its technology. In 1987, Apple released a revamped Macintosh computer that proved to be a considerable suc-cess. This computer was easy to use, making it a favorite at schools and in homes. In addition, the second Macintosh had excellent graph-ics capabilities. However, by 1990, PCs with Microsoft software had flooded the market and Windows technology was far more prevalent than Mac technology because Microsoft had licensed its software for use on computers built by many different companies.
I n 1991, Apple released its first-generation notebook computer, the PowerBook, and, in 1993, Apple’s board of directors opted to remove Sculley from the position of CEO. The board chose to place the chief operating officer, Michael Spindler, in the vacated spot. Although Spindler was not a personable, accessible leader, he did oversee Apple’s development of several impor-tant products. First, in 1994, Apple released the PowerMac family of PCs, the first Macs to incor-porate the PowerPC chip, a very fast processor co-developed with Motorola and IBM. Spindler also made a somewhat half-hearted attempt to license the Macintosh operating system (Mac OS) to other companies. However, very few companies ever chose to license the Mac OS because many felt the licensing agreements were far too restrictive.
B y 1995, Apple had bigger problems, includ-ing $1 billion in back orders and insufficient parts to build those machines. And worse, in the late summer of 1995, Microsoft released Windows 95, which was well suited to compete
with the strengths of the Mac OS. During the
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6Apple Inc. in 2009 355
winter of 1995–96, Apple made some misguided judgments concerning its product line and as a result posted a loss for that quarter. In January 1996, Apple asked Spindler to resign and chose Gil Amelio, former president of National Semi-conductor, to take his place.
D uring his first 100 days in office, Amelio announced many sweeping changes for the company. He split Apple into seven distinct divisions, each responsible for its own profit or loss, and he tried to better inform the devel-opers and consumers of Apple’s products and projects. Although Apple announced a stagger-ing first-quarter loss of $740 million in 1996, the company brought down its losses to $33 mil-lion by quarter two, an achievement that finan-cial experts had not imagined Apple could accomplish. And in the third quarter, Apple again beat the best estimates, reporting a $30 million profit. At the end of 1996, the company astonished the industry when it announced that it planned to acquire NeXT, the company Steve J obs had founded upon his resignation from Apple in 1985; Jobs was to be rehired by Apple as part of the acquisition. The acquisi-tion was chosen in order to control NeXTstep, the basis Apple planned to use for its next-generation operating system, Rhapsody. During the summer of 1997, after announc-ing another multimillion-dollar quarterly loss, Apple d etermined that Gil Amelio had made many significant improvements in Apple’s operations but had done all he could. No per-manent replacement was announced, but Fred Anderson, chief financial officer, was placed in charge of daily operations; Jobs was also given an expanded role in the company.
J obs’s “expanded role” soon became more clear in terms of his responsibilities—Apple had no CEO, stock prices were at a five-year low, and important decisions needed to be made. Jobs was referred to as “interim CEO,” and 1997 proved to be a landmark year for his company. MacWorld Boston was held in August, and J obs was the keynote speaker. He used that event to make several signifi-cant announcements that would turn Apple around: There would be an almost entirely new board of directors, an aggressive advertis-ing campaign, and an alliance with Microsoft. Microsoft received $150 million in Apple stock, Apple would have a five-year patent cross-license, and the old legal battle between the two companies would finally be resolved. As part of the resolution to the legal dispute, Microsoft paid an undisclosed amount to Apple to quiet the allegations that it had stolen Apple’s intel-lectual property (the Mac GUI) and agreed to make Windows 98 available to Mac users by year’s end. Jobs also effectively ended Apple’s licensing agreements with other companies, buying out all but one, with the understanding that that company would serve only the low-end market for computers (under $1,000). At a late 1997 press conference, Jobs announced that Apple would begin selling direct to consumers over the Web and by phone. Within a week, the Apple store was the third largest e-commerce site on the Web.
J obs continued to make several changes dur-ing 1998, a year in which Apple reported a profit in all four quarters. Apple’s stock price was on the rise, and the company had released the iMac, an all-new design for the Macintosh that was meant to serve the lower-end consumer market. The computer had more than enough process-ing capabilities than most consumers would ever need and was priced affordably. In the fall of that year, the iMac was the best-selling com-puter in the United States. Apple followed up that s uccess by introducing the iBook in 1999, the portable counterpart to the iMac, a laptop meant to be stylish, affordable, and powerful. Through-out 1999, Apple’s stock continued to soar; in the fall it reached a high in the upper $70s.
I n early 2000, J obs announced that he was now permanent CEO of Apple. The remainder of that year was a slow one for Apple and for the rest of the computer industry. As a result, Apple reported its first quarterly loss in three years. In late 2000, the company cut prices across the board; then, in early 2001, it released a new set of PowerMacs with optical drives that let consumers both listen to and burn CDs as well as both read and write to DVDs. In May 2001, J
obs announced that Apple would open
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e
nsuring that all operations of Apple ran effi-ciently and smoothly. Together they worked to ensure that Apple could continue to be a vital, innovative company in a very competitive envi-ronment. Cook took on the role of acting CEO after Steve Jobs took a leave of absence to deter-mine the cause of his declining health, which became apparent to outsiders in fall 2008.
A pple’s Situation in 2009
U nder Cook’s leadership, Apple’s sales of com-puters, iPods, iPhones, and iTunes downloads allowed it to set annual revenue and earnings records in 2008—records that it appeared would be broken in 2009. The company reported its best-ever quarterly results in the third quar-ter of fiscal 2009 with revenues of $8.34 billion compared to $7.46 billion for the same quarter the previous year and a net quarterly profit of $1.23 billion, up from $1.07 billion during the same period in 2008. Apple shipped a record 2.6 million Macintosh units (up 4 percent from the same quarter the previous year) and 10.2 mil-lion iPods (a 7 percent decline from the same quarter the previous year), and 5.2 million iPhones (a 626 percent increase from the third quarter of 2008). A summary of Apple’s finan-cial performance for fiscal years 2005–2008 is provided in E xhibit 1 .
A pple managed its businesses largely on a geographic basis. Its primary geographic seg-ments included the Americas (North America and South America); Europe, Africa, and the Middle East; and J apan. It also had a Retail division that operated the Apple-owned stores in the United States, Italy, Japan, Canada, and the United Kingdom. The company’s pri-mary product lines were Macintosh products (including desktops and portables); iPods, iPhones; iTunes (including other music-related products and services); peripherals (including other hardware); and software, service, and other sales. The company’s net sales by oper-ating segment and product line and unit sales by product line for 2004 through 2008 are pro-vided in E xhibit 2 . several retail stores that would sell Apple prod-ucts as well as third-party products, including MP3 players, digital cameras, and digital video cameras.
I n October 2001, Apple released the iPod—a product that revolutionized the company and the digital music player industry. In 2003, when the company released iTunes, the online retail store where consumers could purchase indi-vidual songs legally, the success of the venture skyrocketed. The technology was available only for Macs at first but had since become available for PC users as well. By July 2004, 100 million songs had been sold and iTunes had a 70 per-cent market share among all legal online music download services. Apple’s success continued to grow, largely thanks to the iPod and iTunes.
B y 2005, Jobs’s leadership had placed Apple at the forefront of the digital music player industry and had established the company as a player once again in the computer industry. From the moment J obs returned to Apple, he had idea after idea for how to improve the com-pany and turn its performance around. He not only consistently pushed for innovative new ideas and products but also enforced several structural changes, including ridding the com-pany of unprofitable segments and divisions. He managed to blend his leadership style, which epitomized the spirit and standards on which Apple was founded, with the business discipline the younger J obs had lacked. J obs also credited Apple’s success to its skilled man-agement team, including Tim Cook.
T imothy D. Cook was Apple’s executive vice president of worldwide sales and opera-tions. Cook reported to the CEO and managed Apple’s supply chain, sales activities, and ser-vice and support in all markets and countries. His position was accountable for maintaining Apple’s flexibility in serving more demand-ing consumers. Cook had worked first for IBM and then for Compaq, gaining extensive expe-rience in technological industries. While J obs provided the vision for the organization, Cook and the other members of the executive staff
and the board of directors were responsible for
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Case 6 Apple Inc. in 2009 357
sellers who collectively controlled 81.4 percent of the market—see E xhibit 3 . Internationally, the top five computer manufacturers controlled 60.1 percent of the market, with Apple account-ing for only 2 percent of international computer shipments. Prior to the onset of the recession that had impacted most developed countries, the PC industry had been expected to grow at a
P ersonal Computer Industry I n the second quarter of 2009, the worldwide PC market declined by 5 percent when compared to the second quarter of 2008. In the U.S. market, total shipments declined by a more modest 1.2 percent. The PC industry was relatively consol-idated, with the U.S. market dominated by five
E xhibit 1 S
ummary of Apple, Inc.’s Financial Performance, 2005–2008 (in millions, except share amounts, employees, and contractors)
2008
2007
2006
2005
Net sales:Domestic $18,469$14,128$11,486$8,334International 14,010 9,878 7,829 5,597Total net sales
32,47924,00619,31513,931Costs and expenses:Cost of sales
21,33415,85213,7179,889Research and development (R&D)
1,109782712535Selling, general and administrative (SG&A) 3,761 2,963 2,433 1,864Total operating expenses 4,8703,7453,1452,399Operating income
6,2754,4092,4531,643Other income and expense
620599365165Income before provision for income taxes 6,8955,0082,8181,808Provision for income taxes 2,0611,512829 480Net income
$ 4,834$ 3,496$ 1,989$1,328Earnings per common share—Diluted $ 5.36$ 3.93$ 2.27$ 1.55Shares used in computing earnings per share—Diluted (in thousands)
902,139889,292877,526856,878Financial position as of September of year
Cash, cash equivalents, and short-term investments $24,490$15,386$10,110$8,261Accounts receivable, net 2,4221,6371,252895Inventories
509346270165Property, plant, and equipment, net 2,4551,8321,281817Total assets
39,57225,34717,20511,516Current liabilities 14,0929,2996,4433,487Noncurrent liabilities 4,4501,516778601Shareholders’ equity
$21,030$14,532$9,984$7,428Regular employees
32,01021,55017,78714,806Temporary employees and contractors
3,0662,1162,3992,020International net sales as a percentage of total net sales 43%41%41%40%Gross margin as a percentage of net sales 34.3%34.0%29.0%29.0%R&D as a percentage of net sales
3%
3%
4%
4%
Source: From Apple Investor Relations, h ttp://https://www.doczj.com/doc/ae12804129.html,/media_files/irol/10/107357/AAPL_3YR_Q407.pdf (accessed July 13, 2008); h ttp://https://www.doczj.com/doc/ae12804129.html,/media_files/irol/10/107357/AAPL_3YR_Q407.pdf (accessed July 13, 2008); and h ttp://https://www.doczj.com/doc/ae12804129.html,/library/10/107/107357/items/314467/AAPL_3YR_Q4FY08.pdf
(accessed July 30, 2009).
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p rimarily the iPod and iPhone, the company
still saw computers as its core business. Apple’s proprietary operating system and strong graph-ics handling capabilities differentiated Macs from PCs, but many consumers and business users who owned PCs were hesitant to purchase
a Mac because of Apple’s premium pricing and
because of the learning curve involved with mastering its proprietary operating system.
rate of 5–6 percent to reach $354 billion by 2012.
However, the continuation of the U.S. recession beyond economists’ projections caused most industry analysts to avoid making firm fore-casts of future demand.
