SWOT Analysis Apple Inc. Summary

SWOT Analysis: Apple Inc. Summary SWOT Analysis: Apple Inc. Summary Introduction Imagine a world without computers or smart phones. Where would modern technology be? All it took was one man with an innovative vision to revolutionize modern day society as we know it. Apple Computer Inc. was established in 1976 by Steve Jobs and Steve “Woz” Wozniak (Jurevicius, 2016). Apple Inc. is now ranked among the best companies in the US, and its excellent performance is linked to its internal and external strengths and opportunities. However, the company also faces some threats and has few weaknesses which requires attention for better performance and returns. Below is a summary for each SWOT section. Strengths Some of the company’s internal strength include; company’s unique ability in designing and developing proprietary programs, software, and hardware. Apple Inc. also has a visionary CEO- Tim cook. Cook has admirable leadership style where unlike other CEOs he knows that he needs to listen to his subjects in order to lead the company successfully and most importantly, he empowers those who are good at what they do (Reuters, 2018). On the other hand, the company has the following external strengths. A powerful brand supported by reliable advertising and marketing capabilities. The company also has great loyalty to its customer, which makes it competitive in the market. Apple has a variety of resources, which include business process automation, access to user information, product mix diversity, artificial intelligence capabilities, and many more. Their products are always easier to manage and convenient than the previous. Apple also offers employee training to enhance product, which is essential for marketing. The employees are also SWOT Analysis: Apple Inc. Summary provided with stock grants in the entire company. Additionally, technology advancement in today's society allows Apple company to grow and hence expanding the business. We are living in an online world where most of the activities can be done over the internet. Lastly, Apple Inc. has a positive perception of the market due to its unique brand. In the recent past, studies have shown that Apple Inc. will continue to grow despite the US and China trade tariffs (Shinde, 2016). Weaknesses One of the weaknesses Apple Inc. faces is that many of its products are incompatible with other software (Wuerthele, 2018). Apple will be in at a disadvantage to capture market if competitors come out with innovative products and patents, therefore reducing the growth of the company. Secondly, he prices of Apple's products are very high compared to other substitute products offered by their competitors which is also a weakness to the company. Apple also has a limited distribution network due to the organization's policy of exclusivity. For instance, the company carefully selects authorized vendors of its products. This part of Apple's SWOT analysis shows that such an exclusive strategy supports control over the distribution of products, but limits the company's market reach (Wuerthele, 2018). Another weakness of Apple is that the company does not have much variety of products compared to its competitors. For instance, smartphone product of Apple, which is iPhone, has not entirely dominated the market. This makes the company faced stiff competition from other companies such as Samsung. Additionally, Apple's computer products are limited, and therefore customers have little preference of choice. Companies like Dell, Hp, and Lenovo have a variety SWOT Analysis: Apple Inc. Summary of products which is a selling strength (Bhasin, 2018). Lastly, Apple faces difficulty in matching their customers' expectations since it only offers limited kinds of products. Opportunities Apple’s first opportunity is the technological advancement. Apple has been one of the top companies that refine existing technology, and this has helped in popularizing technologies, which in turn became commonplace for a wide range of users. Secondly, there is a continued increase in demand for smartphones and tablets. Apple’s iPad and iPhone has a strong market and is growing day by day as the market grows. Being a leader in technology, Apple has a better opportunity to tap the growing market in smart technology than its competitors (Stoller, 2017). Other Apple’s opportunities include the following; Apple cars, iWatch, Apple TV, Product diversification, Increasing compatibility of products, Formation of strategic products, Investments in research and development, and Further increase business concentration. With the launch of Apple watch and television, they have proven once again that they are well ahead and forward-thinking of the rest. The iWatch had dominated the market since its inception raking in over 50% of the market share and is on a constant rise of dominance (Bhasin, 2018). Apple can also diversify their products and increase their market potential through mergers, acquisitions, and marketing. Threats There are various threats Apple company faces. One threat is coming from competitors as there is an intense competition prevailing in the world market such as Huawei, Samsung, Lenovo, HTC and Dell. The next threat to the company is imitation of products as the designs of the Apple product are imitated by the competitors due to weak regulatory system in some SWOT Analysis: Apple Inc. Summary countries and expertise of competitors to copy the features. The customers bargaining power has been improved as Apple loses its unique competitive position in the world market due to copying by competitors. Customers switching cost is also reduced considerably as they believe in other companies’ products (Stoller, 2017). The third threat to the Apple Company is lawsuits as the company faces various lawsuits from companies. The fourth threat to the company is changing economic and demographic conditions. Economic condition of USA and other countries where the company operates are having an issue of poor economic growth and therefore, the company may lose future revenues. Lastly, Apple Inc. faces a threat of losing their premium brand. Loss of premium brand is clearly evident by reduction of Apple brand equity. SWOT Recommendations S: Apple strengths recommendations for better performance include the following; The company should ensure that their staff especially software developers are regularly trained so as keep up with the fast-changing internet world. This would help Apple to remain at the top in designing and developing proprietary programs, software, and hardware. Apple should also maintain their brand image and continue being loyal to their customers for grater returns. Lastly, apple should put more effort on technology advancement so as to be more diverse on product mix and have higher artificial intelligence capabilities. W: Apple’s weaknesses recommendations include designing smartphones and computers that can effectively operate on windows operating system software. In other words, the company should make products that are compatible with most software in the market. The company should also consider standardizing their product prices to fit the budget of every buyer in the market, SWOT Analysis: Apple Inc. Summary and this would increase the company's competitiveness and revenues. I also recommend the company to widen the distribution network in order to expand the market growth. Lastly, Apple Inc. should produce a variety of products to be competitive and meet consumer expectations. O: Apple’s opportunity recommendations are as follows. The company should maximize on the opportunity to advance their technology to strive in the stiff competition. Apple should also produce more smartphones and tablets to cater for the high demand of the same in the market. Additionally, just as I had mentioned, Apple has the potential of producing more digital devices such as Apple cars, iWatch and Apple TV. This is an opportunity that the company should not let go. Lastly, apple should put more effort in Product diversification, increased compatibility of products, formation of strategic products, investments in research and development, and further diversification in business concentration. T: To ward off Apple threats, it is necessary that Apple Company should continue to invest in research and development activities to introduce new and innovative products and solutions to the customers. Another strategy to be used by company to address economic slowdown and changing customers perception is introducing more pocket friendly products and reducing margins over per unit of product. The third strategy to employ is working in partnership with local government to avoid the imitation factor issue as the government may create strong policies to prevent imitation. The fourth strategy recommend to Apple Inc. is enforcing a proper ethical code of conduct for its employees and making policies to comply with the rule and regulations of the local government. Conclusion SWOT Analysis: Apple Inc. Summary In conclusion, Apple’s SWOT analysis shows that Apple possesses major strengths that can be used to effectively address organizational weaknesses. The company can also use these strengths to exploit the opportunity to expand its distribution network. In addition, Apple can use its strong brand image and creative innovation processes to successfully develop and launch new product lines. However, the firm faces the significant threats of aggressive competition and imitation, which are major challenges affecting players in the industry. A suitable course of action is to address these threats through a stronger patent portfolio, along with continuous innovation to ensure the competitive advantage of Apple products even when competitors try to catch up (Smithson, 2017).