Apple Inc 2012, HBR Case Solution

1. Apple Case Study Q &A
Q1 What, historically, have been Apple’s competitive advantages?
Completive advantages of apple were -
 Apple preferred Horizontal and Vertical Integration around its products instead of licensing it or
making it open market or sharing the technology.
 Easy to use – They focused on ease of operation and simple user interface
 Facility of plug and play so that non-technical users do not face any issues
 Uniqueness and innovation in enhancing consumer's digital life (delight) for example - Digital
hub - A advantage for consumers who were becoming entrenched in a digital lifestyle, using
digital cameras, portable music players and digital camcorders and mobile phones.
 Investment in R&D brought the key completive advantage to apple.
Q 2 Analyze the personal computer industry. Why did Apple struggle historically in PCs?
Personal computer industry n Apple -
1978 Apple Mac sparked the computing revolution in PC
1981 Game changed with IBM coming with relatively open system
1984 Mac did not worked, Processor were slow and Jobs was out of Apple
1990 Apple drove the desktop market with superior software such as Aldus (Adobe), page maker etc and
became most profitable PC company.
1995 Windows market increased, (IBM Apple Joint venture broke) Mac lost market and Apple moved to
bankruptcy.
They struggled because – They themselves wanted to do enter in all areas like full control on hardware,
(even Processor) OS, Software etc. not keeping it relatively open like other competitors, Poor integration
with other systems like windows.
Area they focused on R&D and time to time they got benefit in PC market.

2. Q3 How sustainable is Apple’s competitive position in PCs, MP3 Players, and Smartphones?
Competitive position in PC, MP3 and Smart phone
I Pod
 Sleek design,
 Simple user interface
 Large storage
 Future of i tunes which was unique revenue model for apple worked well
I Phone
It was a unique combination of 3 things
1. Widescreen I Pod with touch controls
2. Revolutionary mobile phone
3. Breakthrough internet communication device
Large numbers Apps was one of the key competitive advantage with I Phone.
Over a period we see that competitors gained market share and they were able to copy many things like
Large touch Screen, better cameras, Better OS and Application stores (Android) even cloud feature
So currently key competitive advantage of Apple is its unique sleek lightweight designs and user
experience. It will have to find more competitive advantage to get market share.
Q 4 What are Apple’s long-term prospects for the iPad?
Long term prospects are still Solid
http://readwrite.com/2012/07/25/apples-long-term-prospects-are-still-solid-but
Why Apple's iPad is in big trouble
http://www.usatoday.com/story/money/business/2014/04/18/apple-ipad-big-trouble/7870517/
Q 5 What advice would you offer the new CEO Tim Cook?
 Keep focus on R&D identify what innovative things will work in digital wold.
 Use of cloud services in mobile is still evolving – take a lead in this area.
 Keep focus on Hub strategy where device can control other hardware integrated like home
appliances etc.