A pple’s Computer Operations E ven though Apple’s revenues were increas-ingly coming from noncomputer products, a
Other segments include Asia Pacific and FileMaker. b
Includes iMac, eMac, Mac mini, Power Mac, and Xserve product lines. c
Includes MacBook, MacBook Pro, iBook. and PowerBook product lines. d
Consists of iTunes Music Store sales, iPod services, and Apple-branded and third-party iPod accessories. e
Derived from handset sales, carrier agreements, and Apple-branded and third-party iPhone accessories. f
Includes sales of Apple-branded and third-party displays, wireless connectivity and networking solutions, and other hardware accessories. g
Includes sales of Apple-branded operating system, application software, third-party software, AppleCare, and Internet services. h
Derived by dividing total Macintosh net sales by total Macintosh unit sales. i
Derived by dividing total iPod net sales by total iPod unit sales.
S ource: Apple Inc., 10-K report filed with the SEC on November 15, 2007.
E xhibit 2 A
pple, Inc.’s Net Sales by Operating Segment, Net Sales by Product, and Unit Sales by Product, 2004–2008 (in millions)
20082007
2006
2005
2004
NET SALES BY OPERATING SEGMENT
Americas net sales $14,573$11,596$ 9,415$ 6,950$4,019Europe net sales 7,6225,4604,0963,0731,799Japan net sales 1,5091,0821,211920677Retail net sales
6,3154,1153,2462,3501,185Other segments net sales a 2,4601,7531,347998599Total net sales
$32,479$24,006$19,315$13,931$8,279NET SALES BY PRODUCT
Desktops b
$ 5,603$ 4,020$ 3,319$ 3,436$2,373Portables c
8,673 6,294 4,056 2,839 2,550Total Macintosh net sales $14,27610,3147,3756,2754,923iPod
9,1538,3057,3754,5401,306Other music-related products and services d
3,3402,496
1,885
899
278
iPhone and related products and services e
1,844123———Peripherals and other hardware f 1,6591,2601,1001,126951Software, service, and other sales g 2,2071,5081,2791,091821Total net sales
$32,479$24,006$19,315$13,931$8,279UNIT SALES BY PRODUCT
Desktops b 3,7122,7142,4342,5201,625Portables c
6,003 4,337 2,869 2,014 1,665Total Macintosh unit sales
9,7157,0515,3034,5343,290Net sales per Macintosh unit sold h $ 1,469$ 1,463$ 1,391$ 1,384$1,496iPod unit sales
54,82851,63039,40922,4974,416Net sales per iPod unit sold i $ 167$ 161$ 195
$ 202
$ 296
iPhone unit sales
11,627
1,389
—
—
—
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Case 6 Apple Inc. in 2009 359
weighed only three pounds. The MacBook Air had won critical acclaim for both its design and its ease of use, and was one of the prod-ucts helping Apple gain ground in the competi-tive computer industry. All Apple computers were priced at a steep premium compared to PCs and laptops offered by Dell, HP , and other rivals. The company lowered the prices of all computer models by 10 percent or more in June 2009, with the price of the MacBook Pro falling to $1,199 and the MacBook Air getting a $300 price cut to $1,499.
C ompetitors in the PC Market DELL Dell, the industry leader in PC sales,
recorded net revenues of $61.1 billion for the ? scal year 2009—see E xhibit 4 . Dell’s 2009 revenues included the effect of a fourth quar-ter year-over-year sales decline of 48 percent that re? ected the effect of the U.S. recession on the PC industry. Of this revenue, about 29
Many analysts still projected that Apple’s great-est opportunity for growth would come from the projected halo effect of iPods and iPhones and that some consumers (but probably not business users) might switch to Apple comput-ers after purchasing an iPod or iPhone.
A pple’s computer product line consisted of several models in various configurations. Its desktop lines included the Mac Pro (aimed at professional and business users); the iMac (tar-geted toward consumer, educational, and busi-ness use); and Mac mini (made specifically for consumer use). Apple had three notebook prod-uct lines as well: MacBook Pro (for professional and advanced consumer users), the MacBook (designed for education users and consumers), and the MacBook Air (designed for profes-sional and consumer users). In both the desk-top and notebook lines, the “Power” products were higher-end and offered more computing power at a premium price. The other models were lower on the price scale but still priced high relative to Wintel sellers.
T he MacBook Air was Apple’s most recent notebook introduction. The MacBook Air was designed to target users who valued both por-tability and power. The notebook featured a 13.3-inch screen, a full-size keyboard, a built-in video camera, and cutting-edge wireless con-nectivity. This sleek notebook was only 0.76 inches at its maximum height when closed and
S ource: w https://www.doczj.com/doc/ae12804129.html, , October 2008; and “Gartner Says
Worldwide PC Shipments Declined 5 Percent in Second Quar-ter of 2009,” B usiness Wire, July 15, 2009.
E xhibit 3 U
.S. PC Market Share, Second Quarter 2007, Second Quarter 2008, and Second Quarter 2009
COMPANY
Q2 2007
Q2 2008Q2 2009
Dell Inc.
27.9%31.6%26.0%Hewlett-Packard 25.825.125.7Acer 10.68.014.2Apple 6.48.48.7Toshiba 5.6 5.5 6.8Others 23.721.318.6
S ource: Dell Inc. 2008 and 2009 10-Ks.
E xhibit 4 D
ell’s Revenues by Product Category (% of total revenues)
PRODUCT CATEGORY
FISCAL YEAR ENDED
JANUARY 30, 2009
FEBRUARY 1, 2008FEBRUARY 2, 2007
Mobility
products (notebooks etc.)
31%28%27%
Desktop PCs 2932
34Software and peripherals 171616Servers and networking hardware
101110Professional
consulting and support services 99
9
Storage products 444 Totals 100%
100%
100%
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the ? rst mass-produced computer for export from Taiwan; in 1985, it founded Taiwan’s ? rst and largest franchised retail computer chain. The company was renamed Acer in 1987, and a decade later it purchased the mobile PC divi-sion of Texas Instruments. By 2008, Acer had become the world’s third largest computer manufacturer. Acer’s 2008 consolidated reve-nues rose by approximately 18 percent from the previous year, to reach $16.6 billion, while oper-ating income increased by 38 percent, to reach $428.8 million. In addition, its 55 percent annual growth in global shipments during 2008 made it the industry’s fastest growing PC manufac-turer. Acer’s largest geographic segment was Europe/Middle East/Africa, which accounted for 54.3 percent of the company’s PC, desktop, and notebook sales. Acer had become the fast-est growing PC sellers in the United States, largely as a result of its multi-brand strategy that positioned Acer, Gateway, eMachines, and Packard Bell at distinct price points in the market for PCs. The company based its com-petitive strategy on its four pillars of success: a winning business model, competitive prod-ucts, an innovative marketing strategy, and an ef? cient operation model. The company’s com-puter offering included desktop and mobile PCs, LCD monitors, servers and storage, and high-de? nition TVs and projectors. Heading into 2009, the company expected to be able to continue to increase revenues through its focus on low-priced notebook computers sold by U.S. discount consumer electronics retailers. percent came from sales of desktop PCs. These PCs ranged from low-end bargain desktops to high-end gaming setups with the latest hard-ware and software. However, competition in the desktop market was lowering the pro? t-ability of desktop sales. Dell, a company that attempted to be a low-cost provider through supply chain and distribution logistics, was beginning to see a shift in consumer demand toward mobility products (laptops, notebook computers, handheld computers, and tablet PCs). Dell’s notebook computers, like its desk-tops, ranged from low-end, low-priced models to state-of-the-art, high-priced models. This segment showed promising revenue growth for Dell. The company also offered peripherals such as printers, monitors, projectors, and WiFi products as it attempted to move into a role as a consumer electronics provider along with its role as a PC manufacturer. HEWLETT-PACKARD
Hewlett-Packard’s Personal Systems Group (PSG) accounted for about 35.7 percent of the company’s 2008 reve-nues of $118 billion. Imaging and various services accounted for the second largest percentage of the company’s revenues, at 24.8 percent. From 2007 to 2008, the PSG experienced revenue growth of 16.2 percent and a 22 percent increase in unit vol-ume. The company’s sales of desktop PCs grew by just 5 percent during 2008, while laptop rev-enues increased by 28 percent between 2007 and 2008. HP’s strongest growth was in emerging markets. However, the company’s sales fell by 13 percent during the ? rst quarter of 2009 as busi-nesses and consumers purchased fewer comput-ers. E xhibit 5 provides the revenue contribution by PSG product line for 2005 through 2008. Like Dell, HP offered desktops and notebooks in vari-ous con? gurations, with prices determined by the features offered and hardware contained in the systems. HP also offered peripherals such as televisions and related media devices, and was well-known in the imaging and printer markets. ACER Acer, a multinational manufacturer based in Taiwan, was founded in 1976 as Multi-tech, with 11 employees. In 1979, Acer designed
S ource: Hewlett-Packard 2007 and 2008 10-Ks.
E xhibit 5 H
ewlett-Packard Personal Systems Group, Net Revenue (in millions)
PRODUCT
2008
2007
2006
2005
Notebooks $22,657$17,650$12,005$ 9,763Desktop PCs 16,62615,88914,64114,406Workstations 1,9021,7211,3681,195Handhelds 360531650836Other 750618502541Total $42,295$36,409$29,166
$26,741
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line. Although Apple didn’t introduce the first
portable digital music player (EigerLabs did in 1998), the iPod, introduced in October 2001, was the first to gain widespread attention and popularity. When Apple launched its iPod, many critics did not give the product much of a chance for success, given its fairly hefty price tag of $399. However, the success of the iPod had reached such phenomenal proportions that one observer said, “It is now a fashion state-ment, and any other MP3 player is considered
‘Brand X’ for many consumers.” 1
Industry experts agreed that the iPod’s success had rev-olutionized the portable music industry in a manner similar to the Sony Walkman in 1980. B y June 2005, Apple controlled well over 70 percent of the hard drive digital music player market and more than 40 percent of the flash memory player market. In J uly 2009, Apple offered four basic styles in the iPod product line and controlled an estimated 70 percent of the combined flash memory and hard-drive-equipped digital music player market. The four iPod styles were as follows:
? The i Pod Shuffle, a basic flash-based player
with no screen, FM radio, or voice recorder. The 4GB model was capable of storing 1,000 songs and its rechargeable lithium polymer battery provided up to 10 hours of playback time. ? The i Pod Nano multimedia player, offered in 8GB (eight hours of video or 2,000 songs) and 16GB (16 hours of video or 4,000 songs) sizes, that used a click wheel interface to navigate the player’s controls. It allowed users to view photos and videos as well as to listen to music (in Apple’s AAC format). It provided up to 24 hours of music playback and four hours of video playback on a single charge. ? The i Pod Classic, a hard-drive-based click-wheel-controlled multimedia player offered with a 120GB hard-drive that, similar to the smaller Nano, played music in Apple’s AAC format and showed videos and photos. The 120GB player held up to 30,000 songs or 150 hours of video and provided up to 36 hours
P ersonal Media Player Industry
M ore than 100 companies manufactured per-sonal media players in 2009, but only four of them legitimately claimed real importance in this market: Apple, Creative, SanDisk, and Microsoft. The digital personal media player market was clearly dominated by Apple, with it closest rival, SanDisk, capturing only 10 percent of the market (see E xhibit 6 ). The leading com-panies in the industry realized that their contin-ued success depended not only on how well they could satisfy their current customers but also on their ability to attract new customers. Research indicated that most buyers based their choice of player on song capacity, multimedia capabili-ties, unit battery life, physical size and weight, and ease of use. Apple’s success had proved that many consumers were willing to pay a pre-mium for some perceived benefit, whether it was higher quality, more technological sophisti-cation, or greater ease of use. Flash-based play-ers were becoming increasingly popular with consumers, as were touch screens and Bluetooth connectivity. However, as the market matured, price was becoming an increasingly important factor in consumer decisions.
