Apple Case: The Evolution Of Industry Structure Over Time Essay

1. What is the evolution of the exertion structure over time and its implication for strategic positioning?PC buyers can be classified in to home,small- and medium-sized business (SMB),corporate, education, and government. Home consumers represented the biggest segment, accounting for nearly half of the worldwide shipments. Evolution though the first commercial computer (UNIVAC) was released in 1951 the credit of mass marketization of computers should be given to apple-I computer in 1976. Though it was released targeting common man, majority of the Apple subprogramrs used it for commercial and educational purpose. Due to inconsistence performance and ironware issues this was not a huge success. Four years later IBM with MS Dos revolutionized the concept of in the flesh(predicate) computer. Due to its consistence performance, user friendly GUI and more importantly affordable price make IBM pc a huge hit in market. IBM Open source evolution of IBM clonesToo numerous market pla yers reach out to price war, constitute leadingApple restricted itself to its MAC ecosystem, in that respect by fol littleing incompatibleiation. Post steve jobs exit from Apple, Sculley assay to move Apple into mainstream cost leadership. It failed Amelio proclaimed that Apple would return to its premium-price differentiation. 2. What is nature of sustainable competitive advantage?CA rests on the conceit that cheap labor is ubiquitous and natural resources are not necessary for a good economy. agonistic advantage occurs when an organization acquires or develops an attribute or combination of attributes that allows it to outperform its competitors. These attributes can include entranceway to natural resources, such as high grade ores or inexpensive power, or access to exceedingly trained and skilled personnel human resources. New technologies such as robotics and information engineering science any to be included as a part of the product, or to assist making it. Informa tion technology has become such a prominent part of the modern business world that it can withal contribute to competitive advantage by outperforming competitors with regard to internet presence.From the very beginning, i.e. Adam Smiths Wealth of Nations, the central problem of information transmittal, leading to the rise of middle-men in the marketplace, has been a significant assay in put oning competitive advantage. By using the internet as the middle-man, the purveyor of information to the final consumer, businesses can gain a competitive advantage through creation of an effective website, which in the past required all-inclusive effort finding the right middle-man and cultivating the relationship. (This is a generic question so answered it from wiki)3. What performance was obtained over the different leadership styles? Steve Jobs setup the company, Autocratic,innovative.He paired up with Woznivik in 1976 and founded Apple. His mission is to bring an easy-to-use computer to market, which lead to APPLE-II in 1978. He grew it to a 1 billion sales in less than three years. BY 1980, Apple sold 100K computes. Between 1981 86 net come fallen by 62% , steve jobs was discharged Steve Jobs Part II Reshaped Apple. $150 million to invest on a 5 year picture to develop core products. Stopped Apple certify sales to the clones for refreshing Mac OS. Introduced website to open look at sales. He want to recover IBMs imagem retained Pixar CEO position. Launched multi-million dollar marketing campaigns such as Think Different Sculley He pushed the Mac into new markets (mainly in desktop publishing and education). The main cerebrate is on proprietary software like Aldus Pagemaker and periph geological erals such as laser printers.He evolved apple as a customer friendly systems thats just plug and play. Analysts noted that this approach made Apples customers love their Macs. He tried to move Apple into mainstream by becoming a low cost producer of computers. Du ring his tenure Mac classic was introduced at $999 to compete head-to-head with low priced IBM clones. He tried to forge an alliance with IBM to develop a develop a new OS. He tried to develop a new chipset in collaboration with Novell and Intel to rivulet on Mac OS. His main ambition is to bring a hit product every 6 to 12 months and capture the whole PC market. Inspite ofall these efforts Apples gross margin dropped to 34% which is an all-time low which lead to replacement of Sculley with Michael Spindler. Spindler era Cuts 16% of work force. Globalisation lead to 45% of sales outside US. JV with IBM to develop new OS failed leading to $69 million spillage. Which lead to Amelio as CEOAmelio era Back to Premium-price differentiation. mack sales still fallen which lead to recruitment of Steve jobs as the interim CEO. Timeline AppleYear type +ve -ve1976 Apple computer started Jobs and Wozniaks technology and Markkulas financing abilities NA 1978 Apple II released $1 billion in sales, Apple becomes industry leader 1980 IPO launched Sold 100,000 Apple IIs, Era of libertine growth for Apple 1981 IBM enters PC market IBMs open approach, horizontal and vertical integration, Apples refusal to license hardware Apples closed approach. Apples net income fell 62% among 1981 and 1984 1984 McIntosh is launched ease of use, good industrial design, technical elegance Macs slow processor speed, lack of compatibility caused limited sales Jobs fired, Scully comes in 1985-1993 1990 Apples complete desktop solution Apples focus on desktop publishing and education, plug and play, unique chips, disk drives, monitors. IBM narrows the gap in ease of use Design versus compatibility Love for Macs Just putting up with IBM machines Apples premium price system Premium Macs sold for as much as $10,000, Gross profit hovered at 50% IBM compatibles lower costs Apple tries to move into cost leadership with Mac Classic Moving to cost leadership from differentiation Joi nt venture for new OS and multimedia applications Working towards making Macs compatible, joint digest with Intel Dropped gross margin to 34% 1993 Michael Spindler replaced Sculley 1993-1997 Spindler & Amelio years Reverse trend, Apple lost momentum, Apple and IBM parted shipway $69 million loss Cost cutting1996 Amelio appointed as the new CEO 1.6 bn loss1997 NeXT is bought by Apple Jobs takes over as CEO in September 1997 Microsofts enthronisation of $150 million in Apple Five year commitment to develop MS military position products for Mac 15 product lines slashed to 4 Operational efficiency through improved scattering systems, direct sales, focus on innovation, Increased R&D Mac and Apples digital Hub strategyShift to Intel CPUs With Intel inside Mac also became a machine that could natively run a Windows OS along with Windows applications * Operating System Mac OS based on UNIX with ugrades at greater frequency than what Microsoft does * Application Bui lding programs on iLife suite iPhoto, iTunes, iWeb. Web browser Safari, and iwork productivity applications * dissemination The Apple retail experience. Retail division 280 stores in 10 countries. Partnership with Best Buy populations largest electronic retailer