Global Company Report of Apple Inc.

Osama Mahgob Professor Himelstein MGMT 390-458 2/22/15 Global Company Analysis Apple is one of the most successful companies in the technology market and its popularity is often credited to their high quality yet simple devices. Although, this success just doesn’t come to anyone. Apple has a long history which started on April 1, 1976 with college dropouts Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak whose goal was to create a computer that was user-friendly but at the same time small enough to fit in their homes (Richardson 1). They began selling the Apple I without much progression until they created the Apple II which introduced the first color graphics monitor (Richardson 1). They split their company three ways with another partner Ronald Wayne, Jobs and Wozniak each got 45 percent of the company and Wayne got 10. However, Wayne sold his shares back to Jobs and Wozniak for 800 dollars due to his fear of risk (Dougherty 2). They had sales of 7.8 million in 1978, and that increased to 117 million in just 2 years. 1980, is when Apple went public and the company was officially started in Cupertino, California. Its original name was Apple Computer, Inc. but this was changed to Apple Inc. in 2007 because it wanted to broaden its product line. Wozniak however is not as well-known as Steve Jobs because he left Apple in 1983 due to disinterest (Richardson 3). John Sculley was hired by Jobs to be president of Apple, and shortly after, Jobs left to create another company, NeXT Software, and he also acquired Pixar Studios from George Lucas. Apple hadn’t made any big advancements until 1990 when the deal with Adobe happened and they created desktop publishing (Richardson 4). During the 1990s, Microsoft was Apple Computer Inc.’s biggest competitor and despite Bill Gates trying to reach out in partnership, Apple refused while under Sculley’s management. It was during this time that the company began to fall and Jobs and his company, NeXT Software, were asked for help by Sculley. Jobs made dramatic changes to the company and by 2000 he became the CEO of Apple and the Mac was created (Richardson 6). Soon after that the company rose in its field, creating and selling music players, laptops, and media software. The company started its iPhone line in 2007 and Apple TV in 2006 and today it continues to advance in the technological field creating watches, tablets, and advanced computers. Even after the death of Steve Jobs in 2011, the company still thrives under leadership of Timothy Cook. Apple Inc. has a wide array of consumer products available to the public. The main products include the Mac, the iPhone, the Apple Watch, iPad, iPod, and iTunes. The Macintosh and its operating systems are aesthetically appealing and easy to use; they were popular choices for graphic designers and programmers (Skemp). The iPod is a portable media player, which progressed from having 5 gigabytes of storage to over 64; these products were aimed toward the younger generations. The iPhone, a relatively new product is a revolutionary touchscreen smartphone that set forth the expectations of the companies’ further products. After the iPhone was released the Apple stock hit a record high 97.80 dollars per share in 2007, and in 2012 the price rose to 700 dollars (Skemp 3). The iPad is tablet computer which allows for a wide array of activities including browsing the internet, and taking photos. This product has multiple versions and as of 2012, more than 200 million have been sold (Skemp 4). The apple watch is considerably new and hasn’t been released to the public yet. Overall, Apples products are high quality, stylish, and relatively expensive compared to competitors’ products. Apple primarily operates in the U.S., Europe and Asia Pacific. Its headquarters are located in Cupertino, California and it has employed 92,600 people as of September 27, 2014 (SWOT 3). Apple has stores in the U.S., Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Italy, Japan, Netherlands, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, and the United Kingdom, there are overall, 437 stores worldwide. Although the products of Apple are designed in California, most of them are manufactured overseas. Outsourcing began in the 2000s due to its effectiveness and inexpensiveness. Workers overseas, especially in China have a high work productivity, which allows Apple to keep up with the ever-growing demand. In fact, the time it would take to hire enough