A pple iPod F or much of Apple’s history, it had excelled at being the first company to introduce a concept or a new product, but then struggled to main-tain control of its market share in that product
S ource: NPD Group, May 12, 2008.
E xhibit 6 D
igital Music Player Market Share (percentage based upon units sold)
Q1 2007
Q1 2008
Apple 72% 71%SanDisk 1011Creative 4 2Microsoft 3 4Others 1112Total 100%
100%
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362 Part Two: Section A: Crafting Strategy in Single-Business Companies
Apple iPods ranked significantly higher than other brands in terms of overall quality, sound quality, ease of use, and overall reliability—see E xhibit 7 .
i Tunes A
side from the iPod’s ease of use, one of the pri-mary factors that contributed to the popularity of the iPod was Apple’s iPod/iTunes combina-tion. In fact, despite the acclaim that had been heaped on it, many industry observers believed that the iPod would not have achieved its dom-inant position without iTunes.
A pple first released the iTunes digital music management software for Macintosh comput-ers in 2001. It was innovative but not alone. Originally, the software was intended to allow users to store their digital (CD) music to their computer hard drives and make the content easily accessible. As features such as the a bility to burn custom CDs were added to the soft-ware, iTunes became more and more useful to consumers.
W hen the iPod was released in 2001, iTunes was quickly adjusted to allow for syncing between the music management software and the new music player. This interface made it
of audio playback or six hours of video playback on a single charge. ? The i Pod Touch, a multimedia flash memory player controlled though an innovative touch screen interface that was a feature of the iPhone. It was offered in 8GB (1,750 songs, 10 hours of video), 16GB (3,500 songs, 20 hours of video), and 32GB (7,000 songs, 40 hours of video) sizes, and pro-vided up to 22 hours of music playback and five hours of video playback on a sin-gle charge. This multimedia player featured a wide 3.5-inch screen and built-in Wi-Fi, which allowed users to connect to the
Internet and access e-mail, buy music from the iTunes store, and surf the Web from wireless hotspots. Touch users also had access to maps, the weather, and stocks, and the ability to write notes to themselves. The Touch featured an accelerometer that detected when the Touch rotated and auto-matically changed the display from portrait to landscape. W
hile each new version of the iPod offered innovative technology, the new product intro-ductions were not without their challenges. The original iPods were criticized for short battery life and eventually led to a class action lawsuit against Apple, with users claiming that Apple had misrepresented the life of the rechargeable battery used in the iPod. While Apple denied this claim, the company offered a battery replace-ment service for $99 and offered to settle the class action suit in June 2005, offering purchas-ers of first-, second-, and third-generation iPods an extended warranty and a $50 voucher. Apple also experienced problems with the launch of the Nano in 2005, with customers complain-ing about the device freezing and the ease with which the device (especially the screen) could be scratched or would stop functioning. Apple offered a repair and replacement service for these devices, but it was expected to face a class action suit as a result of these problems, similar to the one filed over the battery life problem.
R egardless of these challenges, a 2007 cus-tomer survey by P C Magaz ine showed that
*
Includes scores from Dell, Rio, Panasonic, Philips and RCA as well. S ource: Based on a P C Magazine customer survey, October 31, 2007, w https://www.doczj.com/doc/ae12804129.html, .
E xhibit 7 P C Magazine Customer Satisfaction
with MP3 Players—Reader Survey
MP3 PLAYERS
OVERALL SOUND QUALITY EASE
OF USE RELIABILITY
Apple 8.38.78.68.3Microsoft 8.18.78.38.2Creative 7.88.47.58.1Archos 7.68.17.68.0iRiver 7.68.47.28.1Toshiba 7.68.58.18.0SanDisk 7.58.07.57.9Samsung 7.48.07.57.9Sony 7.38.07.47.8Average *
7.48.17.6
7.8
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Case 6 Apple Inc. in 2009 363
with more than 5 billion songs downloaded from the iTunes store since its introduction in 2001, iTunes was the number one music retailer in the United States. Additionally, Apple advertised iTunes as the world’s most popular online movie store, with custom-ers purchasing and renting more than 50,000 movies a day.
C ompetitors in the Personal Media Player Industry
CREATIVE C reative Labs (Creative) first became famous for its Sound Blaster sound cards, which set the standard in PC audio in 1989. Since that time, Creative had been an industry leader in PC audio technology and had built a large user base and strong brand name in this area. Leveraging this position, Creative offered the digital music player industry’s broadest and most diverse product line:
? The Zen, a credit-card-sized multimedia flash-based player offered in 5 different submodels with hard drives ranging from 2GB to 32GB. All Zen submodels featured a 2.5-inch screen and allowed users to listen to music in Apple’s AAC format as well as MP3 and WMA formats; to view video, including movies rented from online ser-vices; and to view photos. This innovative product was rated as one of the 100 best products of 2008 by P C World.
? The Zen Mozaic and Zen V were small-screen models (1.8 inch and 1.5 inch, respectively) that played digital or FM music and allowed users to view photos and video.
? The Zen Stone line, which included the Zen Stone, the Zen Stone with Speaker, the Zen Stone Plus, and the Zen Stone Plus with Speaker. The Zen Stone line included flash-based players, from 1GB to 4GB, that were positioned to compete against Apple’s iPod Shuffle. The most basic player, the Zen Stone, was a 1GB player that did not have a screen but was offered in six colors
easy for consumers to move content from their computer to their iPod, an essential part of the product value of the iPod. While the iTunes software was a key component in Apple’s strat-egy, it would not have a significant impact on iPod sales until the iTunes fourth edition was released in April 2003. W ith the release of the fourth edition, Steve Jobs announced that he had reached a deal with the five major music labels to sell their content in a copy-protected form from the iTunes Music Store on the Internet, and the world took notice. It marked the first time that such a large library of popular music was available in one place via a simple method. Jobs was able to negotiate the agreement with the labels for two main reasons. First, the labels were eager to offer a legitimate online source for their music that would reduce the flow of pirated music. Second, the music Apple provided from the iTunes Music Store was compressed using Apple’s proprietary Advanced Audio Coding (AAC) and the music was protected with Apple’s Fairplay Digital Rights Management system, one of the stron-gest in the country. I n October 2003, a version of iTunes, includ-ing the iTunes Music Store, was released for Windows users. This immediately opened up Apple’s music store to millions of users who had previously been shut out. By October 2005 Apple had introduced a new version of iTunes that sold not only music but video as well. This version of iTunes was released in conjunction with Apple’s video iPod. As in the original launch of iTunes, Apple formed partnerships with major networks such as ABC, NBC, ESPN, and Disney to make content such as televi-sion shows, sports programming, news, and children’s shows available in a secure, encoded format. I n 2009, iTunes allowed customers not only to purchase music, videos, movies, and televi-sion shows that could be played on any of the iPods (with the exception of the Shuffle and the iPhone) but also to rent movies that could be played on the Apple iPods, iPhones, or Apple TV devices. Apple advertised that with
a catalog of more than 10 million songs, and
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364 Part Two: Section A: Crafting Strategy in Single-Business Companies
the NASDAQ stock exchange in 2007, and in
March 2008 agreed to sell and lease back its headquarters building for $250 million in an effort to increase cash flows. The company’s losses continued into fiscal 2009 with the com-pany recording revenues of $380 million and a net loss of $106 million during the nine-month period ending March 31, 2009.
IRIVER i River Inc. was owned by Reign-com Ltd., based in South Korea. The com-pany entered the digital music player market relatively early and offered a wide variety of MP3 players worldwide. The brand was espe-cially strong in Korea, where it controlled more than 50 percent of the Korean MP3 player market at one time. However, in 2008 iRiver offered only four styles of players in the U.S.
market: the E100, the iRiver Clix, the T60, and the L Series.
L eading the company’s product line was the popular and critically acclaimed iRiver
Clix, which had won multiple awards, such as an Editor’s Choice Award and a World Class
Award from
P C World, and was featured as one of P C World ’s Top 100 Products of the Year for 2006.
C onsumer Reports (a leading con-sumer advocate magazine that regularly rated
and ranked products) rated the Clix as its top flash player as of April 1, 2007, placing
it above players from Apple and SanDisk, among other manufacturers. In 2008, iRiver offered the second-generation Clix in 2GB, 4GB, and 8GB models. The Clix GEN2 offered 24 hours of battery life; played music, videos,
and photos; supported subscription music services; and featured a built-in digital FM
tuner. T he iRiver T7 was a relatively basic flash-based player that was offered in 2GB and 4GB sizes. The T7 series played music files (includ-ing MP3, WMA, and OMG) and featured a small screen, an FM tuner and recorder, and a voice recorder. The e100 flash-based player was
launched in April 2008 and was offered in 4GB and 8GB sizes. This multimedia player featured a sleek, sophisticated design, high-quality play-back, an FM radio, and a voice recorder, and
and provided 10 hours of playback on one charge. The Zen Stone with Speaker was offered in 1GB and 2GB sizes and offered a battery life superior to that of the Zen Stone while also offering an external speaker so the device could be used without ear-phones. The Zen Stone Plus, offered in 2GB and 4GB sizes, had significantly more features, including a small screen, an FM radio, a voice recorder, a clock, and a stop-watch. The 2GB version provided 9.5 hours of playback per charge, while the 4GB offered 12 hours. The Zen Stone Plus with Speaker was essentially identical to the Zen Stone Plus, with the addition of an external speaker and a longer battery life (of up to 20 hours).
C reative was acknowledged as one of the leaders in innovation in the industry, having won the prestigious Consumer Electronics
Show’s Best of CES Award three years in a row with its Zen Portable Media Center in 2004, the Zen Microphoto in 2005, and the Zen Vision: M in 2006. In 2008, Creative introduced the Zen X-Fi (8GB), which used Creative’s propri-etary X-Fi Xtreme Fidelity Audio technology to enhance sound quality. This multimedia player featured a built-in speaker, a memory expan-sion slot, an FM radio, and voice recorder; also, it allowed users to watch movies, view photos, and play music in Apple’s AAC format as well as in MP3 and the Windows WMA format. A significant edition to the X-Fi line was the Zen X-Fi with wireless, available in both 16GB and 32GB, which allowed users to stream music and
photos as part of a home network and include Yahoo Messenger and Windows Live Messen-ger to allow users to stay in touch with their
friends on the go.
I n Creative’s fiscal year ending June 30, 2008, the company reported an operating loss of $61 million but a net income of $28 million due to a $100 million payment from Apple for use of the Zen patent. This compared to an operat-ing loss of $145 million in fiscal year 2006 and loss in net income of $126 million. The strug-
gling company was voluntarily delisted from
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Case 6 Apple Inc. in 2009 365
the Zune brand. According to J. Allard, who
was charged with overseeing the development of the Zune, Microsoft intended to place this player, and future Zune products, at the cen-ter of an “ecosystem” that “helps bring artists closer to their audience and helps people find
new music and develop social connections.”
2 To further support the ecosystem, Microsoft enlisted more than 100 partners to aid in product development, to offer accessories for the Zune, and to provide content on the Zune Market-place. Users could access the Zune Marketplace through the software included with the Zune. At the Zune Marketplace, they could purchase
accessories for their Zune or select from more than 2 million songs, which they could buy outright or access through an “all you can eat” subscription service known as Zune Pass. For $14.99 a month, the Zune Pass allowed users to download as many songs as they wanted from the Zune Marketplace, but once the subscrip-tion expired, users could no longer access the downloaded songs. SANDISK L ike Microsoft, SanDisk was a
relatively new entrant in the MP3 player indus-try. SanDisk was founded in 1988 and head-quartered in Milpitas, California. The company
was the leading worldwide supplier of innova-tive flash memory storage products and lever-aged this market position when it integrated
forward and shipped its first flash-based play-ers in May 2005. By J une 2005, the company
had captured 8.9 percent of the flash memory
digital music player market.
