Apple's Inability to Compete in Areas of Computer Hardware and Software: Strategy Case Study
The reason why Apple has had so much difficulty in the PC industry over the years is because since its inception, Apple has always controlled all aspects of its computers which offered customers a premium product that controlled the user experience. This control has limited Apple’s ability to compete in two important areas, hardware and software.
Apple offered complete desktop solutions, computers and peripherals which were easy to use in nature and this simplicity demanded a premium. Mac peripherals were “plug and play” whereas IBM peripherals were difficult to use since users had to have compatible hardware and software to make things work. Apple’s simplicity gave it a head start early on but quickly became an issue as IBM computer prices dropped and Macs became overpriced by comparison; Apple also had trouble lowering the cost of its products so it couldn’t compete on price. Apple fell further behind by designing its OS around the PowerPC microprocessor chip which was slower than Intel chip at the time so from the consumer perspective Apple computers were more expensive and slower than IBM computers. Apple could have caught up to PC’s with its secret project to rework its OS to run on Intel chips but the project was killed when Spindler took the helm of Apple. On product selection, since IBM’s and PC’s allowed independent vendors to produce products for its computers the number of peripherals and complementary products available to the consumer far outnumbered the product selection that was available for the Mac. To make things worse, peripherals and complementary products for IBM and PC were priced lower than those available for the Mac. Ultimately, Apple did not offer much value in the hardware category for its customers, Mac products were slower, more expensive and had a smaller selection.
Apple’s control over all aspects of its computers also meant it produced and sold proprietary software that only worked on Macs. This control over available
Apple offered complete desktop solutions, computers and peripherals which were easy to use in nature and this simplicity demanded a premium. Mac peripherals were “plug and play” whereas IBM peripherals were difficult to use since users had to have compatible hardware and software to make things work. Apple’s simplicity gave it a head start early on but quickly became an issue as IBM computer prices dropped and Macs became overpriced by comparison; Apple also had trouble lowering the cost of its products so it couldn’t compete on price. Apple fell further behind by designing its OS around the PowerPC microprocessor chip which was slower than Intel chip at the time so from the consumer perspective Apple computers were more expensive and slower than IBM computers. Apple could have caught up to PC’s with its secret project to rework its OS to run on Intel chips but the project was killed when Spindler took the helm of Apple. On product selection, since IBM’s and PC’s allowed independent vendors to produce products for its computers the number of peripherals and complementary products available to the consumer far outnumbered the product selection that was available for the Mac. To make things worse, peripherals and complementary products for IBM and PC were priced lower than those available for the Mac. Ultimately, Apple did not offer much value in the hardware category for its customers, Mac products were slower, more expensive and had a smaller selection.
Apple’s control over all aspects of its computers also meant it produced and sold proprietary software that only worked on Macs. This control over available