Inquiry Based Learning of Apple: Trends in Retail Industry and Recommendations

This report is based on the inquiry based learning of Apple, focusing on the current trends in the retail industry and their impact on the company. It includes an analysis of the retail industry, background of Apple, primary investigation, and recommendations for the company's business and financial performance.

Inquiry Based
Learning

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION ..........................................................................................................................3
MAIN BODY...................................................................................................................................3
Trends in retail industry..............................................................................................................3
Background of Apple..................................................................................................................3
Analysis.......................................................................................................................................4
Primary investigation..................................................................................................................6
Recommendations............................................................................................................................6
CONCLUSION ..............................................................................................................................7
REFERNCES:..................................................................................................................................9
Books and Journals:....................................................................................................................9

INTRODUCTION
Inquiry based learning is a kind of active learning where the individual asks questions or
study scenarios to gain understanding and conclude result. The report is based on inquiry based
learning of Apple. It is an American multinational company (Yang And et. al., 2020). The
company was founded in 1976 by Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak and Ronald Wayne. The report
discusses about current trends in retain industry and its impact on Apple. Primary and secondary
research is done to gain more understanding about the company. At the end of the report there
are recommendations.
MAIN BODY
Trends in retail industry
The retail industry is at boom. The market attractiveness in this sector is high and many
new players have entered retain industry. There is benefit that these organisation under retail
sector are using is that of going international. That enhance the opportunities that are present for
them. They can trade with various countries. They have also captured huge customer groups that
are assisting them in gaining profits. It is seen that customers to but from retail stores. They
provide convenient structure to the stores that is preferred by the customers. There focus is to
present everything they have in store. Most of sale these business do is through these retail
stores. Revenue is at hike and they are providing quality products and services to the customers.
In relation to Apple they provide free email access. The success also depends on the innovative
ideas used by them to present the product and services. There is personal relation in retain stores
that attract customers and help to develop loyal customers.
Background of Apple
The company was founded 44 years back in 1976 by Steve Jobs, Ronald Wayne and
Steve Wozniak. It is one of the Big Five companies in U.S. In the information technology
industry, along with Google, Amazon, Facebook and Microsoft. It has its operations in more
than 500 retail stores. Apple employees around 123000 employees all around the globe. The
company provides its services to all countries. The headquarters of company are in Cupertino,
California, USA. The main products that are offered by Apple are Products iPod, iPhone,
Macintosh, iPad, Apple TV, HomePod, Apple Watch, macOS, iOS, tvOS, iLife, watchOS,
iWork, Final Cut Pro, Garageband, Logic Pro and iMovie (Schmid and Bogner, 2019). The

company is able successful operate sell all its product. It has gained a power full position in the
market. Along with that the services provided by Apple are Apple Pay, iTunes Store, Apple
Store, App Store, iBooks Store, iCloud, Mac App Store and Apple Music. All these have helped
to stand out in the market.
Apple follows Corporate Steering Wheel. This model aims to formulate all the plans and
objectives in support of mission of the organisation. The focus is to make all the individuals that
are working in the organisation work towards a common goal. All the pros and cons that are
analysed so that the company do not face any problem in future. All the policies should be
regularly updated so that there are no confusion in the end. In can be seen that this helps to
achieve goals and objectives on time. The main four points thata re being covered the Steering
Wheel are customer, operations, finance and people. It is vital for an organisation to focus on all
of them. As the success of an organisation depends on the services provided to all the parties that
are related to the organisation (Puddu, 2017). Finance is backbone of every organisation and it is
important to manage finances so that company is able to work smoothly. A proper research to
customers’ needs and wants will help the company to satisfy their needs and wants in an
effective manner. This model helps Apple to operate smoothly by taking care of all the important
parts on which hr success of the organisation depends.
Aim of the report
To analyse the impact of current trends in retail industry on business and financial
performance of organisation. A study on Apple Company
Research Question
How to analyse the financial performance of Apple.
Analysis
SWOT Analysis of Apple
Strengths
 Apple is known as leading technology
innovator as the company launches
new product that have latest design,
enhanced predecessor. The company
has positioned the products above the
lone and captured market share.
Weaknesses
 The first and foremost weakness of
Apple is its high price. The company
launches the products at higher prices.
Not every can afford the products
offered by Apple (Peláez-Ruiz, and