B y J uly 2009, the company’s digital music player portfolio featured 3 models of players:
? The S ansa View, available in 8GB, 16GB, and 32GB sizes, was introduced in Janu-ary 2007 and was considered to be the flagship product from SanDisk. The Sansa View players featured a 2.4-inch screen,a built-in FM radio, an expandable mem-ory slot, and a built-in microphone for recording. The 32GB player offered up to 35 hours of audio playback on a single battery charge and could hold up to offered up to five hours of video playback and
up to 18 hours of audio. The iRiver Spinn was a stylish credit-card-sized audio and video player that had a 3.3 inch LCD display. The Spinn was available with flash memory of 4GB or 8GB. The Clix and Lplayer were also credit-card-sized media players with large screens. The Lplayer came equipped with either 4GB or 8GB flash memory, while the Clix had flash memory of 2GB or 4GB. The Spinn, Clix, and Lplayer played audio and video files and featured high-quality graphics, touch screen navigation, FM radio and recording, and voice recording.
MICROSOFT M icrosoft Corporation, one of the best known companies in the world, was a late entrant into the MP3 player market, not releasing its Zune brand until November 2006. In 2009, the Zune flash-based players were offered in 4GB, 8GB, and 16GB sizes, and the Zune hard-disk players came in 80GB and 120GB sizes. The Zune flash-based players played both audio and video files and featured a 1.8-inch glass screen, the ability to wirelessly sync music with the user’s home network,
a built-in FM radio, and access to the Zune
Marketplace, an online store that was Micro-soft’s answer to the iTunes store. The Zune
could also be plugged into an Xbox 360 to cus-tomize the sound track of games played on the
system. The 80GB and 120GB player offered all
of the features of the flash-based players but
also offered a 3.2-inch screen. The larger 120GB
player held up to 30,000 songs, 25,000 pictures,
or 375 hours of video. One of the primary dis-tinguishing characteristics of the Zune was
its wireless connectivity, which allowed users
to share music and photos with other users
within 30 feet. A user who received “beamed” songs could listen to the song three times before
the Zune’s built-in digital rights management
(DRM) software prohibited access to the song.
Photos had no such limitation. To highlight
the song-sharing capability of the Zune, Micro-soft marketed the product with the tag line
“Welcome to the Social.”
M icrosoft viewed the Zune’s networking
feature as a critical element of its strategy for
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366 Part Two: Section A: Crafting Strategy in Single-Business Companies
product in the future of the company’s product portfolio. The first version of the iPhone was released on June 29, 2007. It had a multitouch screen with a virtual keyboard and buttons but a minimal amount of hardware input. The iPhone’s functions included those of a camera phone and portable media player (equivalent to the iPod) in addition to text messaging and visual voice mail. It also offered Internet ser-vices including e-mail, Web browsing (using access to Apple’s Safari Web browser), and local Wi-Fi connectivity. The iPhone was named T ime magazine’s Invention of the Year in 2007.
T he iPhone began with Apple CEO Steve J obs’s direction that Apple engineers investi-gate touch screens. Apple created the device during a secretive and unprecedented col-laboration with AT&T Mobility (which was Cingular Wireless at the time of the phone’s inception), at a development cost of $150 mil-lion by one estimate. During development, the iPhone was code-named Purple 2. The com-pany rejected an early “design by committee” built with M otorola in favor of engineering a custom operating system and interface and building custom hardware. More than 270,000 first generation iPhones were sold during the first 30 hours of its launch.
O n September 5, 2007, the 4GB model was discontinued and the 8GB model price reduced to $399. Those who had purchased an iPhone in the 14-day period before the September 5, 2007, announcement were eligible for a $200 “price protection” rebate from Apple or AT&T. However, it was widely reported that some who bought between the June 29, 2007, launch and the August 22, 2007, price protection kick-in date complained that this was a larger-than-normal price drop for such a relatively short period and accused Apple of unfair
p ricing. In response to the controversy, on Sep-tember 6, 2007, Apple CEO Steve Jobs wrote in an open letter to iPhone customers that every-one who purchased an iPhone at the higher price “and who is not receiving a rebate or other consideration,” would receive a $100 credit toward the purchase of any product sold in Apple’s retail or online stores.
48 two-hour movies, 8,000 MP3 songs, or 16,000 photos. ? The S ansa Fuze was a multimedia player that played videos, music, and audiobooks. The Sansa Fuze was available in 2GB, 4GB, and 8GB sizes and featured a digital FM radio, voice recording with a built-in microphone, an expandable memory slot, and up to 24 hours of audio playback on a single battery charge. ? The S ansa Clip was a compact, wearable flash-based MP3 player that included a small screen and was offered in 1GB, 2GB, 4GB, and 8GB capacities. This relatively basic player featured an FM tuner, a voice recorder with a built-in microphone, and up to 15 hours of play time on a single charge. S
anDisk was considered by many analysts to be the second strongest competitor in the MP3 player industry and the strongest in the Windows-based segment. SanDisk had made significant strides in the market by offering more features at a lower price than its rivals. For example, the Connect was positioned to compete directly with the iPod Nano, given the Connect’s WiFi capabilities, larger screen, expansion slot, and lower price point. The com-pany also attributed its success to aggressive marketing campaigns and retailers who were looking to improve on the razor-thin profit margins Apple allowed its retailers. How-ever, the company was significantly affected by the fierce competition in the MP3 player industry and the volatile flash memory mar-ket. In response to falling profits, the company took measures to reduce production costs and operating expenses. Even with this temporary
s etback, many analysts viewed SanDisk as the leading challenger to Apple and the main rival for Microsoft to overtake in the fiercely compet-itive Windows-based MP3 player market.
A pple iPhone
T he iPhone, Apple’s Internet-enabled multime-
dia cellular phone, was considered to be a key
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Case 6 Apple Inc. in 2009 367
Nokia had been the the leading seller of smart phones between 2006 and the first quarter of 2009, although its market share had fallen as Research in Motion’s Blackberry smart phones and Apple’s iPhone became highly sought after by business users and consumers. E xhibit 8 presents market shares for the leading smart phone brands between 2006 and the first quar-ter of 2009.
T he Future I n assessing Apple’s future, most analysts agreed that Apple would undoubtedly continue its well-established track record of introducing innovative, high-quality consumer electronics to the masses. However, many believed that it would be very difficult for Apple to maintain its growth and substantial operating profit margins given increasing competition in its core markets and the economic pressures on the consumer technology sector. A nalysts were also concerned with Steve J obs’s health—his previous battle with cancer and recent liver transplant created questions about how effective he would be as CEO. Also, given Steve Jobs’s health, many analysts ques-tioned whether Apple should develop a formal succession plan that would eventually make chief operating officer Tim Cook Apple’s CEO.
T he iPhone 3G was released in 70 countries on July 11, 2008, and was available in the United States exclusively on AT&T Mobility with a two-year contract. The new Apple iPhone 3G combined the functionality of a wireless phone and an iPod and allowed users to access the Internet wirelessly at twice the speed of the previous version of the iPhone. Apple’s new phone also featured a built-in GPS and, in an effort to increase adoption by corporate users, was compatible with Microsoft Exchange. T he iPhone 3GS was introduced on J
une 19, 2009, and included all of the features of the iPhone 3G, but could launch applications and render Web pages twice as fast as the iPhone 3G. The iPhone 3GS also featured a three-megapixel camera, video recording, voice control, and up to 32 GB of flash memory . The iPhone 3GS 16GB model was priced at $199 on a two-year AT&T contract, while the 32GB model was priced at $299
on a two-year AT&T contract. Upgrade prices without a contract renewal were $399 and $499, respectively , for the 16GB and 32GB models. S imilar to the iTunes/iPod partnership, Apple launched the App Store for the iPhone. The App Store allowed developers to build applications for the iPhone and to offer them either for free or for a fee. On launch day, there were more than 800 applications available. Two hundred of these were available for free, while 90 percent of the applications cost less than $10. By the end of the launch weekend, the App Store reported more than 10 million down-loads. In J uly 2009, the App Store had more than 65,000 applications created by 100,000 developers and 1.5 billion downloads. To fur-ther expand the interconnectivity between its product offerings, including the iPhone, Apple launched its MobileMe service on June 9, 2008. Like Microsoft Exchange, this service delivered push e-mail, contacts, and calendars to appli-cations on the iPhone, iPod touch, Macs, and PCs. W hile mobile phone sales had grown by just 5 percent in 2008 and were expected to decline by 4 percent in 2009, the smart phone segment had grown by 27 percent in 2008 and was projected to increase by 9 percent in 2009.
S
ource: Gartner (as reported in Jessi Hempel, “Smartphone Wars: Blackberry’s Plan to Win,” F ortune, August 17, 2009 ( h ttp://https://www.doczj.com/doc/ae12804129.html,/2009/08/12/technology/blackberry_research_in_motion.fortune/index.htm ).
E xhibit 8 M
arket Shares for the Leading Sellers of Smart Phones, 2006–First Quarter 2009
BRAND
2006
2007
2008
Q1 2009
Nokia 49%49%44%41%Research in Motion 7101720Apple —3811Others 44383128Total
100%
100%
100%
100%
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368 Part Two: Section A: Crafting Strategy in Single-Business Companies
models being developed by Samsung and LG, caused some analysts to question whether Apple’s strategy could sustain its advantage in
the industry.
Also, falling demand in the personal media player market, and an increasing number of iPhone killers being offered by smart phone rivals Nokia and Research in Motion, and new
E ndnotes
1 As quoted in Steve Smith, “iPod’s Lessons,” T wice New Y ork 19, no.
15 (July 26, 2004), p.12.
2 As quoted in Steven Levy, “Trying Apple’s Tune,” N ewsweek online, September 17, 2006, w https://www.doczj.com/doc/ae12804129.html,/id/14866932/site/newsweek (accessed April 10, 2007).
