Global Business Environment Essay: Apple Inc. SWOT & PEST Analysis

This essay provides a comprehensive analysis of Apple's global business environment. It begins with an introduction defining the global business environment and its impact on companies, specifically focusing on Apple Inc. The essay then delves into a SWOT analysis, exploring Apple's strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. Following this, a PEST analysis is conducted, examining the political, economic, social, and technological factors influencing Apple's business operations. The political impact includes factors like political instability in manufacturing regions and lobbying efforts. Economic impacts include labor costs, currency fluctuations, and inflation. Social impacts are discussed in terms of consumer behavior and purchasing power. Technological impacts highlight the importance of continuous product updates. The essay concludes by summarizing the key findings and emphasizing Apple's ability to adapt to technological changes and its brand image.

GLOBAL BUSINESS
ENVIRONMENT ESSAY

TABLE OF CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
SWOT Analysis...............................................................................................................................1
PEST................................................................................................................................................1
Political impact............................................................................................................................1
Economic impact.........................................................................................................................2
Social impact...............................................................................................................................2
Technological impact...................................................................................................................2
Conclusion.......................................................................................................................................2
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................4

INTRODUCTION
Global business environment can be defined as an environment in various Sovereign
countries which further influence the way in which company operate. This essay will lay
emphasis on Global business environment of Apple and ways in which it affect’s Apple’s
business in this industry.
Apple: Apple Inc is an American multinational Organization founded in 1976, headquartered in
California. They develop and sell Consumer electronics, online services, computer software etc.
One of their famous products known Worldwide is iPhone.
SWOT Analysis
SWOT analysis of Apple Inc will help in analysing their strengths, weaknesses,
Opportunities and threats.
Strengths: Apple has introduced some of the top most innovative products which has further
helped in changing the world by using and implementing top most technologies. They also have
one of the top most and strongest brand image.
Weaknesses: One of their main weakness is their high selling prices which attract upper middle
class and high-income people or families
Opportunities: Apple can focus on developing new product lines which can further hep them in
expanding their distribution network.
Threats: Aggressive competition is one of the major threats for Apple as they need to Step up
their game in order to gain competitive advantage.
PEST
Apple is one of the largest retailers of music, software solutions, electronic products etc.
They have very successful business model (Paul, 2019). PEST is a strategic tool which helps in
analysing the impact of political, economic, social and technological factors on the organization
that can affect its both long-term- and short-term growth.
Political impact
Apple is heavily dependent upon low cost manufacturing in China. So, political unrest in
China or change in bureaucracy level or political instability can disturb overall manufacturing of
Apple (Clarke and Boersma, 2017). They are also focusing on increasing their political lobbying
budget for development of legislation which is favourable for their business in terms of long-
term perspective.
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Figure 1 Annual lobbying by Apple
Economic impact
Increase in labour cost in china can take away manufacturing cost advantage from Apple.
As Apple generate more than 60 percent of their overall revenue from internal markets so strong
US dollar can negatively affect their business or sales of product in Key markets such as Europe,
china etc. Increasing inflation rate in US is also affecting the company in many ways.
Social impact
From past few years disposable income of Consumers have increased which is helping
them to increase their global sales (Rourke, 2018). Today need of people is also shifting from
necessity towards luxury and because of this they are getting attracted towards Apple products in
many ways.
Technological impact
Growing demand of smartphones or tablets is decreasing demand of Apple’s personal
computers. They also need to focus on continuously update their products and service
technologically due to growing competition.
Conclusion
From the above essay it has been summarized that Due to their innovative products, Apple
have demonstrated their ability to adopt technological changes. It has also been analysed that
Due to strong brand image and high product cost, many people consider it as a luxury brand and
are getting attracted towards buying Apple products.
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REFERENCES
Books and Journals
Clarke, T. and Boersma, M., 2017. The governance of global value chains: Unresolved human
rights, environmental and ethical dilemmas in the apple supply chain. Journal of
Business Ethics. 143(1). pp.111-131.
D O'Rourke, A., 2018. The world apple market. Routledge.
Paul, J., 2019. Global Tax Governance or National Tax Discrimination: The Case of EU vs.
APPLE. North East Journal of Legal Studies. 39(1). p.2.
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