Internal analysis of Apple Corporation Essay

Apple Inc was founded in 1976 by Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak and Ronald Wayne and has its headquarters based in Cupertino, California. The company is well known for the manufacture of computer software and hardware. The computer hardware manufactured by Apple Company include: iPod, iPhone and iPad. The computer software produced by the company are Mac OS X operating system, iTunes, iLife, iWork, Aperture, Final Cut Studio, and Logic studio. By the close of the financial year 2009 the company had employed 34,300 permanent workers and 2,500 temporary workers globally in all its subsidiaries. Most of the employees are located in the United States while others are located in the subsidiaries of the company world wide (Linzmayer, 2009). Steve Jobs is the president of the company and has acted as the chief executive officer since 1997. Recently, Steve Jobs delegated his duties to Tim Cook due to the health problems he has encountered. Apple Inc is headed by a Chief Executive Officer (CEO) who is assisted by a board of directors; to manage and make supreme decisions about the organization. Various committees are elected to coordinate the operation of the projects and strategies of the organization. There are various departments which are used in the daily operation of the organization. Officers have been elected to head the departments. Some of the departments are the finance department, operations department, product marketing, industrial design, retail, engineering, applications, and other departments (Linzmayer, 2009). Financial According to Menn (2010), Apple has dominated the United States market for personal computers and a sales revenue of more than one million is being made each moth in the US market alone. As competition in the personal computer industry continues to intensify, there is need to have a strong financial background. Apple has increased the sales volume for most of its brands and this has provided a good foundation for manufacturing better products which are competitive (Menn, 2010). In the capital markets, the company has been performing well and this has been a source of capital for carrying out different innovations. The stock price of Apple’s stock has increased from $6 per share to more than $80. The market performance of the shares of the company has surpassed that of Dell (Colvin, 2010). Marketing Supporters of Apple Company have suggested that it has made great success in dominating the domestic and international markets through better marketing strategies. It is estimated that the company can sell more than ten million iPads in one year due to the appropriate use of marketing strategies. The US market has indicated strong support for Apple products since it has been the major market for iPod and other brands. Sales target of more than one million for iPod are achieved every month. More than six million iPod and iPhone brands are sold on a monthly basis and this suggests that the company has been able to capture a large market for its products. According to Menn (2010), the company has maintained a very high customer loyalty for most of its brands. Many consumers in the market are ready to re-purchase products from the company. This trend has been generated by manufacturing brands which match the market demand. Sales trend for other traditional products has been progressive, for example in the quarter ending March 2010; the company sold almost three million Macs. Menn (2010) estimated a sales value of one million for the Macs during this period. Generally, the total sales of the company have been increasing over the years. The success of Apple Inc has been indicated by the increase in sales that have been reported by the company over the last one decade. In the financial year 2009, sales value of US $42. 91 billion was registered by the company. In 2010, an increasing trend was observed in the overall sales volume of the company (Colvin 2010). Apple’s Strategy Menn (2010) is of the opinion that Apple has been very successful by introducing competitive technologies. The company has carried out innovations which have placed the products at a very competitive position in the global market. Apple has been able to compete with Microsoft Company, the major company in the industry, by introducing the iPad brand. The company has been introducing differentiated products in the market and this has intensified the competitiveness of the products manufactured by the company. Before the introduction of iPod brands, the iPhone brand had captured a huge number of customers, both in the domestic and global markets. The use of new technologies has been the main strategy adopted by Apple to sustain stiff competition in the market. To accomplish technological progress, the management of Apple Inc has established partnership with universities and research institutions. A team of researchers has been established as well as collaborating with research and development department of the company to come up with products which are acceptable in the global markets. To accomplish these strategies, the management has put in place better management processes and human resource management strategies to ensure all aspirations are achieved (Linzmayer, 2009).