现代企业管理考试作业： 苹果公司的战略分析 指导老师：永伟 学号： 姓名：汪大双
1………………………………………………………………………目录2………………………………………………………………关键词，摘要3……………………………………………………………………公司简介4……………………………………………相关背景：产品iPhone简介5…………………………………………………………iPhone 战略特点6……………………………………………苹果公司的差异化组合竞争7………………………………………………………….营销手段和策略8…………………………………………………………营销手段和策略9……………………………………………………iPhone在中国的发展10…………………………………………………iPhone在中国的发展
11……………………………………………iPhone在中国市场的状况12……………………………………………iPhone在中国市场的状况13……………………………………………………………………总结14……………………………………………………………………结束语 关键词： 发展战略差异化组合竞争营销手段与策略创新摘要： 苹果公司在高科技企业中以创新而闻名，其公司口号是switch （变革）。苹果电脑公司在二十世纪七十年代通过Apple II引发了个人电脑革命，二十世纪八十年代Macintosh的推出又彻底改造了个人计算机。通过其创新的和屡获大奖的台式机、笔记本电脑、
Mac OS X操作系统、iLife数字生活式软件以及专业应用软件，苹果电脑已经被用户广为认知。此外，苹果还以其领先市场的iPod系列便携式数字音乐播放器和iTunes在线音乐商店引发了数字音乐的革命。 正文： 一、公司简介 苹果电脑公司由乔布斯、斯蒂夫·沃兹尼亚克和RonWayn在1976年4月1日创立，总部位于美国加里福尼亚丘珀蒂诺市，处于硅谷的中心地带。1975年春天，AppleⅠ由Wozon设计，并被Byte 的电脑商店购买了50台，当时单台售价为666.66美元。1977年苹果正式注册成为公司，并启用了沿用至今的新苹果标志。1978年，
苹果为什么这么“甜” 如果要问谁是今天全球商界最为耀眼的明星，答 案非苹果莫属。 由苹果公司一月末公布的本年度第一份财务报 表显示，在2009年第一财务季度(截至去年12月27 日)，苹果净利润为16.1亿美元，每股收益1.78美元，营业收入为101.7亿美元。与上财年同期相比，其季度净利润和营业收入分别增长约2%和6%。这些指标都创下了该公司历史同期最高纪录。 令人咂舌的强势业绩之外，我们随便翻看几个世界顶级排行榜，便可领略苹果的“耀眼”程度：在《商业周刊》50强排行榜上，苹果连续多年名列榜首；而于最近一期公布的“十大最具创新性公司”排行榜上又力压谷歌、沃尔玛等勇夺第一。 当IPOD已经将曾经辉煌的WALKMAN所占有的音乐播放器市场蚕食殆尽，当IPHONE已经突出索爱、诺基亚、黑莓等重重包围捕获全球手机达人芳心，当MAC经历二十年浮沉起落却依然在当下的PC市场上占有其稳定且重要的地位。我们不禁要问：在金融危机的大背景下，诸如索尼、诺基亚、IBM等业界对手纷纷趋于黯淡的时候，为何苹果却能始终保持它所本有的光泽而将这么一段商业传奇愈演愈烈？ 接下来，我们的案例分析将通过以下6个部分进行讲述分析——苹果成功为什么？ （1）企业概况 （2）企业文化精解 （3）深层解析“三次危机”——苹果公司三项关键性产品 （4）“多点合一”解析苹果成功之道 （5）苹果中国-----对苹果公司未来发展的合理化建议 （6）结语
一．企业概况 苹果公司（Apple Inc.），原称苹果电脑公司，由斯蒂夫.乔布斯、斯蒂夫.沃兹尼亚克和Ron Wayn在1976年4月1日创立。其总部位于美国加利福尼亚的库比提诺，内核业务是电子技术产品，目前全球计算机市场占有率为7.96%。苹果的Apple II于70年代为计算机产业开创了个人电脑新时代，其后革命性的Macintosh接力于80年代持续发展。90年代后期发布的iMac G3宣布苹果全面进入i时代。进入21世纪后惊世而出的iPod音乐播放器和iPhone智能手机将其推上了一个新的高度。 二．企业文化精解——乔布斯和苹果企业文化 1.求知若渴，大智若愚 苹果CEO乔布斯用这样的话为自己对创新的热情下了定义。作为一个领导者，乔布斯早已将个人文化渗透到了企业文化之中。 崇尚创新的他给予了苹果近乎偏执的创新灵魂，从对技术创新的绝对信奉到对企业经营模式的不断革新求变，乔布斯将他所一直秉持的战略思想（采用高度聚焦的产品战略、严格的过程控制、突破式的创新和持续的市场营销）真正贯彻于新的数字世界之中。而他近乎病态的完美主义也使得苹果的创新有着另一个层面的含义，即科技的极致运用和严谨的态度。每当有重要产品即将宣告完成时，苹果都会退回最本源的思考，并要求将产品推倒重来。以至于有人认为这是一种极端的品质、完美主义控制狂的标志，但这却无法掩盖苹果多年来被公认为“全球最具创新精神公司”的光芒。 乔布斯曾经用好奇心、直觉和义无反顾形容自己的生活，而这也正是苹果企业文化的精髓所在。 2.思变 乔布斯用这样类似的话激发公司内员工的热情。 推崇精英人才文化无疑是苹果企业文化的创新灵魂的延伸。与对产品和战略高度聚焦的做法相似，在人才的使用上，乔布斯也极力强调“精”和“简”。“质量始终比数量更重要”是他在人员任用上一贯坚持的信条。苹果一直以来都是由一
关于苹果公司的SWOT分析 苹果公司（Apple Inc.）是美国的一家高科技公司，2007年由苹果电脑公司（Apple Computer, Inc.）更名而来，核心业务为电子科技产品，总部位于加利福尼亚州的库比蒂诺。苹果公司由史蒂夫·乔布斯、斯蒂夫·沃兹尼亚克和Ron Wayn在1976年4月1日创立，在高科技企业中以创新而闻名，知名的产品有Apple II、Macintosh电脑、Macbook笔记本电脑、iPod音乐播放器、iTunes 商店、iMac一体机、iPhone手机和iPad平板电脑等。2012年8月21日，苹果成为世界市值第一的上市公司。 一. 竞争环境因素分析 1.企业外部环境机会因素（O） A．消费类电子市场巨大：美国消费类电子协会（CEA）曾经预测，全球消费类电子产品的收入将持续稳定的增长。只要产品得到消费者的认可，竞争策略优于竞争对手，这将是一个十分巨大的市场。 B．众多专业电子代工服务（EMS）企业涌现易于苹果将制造业外包并降低成本：亚洲尤其是中国已经发展成为“世界工厂”，许多跨国企业在亚洲采购配套元件或者将制造业务由亚洲企业代工，利用各自擅长的优势来优化产品价值链，降低成本，实现双赢。同时，中国高速成长的内需市场也为苹果全球销售业务的成长提供机会。 C．大型元器件制造商涌现：世界范围内大批元器件制造商的涌现，使得苹果在寻找合格供应商上有许多选择，这样就增加了苹果的谈判筹码。供应商之间在价格、品质和服务方面的激烈竞争使得苹果可以很有效的降低产品成本，从而提高毛利润率。 2．企业外部环境威胁因素(T) A．美国经济下滑，消费信心受挫：次贷危机继续向实体经济扩散，欧美房地产业低迷不振，世界缺乏新的经济增长点支撑，全球经济已经出现明显降温。全球通货膨胀的压力加大，国家政策重点转向控制通货膨胀，紧缩性宏观政策将进一
商业模式分析 1、使用3W2H模型分析iPhone商业模式 How to make money 通过终端获得盈利：一方面是直接销售终端获得的利润，另一方面是通过与运营商签订协议，在终端销售帮助获得和绑定用户的基础上，所得到的运营商收入分成的收入。 基于终端提供长期的容服务（AppStore和iTunes），包括影音娱乐、应用软件、互联网应用等多种在线服务，获得另一部分收入。 How to achieve iPhone超乎想象的产品功能设计和创新型的应用集成。 集成了iPod和智能手机的双重产品特性。 通过终端销售和基于终端的容提供完成对用户的绑定。 Where
2G版iPhone主要覆盖的国家和地区包括美国、英国、法国、德国；3G版本在08年首先在22个国家和地区上市后，又在其他48个国家和地区上市。 What 提供集成了iPo和智能手机两类产品功能的iPhone智能娱乐终端，并以终端同iTunes、AppStore等在线服务的集合，向客户提供了持续的固定和移动互联网容、应用服务。 Who 基于“iPod+iTunes”的客户群体基础，完成向通信终端市场的延伸，主要目标客户依然是以追求时尚、流行，对互联网等娱乐应用有较强需求的客户群体。 2、顾客的价值创造 Phone的核心目标客户全实际上是与iPod系列产品的目标客户群体基本重合的。iPhone在用户群体开拓方面的主要价值将Apple原有的互联网应用客户群，想移动增值应用客户群的推广和延伸。同时，
也帮助Apple更好的应对音乐手机对iPod类音乐播放器的强替代作用。 一个成功的商业模式，第一步就是要制定一个有力的客户价值主，也就是如何帮助客户完成其工作。对于苹果而言，iPhone的核心功能就是一个通讯和数码终端，它融合手机、相机、音乐播放器和掌上电脑的功能，这种多功能的组合为用户提供了超越手机或者iPod这样单一的功能。苹果的APP Store拥有近20万个程序，这些程序也是客户价值主的重要组成部分。除此之外，苹果在用户体验方面做得非常出色，这些都是苹果提供的客户价值主。 3、盈利模式分析 成功的商业模式的第二步就是制定赢利模式，也就是为自己公司创造价值的详细计划。对于苹果公司而言，赢利路径主要有俩个：一个是靠卖硬件产品来获得一次性的高额利润，二是靠卖音乐和应用程序来获得重复性购买的持续利润。由于优秀的设计，以及超过10万计的音乐和应用程序的支持，无论是iPod、iPhone还是iPad，都要比同类竞争产品的利润高很多。同样，由于有上面这些硬件的支持，那些应用程序也更有价值。 iPhone销售渠道分析 iPhone的渠道包括运营商渠道和Apple自有渠道两个部分。 在销售渠道的构建上，Apple充分体现了iPhone作为移动通信终端的核心地位，将iPhone与运营商的用户获取、增值业务开发、用
