Strategic Management Analysis of Apple

This report provides a strategic management analysis of Apple, focusing on the marketing plan for the iPhone. It includes market segmentation, product life cycle stage, pricing, place and distribution, promotion, implementation, limitations and risks.

Running head: STRATEGIC MANAGEMENT ANALYSIS OF APPLE
STRATEGIC MANAGEMENT ANALYSIS OF APPLE
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

1STRATEGIC MANAGEMENT ANALYSIS OF APPLE
Executive Summary
The report is divided into two parts namely Phase 1 and Phase 2. The marketing plan is
formulated in the second phase which is mainly based on the multinational technology
organization named Apple. The product that is selected for analysis is Apple iPhone. The
limitations and risks related to the marketing plan is also discussed in the report. The analysis
is concluded by stating that the marketing plan can be effective for Apple and the product
which is being promoted.

2STRATEGIC MANAGEMENT ANALYSIS OF APPLE
Table of Contents
Phase 2...........................................................................................................................3
Marketing plan objective............................................................................................3
Market segmentation..................................................................................................3
Product Life Cycle Stage...........................................................................................4
Price, Place and Distribution......................................................................................5
Promotion...................................................................................................................6
Implementation..........................................................................................................6
Limitations and Risks.................................................................................................7
Summary....................................................................................................................7
References......................................................................................................................8

3STRATEGIC MANAGEMENT ANALYSIS OF APPLE
Phase 2
Marketing plan objective
The marketing plan of Apple includes the objectives to extend the brand name of the
organization and link to its successful position in the industry. The image of the organization
in market is related to its innovation related capabilities, the value and the quality of the
products. The response and the awareness of the products in the market is measured and
further adjustments are made in the marketing mix (Massingham & Pomering, 2017).
Market segmentation
The market of segment of Apple iPhone can be divided into three major categories.
The organization uses the process of segmentation based on general lifestyle as Apple is a
premium brand. The segment of customers of the company are usually the urban population
of various countries. The customers of Apple are mainly the early adopters and the premium
level buyers of the industry. The three target groups of Apple are as follows,
 The music lovers who are targeted by features like Apple iStore and iTunes.
 The teenagers or the professionals who are major customers of Apple iPhone.
 The customers who use the other products of the company like Apple watch,
Macbook (Ozment, 2015).
The target market of Apple iPhone is huge in spite of the premium price range of the
products that are offered to the customers. The customers of Apple are blindly loyal to the
brand and its various products. The iPhone customers often claim that Apple has
manufactured the best smartphone in the world. The younger group of people are more
attracted towards the products of Apple. The brand is further associated to the people who
have a premium level of income and can afford the premium priced products of the company

4STRATEGIC MANAGEMENT ANALYSIS OF APPLE
(Patil & Bach, 2017). The customers who are more likely to own Apple iPhone mainly
belong to households where education is given priority and technology is also followed on a
regular basis.
Product Life Cycle Stage
The product life cycle is considered to be an important concept related to the
marketing of products. This concept helps in describing the various stages of life cycle which
a particular product goes through before the organization decides to remove it from their
product line. All products do not reach the final stage of product life cycle if they are able to
gain the market in a successful manner (Pavlou & Stewart, 2015). The four main stages of the
product life cycle are introduction, growth, maturity and decline, which will be discussed as
follows,
 Introduction – This stage of the cycle proves to be the most expensive for the
organization as this involves the launch of new products in the market. This
stage further involves various costs on the part of the company which are
related consumer testing, research and development and the marketing
activities which are required to launch the product. Apple has been investing a
lot in the research and development related activities of the company. This has
further resulted in the premium pricing of the iPhones (Reed, 2016).
 Growth – This stage is mainly characterised by the strong growth which is
shown in the profits and the sales of the organization. The company starts to
benefit from the product that is has launched in the market in the growth stage.
This further makes it easy for the organization to make more investments in
the products and improve the features that are offered by them. The iPhones
have proved to be the highest products in the product line of Apple and this
has helped in the steady of the revenues of the organization in the market. This

5STRATEGIC MANAGEMENT ANALYSIS OF APPLE
has also enabled Apple to invest more in their research and development to
enhance the products (Sinčić Ćorić, Murphy & Brečić, 2015).
 Maturity – This stage is related to the successful establishment of the
products in the market and the fulfilment of the aim of the manufacturers. This
is also considered to be most competitive period of the entire life cycle of the
product. The business organizations need to plan in a wise manner to maintain
the share in the market that has been developed by them. They can also think
of improving the products by adding more features and creating competitive
advantage. Apple has been able to successfully place the iPhones in the
growth stage with the help of its marketing strategies and the unique features
that are provided by the iPhones. The loyal customer base has also helped
Apple to maintain its share in the market (Srijumpa, 2017).
 Decline – This stage is related to the shrink that occurs in the market of the
products of particular company. This can be due to the saturation that has
occurred in the industry or due to the switch made by consumers to different
products. Apple iPhones have not yet reached this stage as the products have
been able to capture the market and the consumers of the organization are also
loyal. The shares of the organization have shown decline in the recent times,
however, the iPhones are still going quite strong in the market (Steenkamp,
2017).
Price, Place and Distribution
Price – The pricing related strategy of Apple is related to the premium pricing
method. The prices have been placed in such a manner so that the customers will have to pay
high amounts for premium designed products of the company. The technology of price
skimming is the best strategy that is used by Apple. The prices are set higher as compared to

