Sign Up Now
Get instant access to over 1 million+ study documents
OR
Already registered? click here to login
By creating your account, you agree to our terms of service, privacy policy and student honor code.
All companies in this industry including Apple has seen some cannibalization of its products in recent times, as sales of some of its newly released products have an affect on sales of some of its more established MP3 products. Pervasively impacting Apple and its product positioning is the supply of raw materials continues to influence future product designs and production strategies, and is a potentially significant weakness if there is a disruption to memory or electronics. The fact that every music player on average generates $250 in incremental sales revenue of music is what sustains the entire industry today. There are signs however that this is reaching a saturation point, according to Credit Suisse, 2006.
Product, Price, Promotion and Place
Apple's unique product design and innate ability to create a brand that generates a very high level of customer loyalty can be attributed to the synchronization of all four elements of the marketing mix working in conjunction with each other to accomplish this. Starting at the product, the iPod has defined the personal MP3 category and as the recent product introductions in the latter half of 2007 indicate, the company has a strong grasp of where their product designs are going for the long-term, namely the integration of video at lower price points.
From a pricing perspective, the iPod reflects the pressure on components manufacturers to drop their prices to support a multitude of other products as well. The fact is that pricing for all components used in MP3 players is in freefall and that while this translates into increased margin for manufacturers, it shows that the development of...
From a promotional standpoint, Apple continues to be very effective at focusing on the unique capabilities of its iPod series to provide music anytime, anywhere. The breadth of support for music titles in iTunes also supports this positioning, as does the concentration on iPods being an essential personal device for entertainment. From a distribution or place standpoint, Apple has continually worked to ensure that the demand from its many retailers including Best Buy, discount department stores, and its own stores continually is reflected in production forecasts. Apples' distribution strategy is multi-channel, with the iPods being available from their website, from retailers, websites and also from their own stores. What is interesting to note that despite its pervasive distribution the company has been able to keep price constant. For other electronics products with such broad distribution this has not been the case.
References
Apple, 2006 - Selected Annual Reports from Apple.com. Accessed on November 15, 2007:
http://www.apple.com/investor/
Credit Suisse 2006 - iPod, How Big Can it Get? Credit Suisse Research. 23 May 2006.
Nike, 2006 - Your Workout May Be Killing Your iPod. Mac News World.Cassandra Bianco. Accessed from the Internet on November 15, 2007:
http://www.macnewsworld.com/story/51016.html
74 and a cash ratio of 2.03. Apple has no long-term debt and a 2-to-1 debt ratio (MSN Moneycentral, 2010). Apple has relatively few weaknesses. The company's emphasis on software, marketing and design has left it with a weakness in hardware. Apple products do not have the superior lifespans one would expect from a product commanding a premium price tag. Another weakness is the dependence on leadership. Apple without Steve Jobs simply
Marketing SLP Target Market Brand Image Competitor Analysis Environmental Analysis Porters Five Force Model Current Rivalry Threat of New Entrants Bargaining Power of Suppliers Bargaining Power of Buyers Threat of Substitute Products Apple has had an exceptional growth streak over the last decade and represents a suitable target for a marketing analysis. Apple has seen sales and revenue peeks in the last few years which is at least due to the fact that sales in China have ballooned. China, which is
This understanding will help Apple to better predict future usage patterns. Apple always wants to be out front of trends in its industry. This characterizes the type of data that it wants to receive. Market feedback data, for example, reflects old news for the company about its competitive position. Apple knows, for example, that it is losing market share to Android but uses that information to help it search for
Apple remains committed to its differentiated positioning, and that will inherently limit their share of the market. Tablets are Apple's second-largest market. The iPad was launched in fiscal 2010 and in fiscal 2011 it enjoyed 311% growth. It has now begun to emerge as a substitute for personal computers, even in the corporate market (Etherington, 2012). This has helped to drive growth. The iPad has always been a differentiated product
Apple Inc. Marketing Audit Apple Inc. is an American multinational company specializing in producing and marketing of innovative electronic brands that include iPad, iPhone, Apple watch, Mac, and iOS. Globally, Apple is the second largest IT (information technology) company with annual revenue of $227.5 Billion at the end of 2015 fiscal year. Apart from its superior financial assets, the company also enjoys high brand loyalties for all its products. Apple also
Table 2: Distribution of Revenue by Product Area Source: (Apple Investor Relations, 2008) (Prudential Equity Group LLC, 2006) Planning The cornerstone of Apple's planning processes is the continual development of products and services that compliment the product and services ecosystem shown in Figure 1 (Apple Investor Relations, 2008) (Prudential Equity Group LLC, 2006). Figure 1: Apple Product and Services Ecosystem Source: (Apple Investor Relations, 2008) (Prudential Equity Group LLC, 2006) For Apple, their future planning revolves