 It always studies the trend and
innovates the product as per the
requirement of customers. The
company always make right use of
technology and provide new product to
its customers (Pang, 2016).
 Apple has gained a strong image in
market and has been ranked third most
valuable brand in 2020.
Piedrahita-Ospina, 2017, ).
 Another problem associated with
products of Apple company is that they
have different operating system. People
are incompatible with iOS.
 Apple Company mostly depends on
Phones and iPad series. If the sale of
these product declines the company
may lose its market share and face huge
losses.
Opportunities
 The biggest advantage that Apple has
is of loyal customers. The customers
that buy products of Apple are satisfied
and loyal towards the brand. That they
don't want to switch to another brand.
 The cloud based services are also in
demand. As the use of data
connectivity and speed is rising more
people are utilizing the cloud services
offered by the company.
Weaknesses
 As the company deals in consumer
electronics and the trend in changing
day by day. The company has to go
with the trend and update the product
accordingly.
 The biggest threat faces by company is
from other operating system. The
company is facing competition from
growth of Android.
Porter Five Forces Model On Apple
The model helps to identify the competitiveness in the industry and strategies to gain
competitive advantage. The Porter Five forces Model in respect to Apple Company is mentioned
below:
Competitive Rivalry- Competition is present at every level. In relation to Apple
Company it has to face direct competition with Google, Samsung, and Amazon. All these
companies invest money in research same is done by Apple (Levitov, 2016). It can be said that
there is industry competitiveness faced by Apple.

Bargaining Power of Buyers- Consumers are important part of an organisation. Every
company makes efforts to serve its customers. If the bargaining power of customers is low then it
is beneficial for the company. In a relation to Apple the Company has high bargaining power of
consumers. As there is low switching cost customers of Apple can switch the brand. So Apple
has to make strategies that help them to gain competitive advantage and retain customers.
Bargaining Power of Sellers- The bargaining power of suppliers shows the dependence
of company on the suppliers. In respect to Apple Company the bargaining power of suppliers is
relatively low (Herranen and et. al., 2019). It is beneficial for the company as they do not have to
depend of suppliers. There are various suppliers that are available to the company.
Threat of New Entrants- There is moderate threat of new entrants in case of Apple. As
there is need of huge capital to start a new business. In context of Apple it has established a
brand image in market over time. It is difficulty for new entrant to obtain the position and fight
in competition.
Threat from Substitute products- Apple uses technology and provides products and
services that are different from the competitors (Heng.and Karpudewan, 2017). There is no direct
substitute available to the company. Also the similar products that are offered by various
companies are of low quality. This shows there is low threat of substitute products in case of
Apple.
Above mentioned is Porter five forces model that helps company to formulate strategies
to gain competitive advantage. It is also helps to know about the value in respect to competitors.
It is important to establish brand value as it helps to gain profits more than competitors.
Primary investigation
Primary investigation means collecting data for the first time. Under primary research
data is directly collected from the main sources. It is done through questionnaire, experiments,
interviews, surveys etc. In this case questions are being asked from various stake holders of
apple. To understand and analyse what are their view points. Fresh and true information is
gathered through primary investigation.
Recommendations
Apple has established a powerful position in the market. The main problem is that the
price of products offered by the company is not affordable by every one. The company should

take care of this factor so that it will be able to target more customers. The market share of the
company is small due the high price set by them. To gain more customers the company should
take care of the process set by them (Hardré And et. al., 2017). Another factor that hindrances
the growth of company is the different operating system that is launched by the company. It is
not easy for people to switch from normal smart phone to apple as there is problem of
compatibility. Also the customers can easily switch from apple to other brands as the switching
cost is low. Also there are rapid changes in the technology so the company has to update the
product again and again. The main point to be considered is to innovate regularly. The company
should regularly study the trends in market and then update the product in accordance. Apple
should provide products as per the demand of customers that will satisfy there needs and wants.
The era is turning digital so the company should focus on both offline and online platforms. As it
is a multinational company it has to understand the taste and preference of all the customers
around the globe. The company should reduce the money spent on operating cycle and minimise
waste. As it will be beneficial for company to minimise cost (Cohen, Zafrani and Yarden, 2020.
It is also important to take care of finances as it is important to have adequate funds and they
should be utilised at a place that helps the company to become successful. The company should
also provide good working environment to its employees as they are the one who takes care of
the production process. The employees should be motivated so that they can work effectively
and help the organisation to achieve goals and objectives. Apple should focus on opportunities
that are available in the market so as to grab them. Along with that company should know about
the threat and take measures in relation to them. All these will help company to grow and
achieve success.
Action Plan
The company should understand all its weakness and take measures to overcome them.
The challenges that are faced by the company can be overcome by effective strategy formulation
(Chu. And et. al., 201). The company should enhance research and development so as to know
about the trends in the market. Also the company should formulate strategies to achieve the set
targets on time. Along with that it is duty of company to take care of quality of products that are
provided to them.

CONCLUSION
It can be concluded that it is important to study about a topic and then conclude. This
report is based on Apple which is considered under big five. The company has global presence
and serve its customers with quality products and services. The retail industry is at boom and that
is advantageous for Apple. SWOT Analysis of company is done to understand the strengths and
opportunities and get benefit. The weakness should be worked upon and it is vital to know about
the threats and get prepared. The Porter five Forces Model is part of the report to understand the
competitiveness in the industry. This also helps to formulate strategies. In the end of the report
various recommendations are given.

REFERNCES:
Books and Journals:
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268.
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