Question

Develop and discuss with examples of the personal computer industry of apple/mac and windows  where appropriate the various aspects that make up Michael Porter's structural analysis of an oligopoly for personal computer industry of apple/mac and windows industry.

Answer 1

Then Apple Computers Inc. was founded on April 1, 1976,in a garage by Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak who were college drop-outs. The computing industry was in the early stages at that time and the two founders had a vision for improving the way people interacted with computers. By the time, computers were massive bulky devices and Jobs-Wozniak wanted to make computers a mass product so that it could be used readily by the general consumers. Instead Apple revolutionized the market with its graphical interface in colour. The company clocked in sales of US$7.8 million in 1978, which later swelled to US$117 million in 1980, the year Apple went public. Jobs deal with adobe, resulted in smooth sailing for Apple throughout the 1980s. The two companies together created Adobe Portable Document Format (PDF), which led to another iconic computer product, desktop publishing. Technological factors such as hardware product interoperability and online accessibility have brought about restructuring of the industry. Intense competition and the importance of intellectual property rights have played an instrumental role in the industry's growth. The computers and peripherals industry in the USA is considered to be one of the largest global markets. It includes giants like Apple (AAPL), EMC (EMC), Canon (CAJ), Western Digital (WDC), and HP (HPQ). The computers industry is highly dependent on technology thus it is very capital-intensive and has high degree of automated operations compared to other industries. Within this space, giants such as Apple take advantage of economies of scale and are profitable due to mass production and large share od customer purchasing power. On the other hand, smaller firms look for niche and produce specialty product with superior technology. In my opinion, Smart Phone industry is Oligopolistic in characteristics, with few dominant firms in the market. The bulk of market share is vested between Apple and Samsung, with Hawaii and Lenovo as close but niche competitors. In this regard, the level of market concentration is high.  

Apple Inc. did not intend to cater a small target audience but aimed at a larger population with target audience in multiple segments. In this regard, Apple targeted vast group of consumers incorporating home users, small and medium sized business users, education sector and young generation population. Currently, Apple Inc. focuses on designing, manufacturing, and marketing media and mobile devices, digital portable music players and personal computers. The company sells varied related services, software, networking solutions, digital application, content and peripherals. Products manufactured by the company include Mac, iPhone, iPod, Apple TV, different varieties of professional and consumer software, OSX and iOS operating systems, support and service offerings, as well as various iCloud accessories. The company manufactures and markets digital applications and content through Mac App Store, App Stores, and iTunes Software. These products and services are sold globally on the company's online stores, retail stores, and direct selling through sales representatives. They also sell through third party networks such as value added sellers, retailers and wholesalers. ecently, Apple Inc. acquired a new Chomp search engine. Apple Inc., has shown through the consecutive series of innovations in the smartphone, MP3 and tablet markets that their propensity to create profitable business models is now a core competency.  Although investors and analysts are debating about what is the crucial driver to their achievements, almost everyone agrees about the opportunity to produce goods that offer outstanding consumer interactions (Brown, 2011). However, Apple has long been among the most integrated companies in Silicon Valley's network of businessmen and engineers. Samsung, Google, and Microsoft are the three predominant competitors for Apple Inc. These giant firms are fundamentally auspicious in making Apple Inc. lose its market share. They are utilizing price competition methodologies and more current and quick line expansions.  The competition is particularly intense due to existing players and the emergence of replacements, which are capable of snatching ten percent of the overall industry's market share (Melnyk & Narasimhan, 2010). The reason for such strong replacement competition is the clients' low swapping expenses. It is because they will switch from one brand name to the next easily.

Apple's most important activities are product development and marketing. The company develops its products at its California headquarters. The development process is highly secretive, but it also contributes strongly to the company's differentiation (Lowensohn, 2012). The products are developed individually to appeal to consumers on a number of different levels. Slick design is important to the success of the products, as Apple aims to have superior aesthetic value to its competitors. Apple is considered one of the best companies globally at using a product lifecycle management (PLM) based approach to planning and executing new products, often leading to new patents being created in the process (Tariq, Ishrat, Khan, 2011). This first strategy concentrates on understanding just what is required from the new product teams in terms of support and services, then aligning hiring plans accordingly to ensure the highest possible level of performance to hiring and recruitment goals.

A second strategy that the company can rely on to effectively plan H esources is to develop a series of check points throughout the hiring process to ensure the needs being evaluated with potential employees accurately align with the broader needs of the company as well. Apple's primary business is in consumer electronics. The company's core businesses are in personal computers, mp3 players, smartphones and electronic media. Apple's leading products include the Mac line of computers, the iPod, the iPhone and the iPad tablet computer. The company's media properties include the iTunes music store and the iPhone App Store. Apple's goal is not making money, claims Sir Jonathan Ive - Apple's head of design. For a mega company that is worth a reported $539 billion, this might pass as a frivolous statement and Ive admits this. However, he asserts that his sentiments are true and factual. Ive clarifies that their goal is producing excellent products. These statements were made at the British Embassy's Creative Summit and were reported by The Telegraph. He stated that in being successful at this goal, consumers like the products Apple produces and when the company operates efficiently then revenue will definitely follow.

so, there are the most of reason make apple different from others .