苹果公司发展战略分析及思考 苹果电脑公司在2o世纪7O年代通过AppleⅡ引发了个人电脑革命，20世纪8O年代Macintosh的推出又彻底改造了个人计算机。通过其创新的和屡获大奖的台式机、笔记本电脑、Mac OS X操作系统、iLifc数字生活方式软件以及专业应用软件，苹果电脑已经被用户广为认知。此外，苹果还以其领先市场的iPod系列便携式数字音乐播放器和funes在线音乐商店引发了数字音乐的革命。虽然今天的苹果公司看起来风光无限，其实苹果公司在 发展过程中并不是一帆风顺的，它数度潮起潮落，甚至到了危险的边缘，但这个苹果并没有坏掉，而是又开创了一个新的局面。在苹果的产生并发展到今天的这个过程中，数度更换CEO，每次更换CEO都意味着企业发展战略的变化。让我们用战略管理的思想对这些变化进行探讨，从中找出对我们有用的启示。 l 创业战略分析(1976-1985) 1．1 创业背景分析 微型计算机行业开始于1974年，个人计算机是在微处理机基础上设计的一种便于使用的桌面机。当时一些小型公司生产了价格在400美元左右的微机系统。这类机器刚一推出就非常抢手。市场虽然对个人计算机有广泛的需求，但是这时的个人计算机普遍存在两大障碍：①产品功能以及价格对消费者没有吸引力；②缺乏服务、技术支持以及畅通的销售渠道。1．2 创业经历 1976年3月，乔布兹与沃兹尼克合伙组建苹果公司他们的公司。设计出一种更高级的个人计算机一苹果Ⅱ型。为了占领看似无限的市场，公司在资金、市场销售渠道和策略方面采取了有效的措施。①在资金方面，将风险投资人马古拉作为合作伙伴，1980年l2月12日，苹果公司又第一次公开招股上市，以每股22美元的价格，公开发行460万股，集资1．O1亿美元。②在市场宣传方面，他们找到麦克肯那广告公司为苹果公司作广告，且事后付款，一直维持到1986年。③在销售渠道和策略方面，苹果公司与750到800个独立零售店建立了紧密联系，公司通过自己的地区供货中心，将产品直接卖给零售商，取消了中转环节，从而大大减少了库存，并有助于接近顾客。同时公司通过“苹果等于事业”的学习班直接培训销售商，苹果公司的销售商可以当面给顾客操作指导，可以解决当日故障问题，需要时还可为顾客免费更换。苹果公司为使用者提供了免费软件热线，每月一封介绍最新消息的信件等等。公司的合作广告活动补偿给销售商3％的售价。苹果公司改变了IBM公司建立的销售计算机需要大批经过训练的直销人员这一计算机市场的原则。 1．3 创业危机 危机开始出现了于1980年，当时IBM的入侵给公司带来了一些阴影。对苹果最主要的威胁有阿塔利、中校、汤迪公司，还有IBM、施乐、惠普以及其它公司产品的狂轰乱炸。为了应对这些竞争对手，在苹果一Ⅱ型机销售市场仍然看好的情况下。这一年公司还增加了价格较贵的苹果一Ⅲ型，但这种机型却出现了一系列的技术问题，由于主线路板温度过高，产品不得不重新设计，使得公司850个销售商无货可卖。直到1981年12月，苹果一Ⅲ型才重新上市。如果不是苹果一Ⅱ型销售依然看好，那么苹果一Ⅲ型的问题也许将威胁到整个公司的生存。苹果一Ⅲ型在重新设计并经过详细测试后重新上市后，也取得了一定的成功，危机才得到缓解。苹果公司在其发展过程中还遇到了很多问题。由于没有采取那种传统的坚持严格的职权划分，制定严格规章制度和管理方法。则加剧了公司的内部矛盾和权力斗争，相继个重要领导都离开了公司。其中最主要的有公司的创始人之一斯丹劳、沃兹尼克和前总经理米歇尔·斯格特等。1985年春，苹果公司开始出现困境，第一季度甚至有了亏损。此时乔布斯放弃了主席的职务，离开了公司。
苹果公司的产品营销策略研究 【摘要】电子产品市场，同样一类商品能选择的替代品有很多，苹果的产品似乎也没有神奇到无所不能。既然苹果的产品没有那么神奇，那么苹果在另一方面――营销的这一环节一定做得很到位。所以笔者主要目的就是研究苹果公司的营销手段，以及这些手段能给其他公司带来怎样的启示。 【关键词】苹果公司营销企业文化 当前，提起最热门的科技公司，非苹果公司莫属。就在美国当地时间2013年5月26日，纳斯达克交易所的数据显示，苹果在这一天的市值已经超越了微软，正式成为全球市值最高的科技公司。当天苹果收盘价为244.11美元/股，市值为2221.2亿美元。
一、相关文献综述 对于营销方面的研究其实很早就开始了。美国市场营销协会对市场营销的定义是：市场营销是创造、沟通与传送价值给顾客，及经营顾客关系以便让组织与其利益关系人受益的一种组织功能与程序。而菲利普?科特勒下的定义强调了营销的价值导向：市场营销是个人和集体通过创造产品和价值，并同别人进行交换，以获得其所需所欲之物的一种社会和管理过程。近年来，美国学者唐?舒尔茨又提出了更新的4R营销理论。该营销理论认为，随着市场的发展，企业需要从更高层次上以更有效的方式在企业与顾客之间建立起有别于传统的新型的主动性关系。 二、傲人销售业绩背后的营销手段 （一）营销中给顾客植入宗教式的信仰 世界品牌研究专家马丁?林斯特龙曾经说过“宗教
是庄严高贵的传道，神秘的符号和仪式”。苹果公司与宗教有两点特点是一致的，20多年过去了，苹果公司仍然坚持这一愿景。 不得不承认，这确实是苹果在营销策略上的高明之处。在营销界，流传着这样一句话：低等营销做产品，中等营销做品牌，高等营销做文化。每次新品发布会的演讲上面，就能找出一些原因了。每次的演讲都富有激情而且极具煽动性，能使苹果迷们更加忠诚于苹果品牌。 （二）苹果营销的是文化，是身份 在苹果的广告，你从来没有看到过关于这些技术创新的内容，也没有看到关于苹果的产品优于其他同类产品的各种特点。你在广告里只能看见苹果宣扬的一种年轻人令人羡慕的一种生活方式。其实原因与百事的那些广告的原理是一样的，苹果并不是单单在推
辨析品牌异同点 苹果手机在2011-2012年，一度成为传奇，从iPhone4到iPhone4s，被称为当时的街机王，在当时苹果手机已经成为潮流，就连街上卖水果的都会有手持这品牌的手机。它不仅时尚简洁的外表，而且功能的突破，系统的人性化，还有颇带有象征性的高端手机价格，成为中青年人的青睐。它的成功和其苹果公司的独特定位战略息息相关，并得于其中采取的高差异取胜。 一.品牌差异点及联想 1.功能性利益与财务性利益：苹果搭载的IOS系统与其他系统相比的优势有以下几点：（1）软件与硬件整合度高 iOS系统的软件与硬件的整合度相当高，使其分化大大降低，在这方面要远胜于碎片化严重的Android。这样也增加了整个系统的稳定性，经常使用iPhone的朋友也能发现，手机很少出现死机、无响应的情况。 （2）.界面美观、易操作 苹果在界面设计上投入了很多精力，无论是从从外观性还是到易用性，iOS都致力于为使用者提供最直观的用户体验。iOS系统给人的第一感觉就是简洁、美观、有气质，并且操作简单，用户上手很快，用起来有种手到擒来、行云流水的感觉。 （3）.安全性强 对于用户来说，保障移动设备的信息安全具有十分重要的意义，不管这些信息是企业和客户信息、或者是个人照片、银行信息或者地址等，都必须保证其安全。苹果对iOS生态采取了封闭的措施，并建立了完整的开发者认证和应用审核机制，因而恶意程序基本上没有登台亮相的机会。iOS设备使用严格的安全技术和功能，并且使用起来十分方便。iOS设备上的许多安全功能都是默认的，无需对其进行大量的设置，而且某些关键性功能，比如设备加密，则是不允许配置的，这样用户就不会意外关闭这项功能。 （4）.应用数量多、品质高 iOS所拥有的应用程序是所有移动操作系统中最多的，iOS平台拥有数量庞大的app和第三方开发者，几乎每类app都有数千款,并且优质应用极多，这是其他移动操作系统无法比拟的。 2.情感性利益与社交利益：美国苹果公司电子产品的爱好者，简称“果粉”，从iPhone开始接触苹果，通过情感认同在延伸消费到苹果的电脑、iPod、iPad，以其对Apple产品品牌的执着追求而著称。苹果设计、造型、色彩和材质都能够带给消费者非同寻常的使用体验和情感触动，并激发消费者对于创新的深层次思考。简洁的外形设计、细腻的手感、品位的象征，迎合了消费者的消费需求，在不断变化的市场中树立了独特的品牌形象。苹果手机采取了高价格定价，曾经一度价格要1万多一台手机。象征了用户具有一定地位或者生活质量的特征，并且消费者很多具有炫富心理，这更加促进购买了苹果手机的数量与速度。 2.品牌共同点及联想 （1）以iphoneX为例。iphone X采用的全面屏设计帮助它跻身于各大竞争品牌同类型的产品行列中。2014 年，夏普就公布了拥有三面超窄边框、屏占比很高的 Aquos Crystal，但夏普的几代 Crystal 系列手机在设置、根底体验、贩卖渠道上都多多少少有些缺点，产物更多地停留在观点和展现阶段。2016年10月25日，小米MIX 全面屏概念手机，正式发布。小米MIX 横空出世，首创全面屏设计，突破屏幕显示和视觉体验的边界，开启新时代智能手机设计风潮。iPhone X是Apple（苹果公司）于北京时间2017年9月13日凌晨1点，在Apple Park新总部的史蒂夫·乔布斯剧院会上发布的新机型。Phone X是一款极为特别的产品，首先它不属于苹果的常规产品线，而是作为iPhone十周年的纪念版发布。它是近几年来苹果少见的大举创新的iPhone产品：全面屏设计、OLED材质
苹果公司内外部环境分析 苹果公司（Apple Inc）是美国的一家高科技公司，2007年由美国苹果电脑公司更名而来，它的核心业务为电子科技产品，总部位于加利福尼亚的库比蒂诺。苹果公司由史蒂夫·乔布斯、斯蒂夫·盖瑞·沃兹尼亚克和罗纳德·杰拉尔德·韦恩在1976年4月1日创立，在高科技企业中以创新而闻名，知名的产品有Apple II、Macintosh电脑、Macbook笔记本电脑、ipod音乐播放器、itunes商店、imac 一体机、iphone手机和ipad平板电脑。如今，苹果公司已经连续三年成为全球市值最大公司（创下6235亿美元记录，现为4779亿美元）。苹果公司不仅在美国，在其他国家的地位也很高，接下来我主要想讨论一下苹果公司在我国的发展现状和发展前景。 一、宏观环境分析 Political政治环境： 苹果公司的总部在美国，而美国使联邦制国家，政权组织形式为总统制，实行三权分立与制衡相结合的政治制度和两党制的政党制度。他们对高科技产业的发展乐于投资而且给予很高的重视。我国是社会主义国家，由中国共产党领导，政治高度集权，因此苹果公司在我国所面临的政治环境还是比较严峻的，加之于我国政府相对于外企而言比较重视国企，中国又是美国最大的债权国，如果苹果公司不遵循中国的经济政策和有关对外贸易的规定，在中国市场上发展下去是非常困难的。 Economic经济环境： 我国的GDP在逐年增长，这意味着居民的可支配水平也在提高，虽然苹果公司的产品价格都比较贵，但是多数中国人还是乐意并有能力购买的，尤其是像长三角地区、北上广地区的居民更加有能力购买，这对苹果公司来说是个机遇，总的来说苹果公司在我国的经济金融环境较好。 Social社会环境： 美国人向来喜欢创新发明新事物，苹果的产品正是这样总能引领潮流吸引广大消费者的眼球，成功的引领市场。而我国的居民向来认为价格高的肯定比价格低的好，加之从众心理和攀比心理，苹果产品在我国的市场可谓一片光明，人们
苹果公司的差异化战略的运用 一．企业简介 苹果公司，原称苹果电脑公司，是全球第一大手机生产商，是全球最大的PC厂商，也是世界上市值最大的上市公司，其核心业务是电子科技产品，在高科技企业中以创新而闻名。苹果公司是世界上最大的IT科技企业，其公司口号就是变革，随时代的步伐进行创新，其公司理念就是不完美才能促使进步去追求完美，紧跟着这个理念苹果公司进行不断变革创新，增加市场占有率。其营业状况如下： 1977年苹果电脑公司正式注册成为苹果电脑有限公司； 2010 年，苹果公司以2213.6 亿美元的市值一举超越了微软公司； 2011年2月，苹果公司打破诺基亚连续15年销售量第一的地位，成为全球第一大手机生产商； 2011年8月10日苹果公司市值超过埃克森美孚，成为全球市值最高的上市公司； 2012年2月底，苹果市值大涨，一举突破5000亿美元关口。 为什么1977年才正式注册的苹果公司短短三十年间会取得如此大的成功？下面将用战略管理中差异化战略的有关知识分析苹果成功的原因。 二.企业资源与行业竞争结构分析