6STRATEGIC MANAGEMENT ANALYSIS OF APPLE
similar products that are offered by the competitors. The geographical pricing technique is
used by Apple to decide different prices of the products for different geographical areas. This
strategy is useful for the different exchange rates in various countries (Venkatesan et al.,
2015).
Place – Apple operates more than 400 stores in 22 countries in the world. The retail
stores of the organization are spacious and creative in nature. The online stores are also
available for selling the products of the company. Direct sales force is used by Apple for the
promotion of its products to the prospective consumers. The company also has successful
partnerships with various wholesalers so that they distribute the products. The value-added
sellers or the professional authorised people are major parts of the distribution channel of
Apple (Zhang & Yang, 2017).
Promotion
The promotional activities of Apple are known to be unique in nature. The various
different marketing channels that are used by the organization include, advertisements in
newspapers, promotions in radio. This is known as the Above The Line or ATL advertising
platform. The company mainly targets the premium segment of consumers. The process of
hoardings or home advertising is used in the retail outlets of the company. This process is
known as the Below The Line or BTL marketing related techniques. These tools are used by
Apple in a unique to reach its customers and further to create hype for its products in the
market (Venkatesan et al., 2015).
Implementation
The implementation of marketing plans is the final step in the entire marketing
program that is formulated for Apple iPhone. This is related to the process by which the
organization will aim to attain the marketing related goals. This is considered to be the most

7STRATEGIC MANAGEMENT ANALYSIS OF APPLE
significant step of the entire plan. This step will help Apple in converting the marketing
strategies to marketing plans. The monitoring of this action plan is necessary so that the
various stages are stages are executed on a timely manner. The major aim of the
implementation of the strategies related to product development and market development is
related to the proper marketing of Apple iPhones. The top management is responsible for
implementing the process in an effective manner.
Limitations and Risks
The major risks or challenges are faced by the managers of the organization in the
process of implementing the marketing plan. The risks are related to the various functions in
the organization like, research and development, production, industrial engineering,
advertising. The managers of Apple need to consider the various expectations of the
consumers for the different functions so that they can easily deal with the challenges that are
posed. The managers need to allocate the resources related to different activities in an
effective manner. The tasks need to be monitored and further need to be checked whether
they are being implemented in the proper manner.
Summary
The report can be concluded by stating that the marketing plan for Apple iPhone
addresses the various aspects that are important in formulating successful strategies. The
effective promotional activities, the distribution channels of the organization and the pricing
strategies can further Apple in promoting the iPhones in a successful manner. The target
market of the organization is also useful for the successful implementation of the marketing
plan. There are however many limitations that are related to the successful operations of
Apple in the market.

8STRATEGIC MANAGEMENT ANALYSIS OF APPLE
References
Massingham, P. R., & Pomering, A. A. (2017). Introducing Knowledge Management to the
Marketing Mix.
Ozment, J. (2015). Estimating Lagged and Cumulative Effects of Customer Service
Variables in the Marketing Mix. In Proceedings of the 1989 Academy of Marketing
Science (AMS) Annual Conference (pp. 643-647). Springer, Cham.
Patil, D. D., & Bach, C. (2017). Marketing-Mix For Strategy Building. Marketing, 4(4).
Pavlou, P. A., & Stewart, D. W. (2015). Interactive advertising: A new conceptual
framework towards integrating elements of the marketing mix. In New Meanings for
Marketing in a New Millennium (pp. 218-222). Springer, Cham.
Reed, D. (2016). Customer first is the only way to resolve the marketing mix.
Sinčić Ćorić, D., Murphy, P., & Brečić, R. (2015, November). The role of marketing mix
elements in corporate ethics statements. In PROCEEDINGS OF THE 6TH EMAC
REGIONAL CONFERENCE “Convergence and Divergence in the New Europe:
Marketing Challenges and Issues” (p. 1).
Srijumpa, R. (2017). What beyond marketing 3.0: The 4Ss marketing mix strategy for
sustainability. Journal of Global Business Review., 15(1), 1-12.
Steenkamp, J. B. (2017). Global Marketing Mix Decisions: Global Integration, Not
Standardization. In Global Brand Strategy (pp. 75-109). Palgrave Macmillan,
London.

9STRATEGIC MANAGEMENT ANALYSIS OF APPLE
Venkatesan, R., Farris, P., Guissoni, L. A., & Neves, M. F. (2015). Consumer brand
marketing through full-and self-service channels in an emerging economy. Journal of
Retailing, 91(4), 644-659.
Zhang, J. J., & Yang, L. (2017, March). A simple analysis of revolution and innovation of
marketing mix theory from big data perspective. In Big Data Analysis (ICBDA),
2017 IEEE 2nd International Conference on (pp. 410-413). IEEE.