Marketing Strategy of Apple Inc.

Akhil VempaliNetaji Subhas Institute of Technology

Introduction• Apple Inc. is an American multinational corporation that

designs and manufactures consumer electronics and computer software products.

• The company's best-known hardware products include Macintosh computers, the iPod and the iPhone.

• Established in Cupertino, California on April 1, 1976 and incorporated January 3, 1977,the company was called Apple Computer, Inc. for its first 30 years, but dropped the word "Computer" on January 9, 2007.

What is the company know for?

The company is known for making high-end consumer technology products featuring beautiful design and high performance. The company is also known for its closed userinterface that makes its systems highly secure and easy to use.

Company Profile• Established on April 1,1976• Founders- Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak, Ronald Wayne• CEO- Tim Cook• Revenue- $ 215.639 billion (FY 2015)• Number of employees- 115,000 (as of July 2015)• 478 Apple retail stores in 17 countries.

Mission Statement:“We believe that we are on the face of the earth to make great products and that’s not changing. We are constantly focusing on innovating. We believe in the simple not the complex. We believe that we need to own and control the primary technologies behind the products that we make, and participate only in markets where we can make a significant contribution. We believe in saying no to thousands of projects, so that we can really focus on the few that are truly important and meaningful to us. We believe in deep collaboration and cross-pollination of our groups, which allow us to innovate in a way that others cannot. And frankly, we don’t settle for anything less than excellence in every group in the company, and we have the self- honesty to admit when we’re wrong and the courage to change. And I think regardless of who is in what job those values are so embedded in this company that Apple will do extremely well.”

Apple ProductsDesktops- iMac, MacPro, Mac MiniLaptops- MacBook, MacBook Air, MacBook ProPhones- iPhoneTablet- iPadMusic Players- iPod Classic, iPod Nano, iPod Shuffle, iPod TouchSoftware- iLife, iTunes, iWork

Question 1:Apple’s product launches over the past decade have been monumental. What

makes the company so good at innovation? Is anyone comparable to Apple in this

respect?

Reasons for Apple’s successful products• Heavy investment in Research and development.• Closed system• Creating, producing and launching new products is top priority at

Apple.• Products are made by understanding consumer needs and

keeping in mind that the product should be aesthetically beautiful, simple and yet powerful.

Can anyone beat Apple at innovation?

TESLA• Tesla has disrupted the internal combustion engine based

automotive industry with its electric cars .• Tesla has given consumers a noteworthy alternative to internal

combustion engine based cars.• The company is soon to produce a mass production vehicle that will

help the company target a very big market share and which will make electric cars affordable and safer option to middle income consumers.

• Apple recently has only launched improved versions of its previous models and has lacked the innovation that it brought with iPod or iPhone.

• Apple has also a stiff competition with Google too which is also know for introducing helpful and easy to use products services. Example- Google Chrome, Gmail, Android.

Question 2:How important was the iPod to Apple’s current success? Discuss the significance of the iPhone

and iPad launches to Apple’s new-product development strategy.

• Apple was a struggling company before the launch of iPod and was on the verge of filing bankruptcy.

• iPod was introduced and was overwhelmingly successful with its ability to store 1000 songs and yet have a sleek design.

• It transformed the way music was listened to by the consumers and hence the company satisfied a consumer need that the consumer wasn't aware of.

• The introduction of iPhone and iPad by Apple signifies that the company has ventured into new market segments and has shifted its primary focus from selling desktop computers to mobile computing devices.

• This move was made as the company knew that Microsoft has a huge market share in that segment and that product line is declining and hence there was no point in focus on it.

Question 3:It has been a few years since Apple’s last epic innovation.

What’s next for Apple?

• Apple has every year increased spending on its Research and development.

• With around $4.5 billion, it is industry leader in investment in R&D.

• With its main aim to make products that are easy to use and which can make interaction with technology easier, Apple is exploring new ways consumer can interact with technology and hence will soon come up with a new disruptive technology.

Summary• Apple started out as a computer company has ventured into new

product segments and has found immense success in launching new product categories.

• It shifted its focus from computers when it realized that it was impossible to beat Microsoft in this segment and the product line was also ending.

• The main factor to Apple’s success is its large investments in R&D which enabled the company to launch new products.

Thank You!

DisclaimerThis presentation was created by Akhil Vempali, Netaji Subas Institute of Technology, during a marketing internship by Prof. Sameer Mathur, IIM Lucknow.