Capstone Project: Analysis of Apple Inc. Challenges & Strategies

This capstone project is a comprehensive analysis of Apple Inc., focusing on the company's challenges and strategic responses in the face of changing market dynamics. The project examines the decline in sales of various Apple products, particularly iPhones, and the impact of increased competition from companies like Huawei, Samsung, and Xiaomi. It delves into the financial implications of these challenges, including the effects of trade policies and patent disputes. The project aims to identify the current macro and micro environments, evaluate leadership and management strategies, and assess the company's operating and technological aspects. The research utilizes secondary data to analyze the market and provide recommendations on how Apple can regain its competitive advantage through innovation and technological strategies. The project also contributes by analyzing the current leadership and management strategies to understand the thought process of the company and the area that have been wrong.

Running head: CAPSTONE PROJECT
Capstone Project
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Organisation: Apple Inc.
Project Type
This project is a company analysis which aims to examine the current issues
and problems faced by the company and bring about awareness regarding the
changes in the market scenario in the past year along with the strategies to be
implemented by the company in order to cope with the changing needs of the
consumers. This is a research project that aims to thoroughly analyse the major
challenges faced by Apple Inc. in the year of 2019 and years to come by means of
secondary data collection. The data will be collected from authentic web journals and
company to perform significant analysis using marketing tools.
Justification and Significance of the research project
Apple Inc. has been facing serious issues and is expected to face more
issues in the year of 2019. The year of 2019 is considered to be the most
challenging year for the company as it has witnessed reduction in sales in all their
products starting from Mac to iPhone (Gaus, 2019). Mac sales have flattened in the
past two years and there has been decrease in sales of iPad. The sales of iPad is
expected to go down even further in the next year which poses high level of threats
for the company. However, the biggest concern for the company is the sales of
smartphones.
Moreover, the new iPhones seemed like upgrades from the older version
without visible changes and new features. Smartphone has become dull due to lack
of innovation which is one of the main reason for the decrease in their sales.
Moreover, the US government has slammed 10% tariff on the iPhones and Macs
developed in China (Gibbs 2019). This means that in near future people have to pay
10% extra to an already expensive iPhone which is one of the major concern for the
organisation (Gibbs 2019). The uncertainty between the United States and China
trade policy has resulted in trade uncertainty and Apple stocks have been affected
significantly. Therefore, it will be necessary to move their production out of China to
other countries.
On the other hand, Apple has been involved in a lengthy laws suit with
Qualcomm over patent fees and licensing rates. This has also affected the

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reputation and stocks of the company. The increase in competition in the market
have caused problems as the competition has never been this fierce. Huawei has
become the second largest manufacturer of smartphones along with number of other
competitors such as Google, Samsung, OnePlus and Xiaomi have caused serious
problems and reduced the share of Apple in market. In the final quarter of 2018,
Apple and Samsung announced results there were catastrophic due to the significant
decrease in sales (Aiston, 2019). The sales gaps between the Chinese companies
and Apple Inc are decreasing every quarter which depicts the seriousness of the
issue. Xiaomi has experienced 9.5% increase in the shares in the market which
shows the rapid prominence of Chinese companies in the market (Aiston, 2019).
This research project aims to address all these factors to examine the current
macro and micro environment along with the strategies implemented by Apple for
coping with the changes. The various loopholes and limitations will be identified to
highlight the ways Apple can gain back their competitive advantage in the market.
Contribution and learning of this project
The project will contribute by analysing the current leadership and
management strategies to understand the thought process of the company and the
area that have been wrong. The situational analysis will be performed to understand
the macro and micro environment in which the company has been operating. The
operating and technological aspect of the company will also be evaluated to
understand the issues in depth. The report will contribute by highlighting the current
scenario in the market and the overall scenario Apple Inc. has been going through
due to the changes in the current market scenario and change in the buying patterns
of the consumers.
Moreover, the report also to highlight the decline in the use or smartphone in
the years to come and measures to be taken to regain the popularity in the market.
The financial aspect of the company will also be analysed to understand the financial
implications and efforts needed to regain the lost market share. This study aims to
provide learnings on the ways Apple can increase their market share in a matured
and diminishing market where the role of technology and innovation plays a
significantly crucial role. Innovation and technological strategies will also be
discussed in the report to provide suitable recommendations for the near future.

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References
Aiston, J. (2019). Samsung and Apple facing hard times against Huawei, Xiaomi,
and Oppo! – Shannon 100. Retrieved 20 July 2019, from
https://www.shannon100.com/tech/samsung-and-apple-facing-hard-times-
against-huawei-xiaomi-and-oppo/
Gaus, A. (2019). Apple's 6 Biggest Challenges in 2019. Retrieved 20 July 2019, from
https://www.thestreet.com/technology/apple-biggest-challenges-14822208
Gibbs, S. (2019). iPhone slump: the rivals taking a bite out of Apple. Retrieved 20
July 2019, from https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2019/jan/03/iphone-
slump-the-rivals-taking-a-bite-out-of-apple