Apple Inc. Competitive Business Strategy
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Apple, Inc. has managed to create a competitive business strategy and a business model that helps the company to generate outstanding brand awareness, attract and retain customers, and differentiate the product among the competitors’ offerings. The core of the company is its marketing strategy, which has established Apple as an iconic brand and has won long-lasting customer loyalty. Besides the brand image, the quality of company’s digital products is another strong side of Apple, Inc. The company sustains its brand equity by creating a unique ecosystem and the homogeneity of company’s products, which increases and sustains customer loyalty. iTunes and iOS system distinguish the company from its rivals and contribute to a higher commercialization of a brand. However, this unique feature is also a source of challenge for the company. Since iTunes is a major distribution channel for a digital content, it limits the consumer experience of Apple users.
However, this digital ecosystem and convergence achieved by Apple is not yet complete. Consumers have a great choice of newer and cheaper alternatives that have shared distribution channel. These companies have a potential to eventually take over a market from Apple, Inc. The controlled ecosystem in which Apple operates may become a liability for the company in the long run. Hence, the corporation had to respond to this threat by implementing changes to its business strategy. Apple, Inc. can actually expand its ecosystems through acquisition and partnerships. The company’s competitors have already stepped on this path – Google has acquired Motorola and Microsoft has acquired Nokia. Apple can target some business segments of the Japanese technology giant Sony. Apple should also partner with some small local companies because, as the previous experience has shown, they tend to grow at a higher pace due to the number of reasons. Small local producers have more insight about needs of the local markets, they know what sells best in their countries. Another benefit of local handset makers is in many instances, they also offer services specific to the region. This move can help Apple to expand its network, spin the company’s innovations, and foster development of new products.
Another significant threat presented by the increased competition, which comes mostly from the companies that offer low-cost devices. Such Asian companies as Lenovo, Meizu, Huawei, Samsung, Xiaomi, and Acer are creating products that have similar features and design but are in lower price segment. These companies create smart devices in every possibly convincible size and configuration. Also, such corporations as Huawei and Xiaomi are willing sometimes to sacrifice their profits in order to win a market share. These companies believe that they will gain advantage on the volume of sales, so they sell their high-end devices at low prices, which puts additional pressure on Apple, Inc. In addition to that, Apple follows a policy of exclusivity, which means that consumers that represent the majority of the buyers …
