Williams Loelius
Strategic Management Concepts & Cases
07/22/2011
* Describe the key strategic challenges facing Apple Computer. *
One of Apple biggest key issue will be the rate that technology is growing and the ability to keep up with and also the prices at which there products are sold for; they are face with constant new arrivals at prices that are more affordable especially in today’s economy where everybody is looking for ways to save money. They are also faced with having to maintain its marketing, relationship building and brand management techniques as they spread into a much wider market, gaining a much larger customer base that includes a lot of more diverse customer. Technology and entertainment industry is constantly evolving; there are some doubts if apple will be able to maintain the reputation of its brand, their exclusinve design and constantly able to put something new out in the market that will keep catching their consumer’s attention and justify why they would rather spend the money on a Mac instead of the much more affordable brands. The company has a lot of advantages by being able to keep software and their markets private, meaning if you bought a mac computer you will still have to purchase a software through them, I just bought me a mac about a month ago and now am starting to realize that more affordable software’s are not compatible with the computer. The company has been able to brand and market itself and maintain a reputation that makes it consumers return for more exclusive offers that none of their competitors can offer, while securing its media contents.
Describe the dimensions along which company success can be measured.
Success can be measured by the company’s cash flow, they can maintain an adequate cash flow by differentiating between their short time and longtime goals, also by doing this you can take your time in evaluating product to make sure consumers will remain interested.
References: Case 14: Apple’s Computer Inc. Maintaining the Music Business While introducing iPhone and Apple TV