iWATCH Market Structure

The Apple iWatch is centered in the smartwatch market. The market structure in which the product lies is oligopoly. Oligopoly refers to a market structure that is dominated by a few sellers. This is because the smartwatches are products which are produced by a few large companies, and every contribution of every company is considered substantial enough to be significant in the market. In addition, the companies in the market are cautiously aware of how rival companies react to change and particularly in association to price. This particular market structure is distinctive in the sense that the company's pricing as well as output decisions will also integrate the perceived or anticipated reactions of the competitors. For instance, in this case, the pricing and output decisions of iWatch will consider the anticipated reactions of other company products such as the Sony Smartwatch (Salvatore, 2015).

Elasticity of the product (iWatch)

The elasticity of the demand offers a measure of the amount of quantity that is demanded in response to changes in the price. A good or a product is said to be elastic if the quantity of the product that is demanded changes in a substantial manner in response to the changes in price. With regards to the iWatch, to start with, it is a luxurious product. The elasticity of the product is inelastic, which basically implies that an increase in the price of the iWatch product would barely have any impact on the quantity that is demanded for the product itself (Salvatore, 2015).

How will pricing relate to elasticity of your product?

According to the Apple Store website, the price of the iWatch starts at $349. For the purpose of calculation, let as assume a price of $350. As stated above, the elasticity of the product is inelastic and therefore will barely have any effect on the product demand if there is any change in price. The following graph will illustrate how pricing will relate to elasticity of the iWatch. For instance, let's say Apple makes the decision to increase the price of the iWatch from $350 to $450.

Price

$450

$350

Q2 Q1 Quantity

As can be seen, the pricing changes made for the iWatch have very minimal impact on the quantity demanded for the product (Salvatore, 2015).

How will changes in the quantity supplied as a result of your pricing decisions affect marginal cost and marginal revenue?

The major costs that come about with the manufacture and production of the iWatch include labor costs, manufacturing costs, raw material costs, research and development costs, and also advertising and marketing costs. The pricing decisions undertaken by the company will without doubt have an impact on the marginal cost as well as marginal revenue as it affects the total cost and also the total revenue. In accordance with Mudida (2003), marginal revenue refers to the change in total revenue arising from the sale of an additional unit of output. The same case applies with marginal cost where it is the change in total cost with regards to the change in the output produced. The graph above indicates that a change in price has minimal to no impact on the output produced. For instance, assume that the quantity change decreased from 110 products to 100 products due to the change in price. The total revenue will be assumed to be the price retailed for every product which means the total revenue changes from $350 to $450.

The marginal revenue can be determined as follows:

Marginal revenue =

= (450-350) / (110 -100)

= 100/10

=10

As can be seen the price changes will have very minimal impact on the marginal revenues as well as the marginal costs. This is because as for the costs, the company would not be largely affected with the production of 10 less watches or the production of 10 more watches.

Besides your pricing decisions, what are your suggested non-pricing strategies? What non-pricing strategies will you use to increase barriers to entry?

Non-price competitive strategies are marketing strategies that are employed by companies with the purpose of differentiating their products or services from the other rival products on the basis of features such as design. The companies can also differentiate their products being offered in different ways such as consumer focus and quality of services and other aspects other than price. Aside from pricing decisions, there are a number of non-pricing strategies suggested for this business proposal. The main non-pricing strategy to be used for this product is advertising. Mass...

Being in an oligopolistic market structure, this strategy will prove to be most effective as the business will concentrate more on how the iWatch as a product is superior to the other products and also why spending on the product itself will become a better investment to the consumers. Because the market has very few competitors selling the same product, the company will be able to distinguish itself from other products simply by showing off its superior quality through advertising (Nielson, 2014).
The main non-pricing strategy to be used to increase barriers to entry is the use of the Apple brand name. Apple has already distinguished itself in the market by offering superior products to the consumers such as iPhone, iPad and the rest; this gives the products a higher scale in terms of being retailed in the market (Scott, 2011). Another strategy is product differentiation. Apple, the selling company of the iWatch, endeavors to increase and intensify market demand for its products by using the strategy of product differentiation. The products of the company have at all times been created and designed to be futuristic and advanced in comparison with the products of its peers. In spite of high levels of competition, Apple has prospered and thrived in generating demand for its products, handling the business power over prices through product differentiation and guaranteed brand loyalty around the unveiling and promotion of fresh products. By concentrating on consumers enthusiastic to pay more and sustaining a premium charge at the cost of unit capacity, the company also established a simulated entry barrier to company rivals (Nielson, 2014).

How could changes in your business operations alter the mix of fixed and variable costs in line with your strategy?

The changes in the business operations could alter the mix of fixed and variable costs which are in line with the strategy. Increased mass media advertising and marketing increases the amount of variable costs in a huge way. At the same time, loyalty cards being offered to the consumer, that in the end provides discounts to them, increase the variable costs. Every business being proposed or already in operation needs to cover both its variable costs as well as fixed costs to generate a profit, the ultimate goal of every business. The variable costs are the costs that increase as the sales made by the company increase; for instance, by having additional labor and also raw materials. This implies that the price set by the company ought to be higher than the variable costs incurred in the manufacture and production of the iWatch (Salvatore, 2012). For instance, if for every product manufactured by the company, $100 is for fixed costs and $120 is for variable costs, then the total costs incurred by the company for the manufacture of every product is a total of $220. This implies that as more and more watches are manufactured, the variable costs incurred by the company increase while the fixed costs remain the same. This is due to additional raw materials, labor and time for manufacturing the products. The same case would apply for the manufacture of fewer products than anticipated. The company would incur more costs in the long run as the fixed costs would remain the same.

Current global economic conditions and their effect on local macroeconomic indicators for your good or service

The past number of months have been increasingly challenging for the international economy; this has brought about difficult global economic conditions. The fluctuations are to a great magnitude due to bigger volatility and improbability, and they bring about a higher risk for the current global economy. The fast deterioration includes the prices of oil, rapid adjustments in exchange rates, having the United States dollar appreciate and weaken against other currencies such as the Euro, the uncertainty of the economies such as Greece and also the conflicts between nations such as Russia and Ukraine, and also the Middle East (The Conference Board, 2015). These economic conditions have had an impact on local macroeconomic indicators for goods as well as services. One good example is the retail sales indicator which is imperative and significant to foreign exchange traders for the reason that it indicates the overall strength of spending of the consumers and also the level of success of the retail stores. In particular, this is a beneficial aspect for the reason that it is an opportune and apt indicator of comprehensive consumer patterns for spending that are altered for seasonal variables. It can be employed to offer…