workers abroad compared to the U.S. is 15 days to 9 months (Kabin). This is most likely do to the fact that the need for engineers is so great in the technology business but the U.S. is lacking greatly in engineers and technology specialists. Foxconn and Inventec in China are two of the main suppliers and conditions of labor have been debated over the years. Suicides in these factories have been very high but Apple still continues to make their products there (Tsukayama 9). But Apple doesn’t only outsource to China, other countries include Mongolia, China, Korea, and Taiwan (Kabin). The technology industry is one of the biggest and fastest growing in the world, therefore Apple cannot be the only dominating company. Microsoft has been a main contender, mostly in the personal computer sector. Mainly due to the cost and restrictions of Apple products, consumers look towards buying windows computers and products for their free-range personalization, upgradability and low costs. Other competitors include Dell, HP, Acer, and Lenovo. When it comes to stocks, Apples are worth considerably more, with 129.49 and rising, Microsoft shares are 43.85 and slowly rising (Microsoft). When it comes to the mobile market Apples main contenders are Samsung, Google, Sony, HTC, and others (Investopedia). Apple phones are considered to be plain and boring, while the other companies have a wider variety and unlimited customizability. Googles Android operating system is dominating the market with 85 percent share (Zeman 1). That’s compared to 11.7 percent that Apple had with and a decrease from 2013, Google’s shipment volumes increased by 33 percent (Zeman 3) and Apple’s increased by 12.7. Apple and Google are also competing in entertainment media, Apple with iTunes and Google with the Google Play Store. These platforms allow for music, book, and application purchases. In this case, Apple beat Google with 10 million dollars in sales, compared to one-fifth the sales for Google (Smith 1). Apple also just acquired Beats Music and Beats Electronics for 3 billion dollars. Apple Inc has gone through a lot as a company, but overall it has made itself one of the most successful companies in the world, with a top spot of number 5 in the fortune 500 and an increasing popularity. It isn’t a perfect company and it has its flaws. I chose it because of my interest in its success and popularity, and because I use the company’s products. Work Cited Dougherty, Michael. "A Brief History of Apple, Inc." Bright Hub. Ed. Lamar Stonecypher. 25 May 2010. Web. 19 Feb. 2015. <http://www.brighthub.com/computing/mac-platform/articles/65346.aspx>. Investopedia. "Who Are Apple's (AAPL) Main Competitors?" Investopedia. 03 Dec. 2014. Web. 18 Feb. 2015. <http://www.investopedia.com/ask/answers/120314/who-are-apples-aapl-main-competitors.asp>. Kabin, Benjamin. "Apple's IPhone: Designed in California But Manufactured Fast All Around the World (Infographic)." Entrepreneur. 11 Sept. 2013. Web. 22 Feb. 2015. <http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/228315>. Krantz, Matt. "Apple vs. Microsoft: The Winner Is..." Americas Markets. MSN, 23 July 2014. Web. 20 Feb. 2015. <http://americasmarkets.usatoday.com/2014/07/23/apple-vs-microsoft-by-the-numbers/>. "Microsoft Corporation." Yahoo! Finance. 20 Feb. 2015. Web. 22 Feb. 2015. Richardson, Angelique. "Apple Computer, Inc." The Library of Congress. Ed. Ellen Terrell. Apr. 2008. Web. 11 Feb. 2015. <http://www.loc.gov/rr/business/businesshistory/April/apple.html>. Skemp, Kerry, MA. "Apple Inc. In The 2000S." Salem Press Encyclopedia (2014): Research Starters. Web. 22 Feb. 2015. Smith, Dave. "Apple’s App Store Breaks Records, But Google Play Is Catching Up." Readwrite. 8 Jan. 2014. Web. 22 Feb. 2015. <http://readwrite.com/2014/01/08/app-store-sales-google-play-android>. "SWOT Analysis." Apple, Inc. SWOT Analysis (2014): 1-10. Business Source Premier. Web. 22 Feb. 2015. Tsukayama, Hayley. "Foxconn Plant in China Closes after Workers' Brawl." Washington Post. The Washington Post, 24 Sept. 2014. Web. 22 Feb. 2015. <http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/technology/foxconn-plant-in-china-closes-after-workers-brawl/2012/09/24/9dfb937e-063d-11e2-afff-d6c7f20a83bf_story.html>. Zeman, Eric. "Android Dominates Smartphone Market With 85% Share - InformationWeek." InformationWeek. 14 Aug. 2014. Web. 20 Feb. 2015. <http://www.informationweek.com/mobile/mobile-business/android-dominates-smartphone-market-with-85--share/d/d-id/1298037