（一）SWOT分析 优势： 1、苹果公司创新能力强大。“永远追求卓越，不断超越自我，不断进取和创新”是苹果的特点。过去的10年，苹果获得了1300项专利，相当于微软的一半，相当于戴尔的1.5倍。苹果的创新能力主要体现在技术创新，产品创新和工艺创新。在以技术快速更新和产品周期不断缩短为主要特征的ＩＴ业竞争中，创新是苹果保持长久竞争优势的动力，是苹果具备核心竞争力的体现。 2、强大的研究和开发能力。苹果是目前唯一一家同时生产硬件和软件的企业。苹果非常重视先进关键技术的研发能力，拥有强大的研究机构，对于任何一项新的设计，苹果的设计师们首先要拿出10 种完全不同的模拟方案，他们会从中挑出3个，再花几个月的时间仔细研究这三个方案，最终整合出一个最优秀的设计方案。保证苹果的产品先进、时尚、独一无二。 3、产品质量好，有高档产品形象，从产品设计，原料采购，生产测试各环节，苹果对其产品的品质控制非常严格。 4. 苹果的品牌知名度和美誉度非常高，苹果以品质和技术为基础，塑造情感型和自我表达型利益为主要价值的品牌。苹果定位高端，价格比一般品牌要贵许多。不仅获得了品牌价值，而且因此获得了高额利润。 劣势: 1、相对其他公司产品来说，苹果价格昂贵，虽然苹果拥有自己的消费群体，但是较高的销售价格仍然不利于市场的扩大。 2、苹果的很多软件都是自己系统平台单独开发，兼容性比较低，相比于微软的WINDOWS和谷歌的安卓手机系统来说，软件市场小，兼容性差。 机会：
剖析苹果公司的品牌策略【内容摘要】品牌的内涵是文化，文化乃是构成品牌的本质要素。品牌策略应奠基于以人为本及目标顾客感性心理品牌文化策略，成功的自有品牌建设需结合现代社会消费心理和文化价值取向。本文探讨中国中小企业发展自有品牌时，可效仿苹果公司APPLE成功的经验，以品牌文化为核心进行品牌定位及相关品牌营销策略；在此案例中苹果公司APPLE成功地以“Think Different”创新、时尚、与自我独特的品牌文化作为品牌定位，凝聚起大批品牌忠诚度极高苹果迷的认同。高忠诚度的顾客带给苹果公司品牌资产的积累，最终优异地展现于苹果公司APPLE经营绩效、产品市场份额，与资本市场等具体财务表现。正如品牌营销大师Philip Kotler所说，“营销品牌是一项艺术，现代的品牌建立方式是创造并传递价值给主要市场的客户，为企业带来利润”。中国企业应结合以往科技制造的经验与五千年中华文化底蕴，且融合随时代更迭的多元文化及与国际商业互动中所吸收的外国文化，运用于创新与创意文化的角度满足顾客实质需求并引领潜在精神文化需求。以中国企业与企业主独特多元的“软性”实力，相信定能成功创建新的自有品牌，使台湾企业面对目前全新的商业机会与挑战，提升中国企业生命的未来性，其潜在可开创空间应更为宽阔。【关键词】品牌品牌定位品牌文化品牌忠诚品牌效应 2 一、认识苹果公司的品牌策略1、苹果的成功2010年10月19日凌晨2点开始，苹果公司召开财报电话会议，公布了今年第四季度、其实是截止到9月25日的财务业绩报告。报告显示苹果这个季度的营收达到了203.40亿美元，大大超出了华尔街分析师之前给出的188亿美元的预期，而税后的净利润是43.1亿美元，刷新了苹果公司的记录。这其中iPhone的销售助推效用明显，iPhone从上市以来的热卖，销售量达到了1410万部，轻松超过上季度840万部。而在1996年时的苹果公司则面临着破产的命运，但同年其创始人史蒂夫·乔布斯重返该公司后，进行了大刀阔斧的改革，先是与以前的宿敌微软结成战略联盟，进行交叉授权。然后借当年修习美术课的功底和对消费者心理的洞察，带领苹果推出了炫目的iMac电脑——半透明的外观，发光的鼠标，以及丰富的色彩，标新立异的构思，出色的工业设计使得iMac和随后的iMac二代、iBook等产品获得了一系列最佳称号，成为时尚的代名词。这一系列举措使得苹果打了翻身仗。乔布斯刚上任时，苹果公司的亏损高达10亿美元，一年后却奇迹般地赢利3.09亿美元。1999年1月，当乔布斯宣布第四财政季度赢利1.52亿美元，超出华尔街的预测38%时，苹果公司的股价立即攀升，最后以每股4.65美元收盘，舆论哗然。苹果电脑在PC市场的占有率已由原来的5%增加到10%。2、苹果带来的影响在互联网逐渐普及的今天，互联网网站的发展影响着硬件的发展，电脑以更快的CPU和网速带宽来满足网站的迅猛发展。因此，电脑的制造者们在激烈的市场竞争中赚取着很低的利润，羡慕嫉妒着一波又一波的网络新贵蹿红。而现在，新的规则正在悄然诞生。我们看到苹果iPad的出现正在刷新我们过去的传统。传统的用手指、键盘和屏幕的组合，培养了一代人的生活方式，可能因为iPad的上市，文化从指间的流淌要被更加传统的手掌翻阅所取代，这样，人类的阅读、操作等等无疑走向回归。在互联网时代，浏览器、地址栏这些对于年轻一代无比熟悉的东西，在1950年代或更早出生的人们尚未完全认知的时候，未来可能会很快被iPad上小小的图标所取代。更清晰的画面、更人性化的 3 运用、更有策略性和灵活性的竞争方式的苹果系列产品的诞生，不仅使得互联网的浏览入口有了变化，而且向世人宣示这样一个简单的道理：只要认识上面的图标，原来不通过浏览器也可以阅读网站的内容。同时苹果的产品也正逐渐的影响着它的竞争对手们的品牌策略。苹果的产品比较人性化与个性化，它的工业设计注重人机工程与传统美学的相结合，能使客户体验到充分的新鲜感与视觉上的享受。这点也给它的竞争对手很大的启发，使现在的电子产品相比以前更注重了人性化与个性化。3、苹果的品牌策略苹果是一个电子消费类产品品牌，但很多消费者对它的狂热与追捧却不亚于任何一个奢侈品的品牌。是什么原因
浅析苹果公司的成功分析 【摘要】苹果公司从创立到如今，几经兴衰，但始终屹立不倒。甚至在2011年8月10日苹果公司市值已超过埃克森美孚，成为全球市值最高的上市公司。其产品广受消费者追捧。已成为数码电子行业的引领者。文章通过分析苹果公司的管理、销售技巧、企业文化等特点，来阐述苹果公司的成功之道，以期为中国企业做大做强提供参考。 [关键词] 苹果公司管理文化 1、引言 十年前，苹果公司还岌岌可危，被戴尔总裁迈克尔.戴尔评论：“如果我在苹果，我会关掉这家公司，把钱还给股东”的苹果公司，截至2010年10月份，共销售ipod系列2.7亿台、iphone系列1亿多部、ipad系列1千万部，在2010年盈利达到267亿美元。如今，苹果，统治了MP3随身听市场80%以上份额，成为全球最大的音乐销售商，占领美国校园笔记本电脑市场的半壁江山。并在2011年8月份成为全球最大的上市公司。 一个企业主要来自于管理、销售技巧、企业文化等方面不同于其他同行业公司的特点，正由于这些差异性特点，造就了苹果公司今天的巨大成功。 2、苹果公司的差异性特点 2.1管理是指通过计划、组织、领导、控制及创新等手段，结合人力、物力、财力、信息等资源，以期高效的达到组织目标的过程。苹果公司在管理方式上有其独特的特点。 2.1.1在公司中实行“A级工作组”，有精选的设计师、程序员和管理人员组成的“A级小组”，力图组织人员建立只拥有“A级”参与者的目标共识（如图1）。在苹果公司内部一直保持有最优秀的成员组成的较小规模，使得来的公司的优秀人才能得到有效的激励和创造空间。同时给予大额股票期权，使他们充分发挥创造力。 图1 苹果公司2010年的管理团队 2.1.2倾力打造用户体验。为了让顾客更好地使用苹果系列产品，苹果公司为此创建了苹果天才吧，让顾客可以与维修人员面对面地进行问题检修。另外，消费者可以参加Apple Store举行的讲座，以及每年夏天针对儿童的夏令营。还设立ipod lounge网站收集消费者的建议。 2.2.3集中力量办事。苹果公司前CEO史蒂夫.乔布斯曾说过：“苹果并不是
苹果公司组织结构分析 苹果公司简介 苹果公司，原称苹果电脑公司，英文名Apple,Inc由乔布斯.斯蒂夫.沃兹尼亚克和Ron Wayn在1976 年创立。苹果股份总部位于美国加利福尼亚的库比提诺，核心业务是电子科技产品。自成立以来,其在电子科技产品领域一直处于全球领先地位,包括Macintosh电脑、iPod音乐播放器、iTunes商店、iPhone手机和iPad平板电脑等在的电子科技产品更是在近年来风靡全球。2011年2月，苹果公司打破诺基亚连续15年销售量第一的地位，成为全球第一大手机生产商。2011年8月10日苹果公司市值超过埃克森美孚，成为全球市值最高的上市公司。苹果公司的组织结构图
苹果公司组织结构设置原则 1、简约不简单，精简机构 简约是苹果组织结构的关键。苹果没有委员会，整体管理的概念在这里不受欢迎，只有一个人——首席财务官——掌握“损益表”,对造成盈亏的费用开支负责。 2、环状沟通，减小管理幅度 管理层各部门直接与首席执行官乔布斯相连，底层员工再直接与各管理层相连。这样一来，公司CEO处于信息传递的核心，一旦有任务下达，公司可以以最快的速度告知职员。（如图）
3、快速传递信息，迅速反应 对苹果来说，由于有着简约的组织结构，所以苹果这个庞大的公司能够迅速地采取行动和信息传递。 4、因人设职，权责分明 苹果公司从来不把公司损益情况当做管理人员的业绩凭证，每个员工只用专注于自己的责任。公司的每个员工的职责都分得非常清楚，正是这样使公司部管理井井有条且充满活力。 5、因地制宜，分区管理 苹果公司的市场庞大，采取分区管理更利于总部因地制宜。为不同地区制定不同的管理方案等。 苹果公司组织结构的优点
