APPLE COMPUTERS Case Solution And Analysis, HBR Case Study Solution & Analysis of Harvard Case Studies

Introduction

The paper attempts to describe the problems faced by Apple Inc. along with the situation analysis of the company. The paper also attempts to describe about the consumers, the company, and the competitors in the industry. Furthermore, the paper highlights the significance of the company’s data through the application of SWOT analysis, and environmental analysis. Moreover, the paper provides strategic alternatives for the problems faced by the organization. Lastly, a suitable strategy is selected amongst the alternatives and is recommended to the company followed by the implementation strategy.

Identification of the Problem

The Apple strategy has focused upon targeting the higher education market, however the company is concerned if IBM would shift its strategy and become more focused towards the academic market. IBM had both the expertise and tool to target the particular market efficiently. However, in order to keep its competitors at bay, Apple charged a higher profit margin which allowed them to generate 25% extra funds than its competitors so that it may focus on spending money on research when needed.

The higher prices made it difficult for the customers of Apple to afford the product at a premium pricing which also created a question upon the company’s pricing strategy. Apart from that, the company is concerned that IBM would anytime soon launch a new product because of the introduction of Windows 3 in the market. The company is figuring out a strategy that could keep IBM away from the target market. The company is thinking to closely watch IMB and its strategies towards a particular target market, while also to measure its success. Along with this, the company is also figuring out the weaknesses or gaps in its strategy.

Situation Analysis

Competitors Analysis

The major competitor of the company has remained to be Zenith Data Systems which offers good quality products but at a lower price. The particular company offers IBM computers which has a DOS operating system and is highly ranked amongst the educational institutes. Zenith Data Systems is the major supplier for IBM and offers competitive products at low offering.

The promotional strategy for Zenith was to target educational institutes, but the company made up a mission to offer each freshman an IBM computer on lease. At the end of the semester, freshmen were able to buy the computer. Along with this, the major competitive advantage of the company includes its price. Although, the company did not offered support service for the product. In order to increase sales for the company, it provided free software.

The other competitor for the company includes Commodore Business Machine which has been positioned as the low-price product. The company did not provided impressive features in its computer while the price did not match up with its features. The company developed several discount offers but yet to target schools or any other educational institutes.

Therefore, the company failed to create a strong impression except for being popular in the pre-college market. The company had a slow approach in gaining towards its vision which had been to target the higher education market. IBM’s computer did not managed to enter aggressively in the higher education market since the business application of IBM was by far complex than Apple or any other competitor. The prices of the company was also difficult to read since it did not provided the exact details.

APPLE COMPUTERS CASE SOLUTION

Marketing Mix

Product

The high selling product for the company is Apple computers which is referred to as Macintosh. The main features of the company’s products were the user-friendly programs and applications. The company has a strict regulation while the purchasing of its computers in its school as a student shall be a fully qualified student, while the entire responsibility for its purchase had been entrusted to the university. .....................

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