苹果公司的产品策略 苹果公司自成立以来，一直以产品创新闻名于世。其主要产品线包括苹果电脑、iPod 及相关音乐产品、iPhone手机、显示器等配件以及软件。 一、产品创新的轨迹 1、苹果电脑 （1）AppleI和AppleII 1976年大多数的电脑没有显示器，AppleI却能以电视作为显示器；AppleI主机更容易启动；设计者沃兹尼亚克设计了一个用于装载和储存程序的卡式磁带界面，以1200位秒的高速运行。尽管AppleI的设计相当简单，但它仍然是一件杰作。紧接着推出的AppleII一反过去个人电脑沉重粗笨、设计复杂、难以操作的形象，它设计新颖，功能齐全，价格便宜，使用方便，看上去像一部漂亮的打字机。这是当时全球第一台用彩色图形界面的微电脑，因此被公认为是个人电脑发展史上的里程碑。 （2）Macintosh电脑 20世纪80年代苹果公司推出的Macintosh电脑，运用了图形用户界面、滑鼠、面向对象程序和网络功能等技术，获得了巨大的成功，引发了一场计算机世界的革命。 （3）手提电脑PowerBook 20世纪90年代苹果公司推出PowerBook手提电脑，为现今流行的手提电脑设立了现代的外形标准。 2、iPod数码音乐播放器+iTunes网络音乐商店 2001年11月，苹果公司推出iPod数码音乐播放器，配合其独家的iTunes网络付费音乐下载系统，一举击败了索尼公司的Walkman系列，成为全球占有率第一的便携式音乐播放器。随后推出的数个iPod系列产品，更加巩固苹果了在商业数字音乐市场不可动摇的地位。iPod不是第一个MP3播放器，但它确是第一个最易于使用的和具有最“酷”外观的MP3播放器。iPod正在改变现有音乐的消费方式。首先，iPod让消费者拥有更庞大的音乐控制权，由于iPod以硬件作为储存技术，一台iPod可以储存上千、上万首音乐，能让消费者随时随地都可以找到符合当下心情的音乐；其次，使用者可以自行编排播放清单；最后，经典的单曲，会因为iTunes下载排行的机制，一再地成为畅销金曲，而不会因为专辑过时而被淘汰。在2008年刚进入第3周时，苹果iTunes售出了第40亿首歌曲。 苹果公司iPod的市场表现如此之“酷”，是因为它在以下方面的创新超过了其他的竞争对手。 商业模式。 iPod+iTunes相结合的商业模式为音乐人、音乐出版商和苹果找到了一种通过下载音乐赚钱的方式，苹果也从iPod的销售中获得收益，而消费者获得了前所未有的消费体验。 在iPod推出后不到一年半，苹果的iTunes网上音乐店也于2003年4月开张，以每首歌曲99美分的价格提供网上音乐下载服务，其中65美分付给唱片公司，25美分用来负担技术成本和信用卡交易费用。这种收费模式非常简单，用户只需拥有一张以美国为账单邮寄地址的信用卡即可。用户可以通过iTunes网上音乐商店付费下载音乐到iPod播放，获得全程服务。 苹果的iPod数码音乐播放器+iTunes网络音乐商店模式获得了巨大成功，在美国所有的合法音乐下载服务当中，苹果公司的iTunes音乐下载服务占据了82%。与此同时，苹果也推出适合Windows个人电脑的iTunes版本，将iPod和iTunes音乐店的潜在市场扩大到整个世界。通过iPod和iTunes音乐店，苹果改写了PC、消费电子、音乐这三个产业的游戏规则。 合作。
苹果公司创新案例分析 我们正在进入数字生活的新时代，计算机逐渐变成扩展的消费电子产业中的一部分。在这个新时代，苹果公司有可能成为大赢家。 苹果公司在濒临破产的局面后，不过10年，目前资产已达1000亿美元，即将列入标准普耳指数的100个蓝筹精英名单。苹果公司以发明、创新著称，并在计算机与消费电子集成产品的发展上领先，最近又向移动通信产业进军。 新的战略 6月24日，苹果公司正式在美国开始销售iPhone，预计今年第四季度在欧洲，明年在亚洲销售iPhone。销售两天后，公司高管说实际销量已有27万部。按原定计划本季度销售100万部，到2008年底的销售目标为1000万部。苹果的首席运营官说：“现在，发令枪已经打响，伟大事业即将开始。我们的主要目标不是销售，而是创造苹果的第三代商务。”与此同时，由于这一季度Mac和iPod的销量大，利润猛增到73%。苹果本季度的销售额增加到54.1亿美元，超出苹果的预期。同时，公司本季度的毛利润也由去年同期的30.3%升到36.9%。表明Mac业务健康发展。 iPhone有三个长处： 1.“多触摸”屏代替键盘。用户只用手指就可操作菜单、拨号、换屏、拖动、选择音乐、发邮件。 2.“计算机智能”。与一般的智能手机不同，用户可用与苹果机同样功能的操作系统和网络浏览器。 3.“自动功能”。传感器按需要显示人物或景观，在接听电话时会自动关闭，可按光线调节明暗。 iPhone的推出是苹果公司从计算机市场向消费电子市场转型的最新步骤，公司也在今年正式将公司原来名称中的计算机取消了。 苹果公司创新的四条经验 然而，苹果公司的发展并不一帆风顺，产品开发及市场销售数度大起大落。苹果公司从10年前的低迷状态发展到今天的全面复兴，已成为一个标志性企业。其品牌实力部分来自公司创始人乔布斯10年前将公司从濒临破产挽救回来的独特故事，而其最大的活力主要来自它发明上的威望，公司多年来一直在世界最具创新力的公司中排名第一。从其1977年第一台个人计算机，1984年的鼠标驱动视窗，2001年的iPod，到当前推出的iPhone，苹果一直走在时代前列。苹果在高技术产业领域并不孤立，在某些方面独树一帜，特别是能在用户中激发起宗教般的热情。无论它有多少问题和缺点，有四条重要经验值得其他公司学习。 1.技术的包容性。创新可以起源于公司内部和外部。苹果被大众认为是像爱迪生和贝尔那样的传统创新公司，将工程师集中起来酝酿新思想，激发创新产品的灵感。其实，真正的诀窍在于将自己的
华为、苹果和三星手机公司的战略对比分析 华南理工大学同等学力研修班 2014级响当当队 经过近几年的竞争，国内手机市场已是血海一片，响当当队通过选取华为、苹果和三星公司作为出对比分析，了解针对市场变化各作出了哪些战略上的调整，加深对企业战略的学习。具体分析如下： 一、手机市场宏观环境分析 （一）政治因素(Political)：是指对组织经营活动具有实际与潜在影响的政治力量和有关的政策、法律及法规等因素。 近年来国家大力促进国内企业创新自强，涌现了一批成功的国产手机厂商。据中关村统计数据显示的国内手机关注度，在2011年只有14.5%的用户偏向国内品牌，而在2015年这一数字已上升到51.3%，成功超过国外品牌的关注度。 另一方面，2015年2月，国家发改委宣布对美国高通公司手机芯片反垄断调查结果，这是政治层面完善手机市场竞争机制的举措之一，也为我国手机行业的发展带来机遇，虽然手机行业的进一步深化发展任务十分艰巨，为其快速的转型创造了优越可行的宏观政治法律环境提供良好的契机。以手机品牌体系的创建为根基，政策资源的优化配置为辅，为我国手机行业的全方位综合发展提供良好的契机。 （二）经济因素(Economic)：是指组织外部的经济结构、产业布局、资源状况、经济发展水平以及未来的经济走势等。 近年来，随着我国经济的快速发展，国民平均收入的增加，我国手机用户出现了大跨度增长，在2013年我国手机用户已突破10亿人。但与此同时，随着国内生活水平的提高，各行各业的用工成本也在大幅增加，过往国内廉价的劳动力一去不复返，甚至在珠三角等一些地区，即使增加员工成本却找不到足够的工人，导致国内手机代加工行业收到很大冲击。一方面，生活水平、消费水平提高了，能促进手机的消费，提高大众对手机价格的接受程度；但另一方面，各相关行业的成本也上升了，手机行业的成本亦对应上升，如何控制成本，利润不减甚至上
苹果公司的产品营销策略 苹果一直致力于生产消费者想要的产品，乔布斯似乎总能了解下一步行业会朝哪个方向发展，他也拥有难以置信的品味。 ——比尔盖茨一．营销案例 苹果电脑公司由乔布斯、斯蒂夫?沃兹尼亚克和RonWayn在1976年4月1日创立，总部位于美国加里福尼亚丘珀蒂诺市，处于硅谷的中心地带。苹果公司的口号为“Switch（变革）”。苹果公司每次推出新产品，总能引起市场的变革。苹果公司的主要产业包括电脑硬件、电脑软件、手机和掌上娱乐终端等方面。 2001 年， iPod 的推出不仅改变了音乐播放器的市场，同时改变了整个音乐产业，自 2003 年iTune 发布支持视窗系统的版本以来，iPod 的销售迈入了更开阔的市场。 2007 年苹果推出iPhone，自此，智能手机市场的原有格局完全瓦解，传统意义上智能手机以面向商务应用为主的模式被重新定义。iPhone 精心设计用户体验，其2007 年的1.0 版本装备具有重力感应及多点触摸的UI，引爆了人机界面的革命。 2010年4月，iPod 发售，成为当前最成功的电子消费产品之一，改变了手机行业、备受热捧的iPhone ，更把苹果公司推上了业绩的高峰，iPod 在推出大约5 年半的时间内已经突破1 亿台的销量,“成为世界上销售进步最快的音乐播放器”。
过去的10 年里，苹果公司借力这几款明星产品销售额迅速增长，公司利润率持续处于行业内高水平。 二.通过SWOT分析iPhone在中国市场的状况： 1.优势（strengths） ⑴iPhone广泛的影响力，为其在中国市场的宣传节省了许多开销； ⑵忠实的苹果拥护者。即使在中国，也有一定数量使用苹果公司产品的用户群，而苹果公司本身的产品线涵盖面也非常的广，使得iPhone 能在用户间更快捷得得到推广。 ⑶成熟稳定的操作系统，丰富强大的软件扩展功能； ⑷独特的苹果风格的工业设计，以及贯穿始终的人性化操作； ⑸时尚流行的象征。苹果的产品在国外都相对昂贵.在国内更是奢侈品的代言词. 以及iPhone给客户带来相当大的新鲜感，成为众多年轻人以及追求时尚的人群所追捧的对象。 2.劣势（weaknesses） ⑴运营模式受考验。苹果iPhone在美国市场采用的策略---与运营商独家合作，通过与运营商合作分成，获取用户所产生的百分之三十的收入，在中国市场也许会水土不服。 ⑵市场策略灵活性欠佳。苹果公司的市场战略以及产品战略缺少对中国市场的针对性，是容易处于曲高和寡的局面；
30日讯 我们正在进入数字生活的新时代，计算机逐渐变成扩展的消费电子产业中的一部分。在这个新时代，苹果公司有可能成为大赢家。 苹果公司在濒临破产的局面后，不过10年，目前资产已达1000亿美元，即将列入标准普耳指数的100个蓝筹精英名单。苹果公司以发明、创新著称，并在计算机与消费电子集成产品的发展上领先，最近又向移动通信产业进军。 新的战略 6月24日，苹果公司正式在美国开始销售iPhone，预计今年第四季度在欧洲，明年在亚洲销售iPhone。销售两天后，公司高管说实际销量已有27万部。按原定计划本季度销售100万部，到2008年底的销售目标为1000万部。苹果的首席运营官说：“现在，发令枪已经打响，伟大事业即将开始。我们的主要目标不是销售，而是创造苹果的第三代商务。”与此同时，由于这一季度Mac和iPod的销量大，利润猛增到73%。苹果本季度的销售额增加到54.1亿美元，超出苹果的预期。同时，公司本季度的毛利润也由去年同期的30.3%升到36.9%。表明Mac业务健康发展。 iPhone有三个长处： 1.“多触摸”屏代替键盘。用户只用手指就可操作菜单、拨号、换屏、拖动、选择音乐、发邮件。 2.“计算机智能”。与一般的智能手机不同，用户可用与苹果机同样功能的操作系统和网络浏览器。 3.“自动功能”。传感器按需要显示人物或景观，在接听电话时会自动关闭，可按光线调节明暗。 iPhone的推出是苹果公司从计算机市场向消费电子市场转型的最新步骤，公司也在今年正式将公司原来名称中的计算机取消了。 苹果公司创新的四条经验 然而，苹果公司的发展并不一帆风顺，产品开发及市场销售数度大起大落。苹果公司从10年前的低迷状态发展到今天的全面复兴，已成为一个标志性企业。其品牌实力部分来自公司创始人乔布斯10年前将公司从濒临破产挽救回来的独特故事，而其最大的活力主要来自它发明上的威望，公司多年来一直在世界最具创新力的公司中排名第一。从其1977年第一台个人计算机，1984年的鼠标驱动视窗，2001年的iPod，到当前推出的iPhone，苹果一直走在时代前列。苹果在高技术产业领域并不孤立，在某些方面独树一帜，特别是能在用户中激发起宗教般的热情。无论它有多少问题和缺点，有四条重要经验值得其他公司学习。 1.技术的包容性。创新可以起源于公司内部和外部。苹果被大众认为是像爱迪生和贝尔那样的传统创新公司，将工程师集中起来酝酿新思想，激发创新产品的灵感。其实，真正的