BSc Business Management Dissertation Proposal: Apple Inc. - Analysis

This dissertation proposal examines Apple Inc., focusing on its marketing strategies, competitive landscape, and internal weaknesses. It begins with an introduction outlining the background, rationale, aims, objectives, research questions, and scope and limitations of the study. The literature review explores Apple's marketing strategies, including their simplicity, customer engagement, and understanding of consumer needs, while also addressing its weaknesses. The research methodology section details the research philosophy, approach, strategy, methods, time horizons, and ethical considerations. The proposal anticipates findings, conclusions, and recommendations based on the research. References are also provided to support the analysis. This proposal aims to evaluate Apple Inc.'s marketing strategies and identify areas for improvement.

Submission Coversheet (All Programmes)
Student ID Number
(Do not include student
name as anonymous
marking is implemented)
RAD17454331
Programme Title BSc Business Management
Module Title Business and Management Dissertation
Module Code (listed on
Moodle and in LTAFP) QAB020X602H & QAB020X604A
Coursework Title Business and Management Dissertation – 3000 words
proposal
Academic Declaration:
Students are reminded that the electronic copy of their essay may be checked, at
any point during their degree, with Turnitin or other plagiarism detection software for
plagiarised material.
Word Count
3500
Please save your file as:
student id_module code_module_title_assessment name
for example: COR15416549_QAB020N592S_Managing Organisations)_Essay 1 Teamwork
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Dissertation proposal
Apple Inc. – marketing
strategy, competitors and
weaknesses
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Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................5
Background for the study.......................................................................................................5
Importance and rationale for selection of topic......................................................................5
Aim of the research project....................................................................................................5
Research objectives................................................................................................................6
Research questions.................................................................................................................6
Scope and limitation...............................................................................................................6
LITERATURE REVIEW................................................................................................................8
To evaluate about the role of marketing strategies in the success and worldwide invasion of
Apple Inc................................................................................................................................8
To implicate about the main weaknesses and shorting coming in the marketing strategies of
Apple Inc..............................................................................................................................10
To review about the main competitors of Apple Inc. along with weaknesses in their strategy
..............................................................................................................................................11
To determine the better ways that can be adopted by Apple Inc. to become more successful
and have better invasion at global level...............................................................................12
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY...................................................................................................15
Research philosophy.............................................................................................................15
Research approach................................................................................................................15
Research strategy..................................................................................................................16
Choices of method................................................................................................................16
Time horizons.......................................................................................................................16
Data collection and analysis.................................................................................................16
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Sample method.....................................................................................................................17
Ethical consideration............................................................................................................17
Time Frames.........................................................................................................................17
RESULTS......................................................................................................................................19
FINDINGS.....................................................................................................................................33
CONCLUSION..............................................................................................................................36
RECOMMENDATIONS...............................................................................................................36
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................37
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INTRODUCTION
Background for the study
Apple Inc. is a well-known multinational technology based company the main headquarter
of which situated at California, United States. The main operations and dealings of Apple inc.
comprises of designing, developing and marketing consumer electronic product and other
electric accessories across the world (Palmatier and Sridhar, 2017). Apple inc. is the leading and
most successful technology company in the world which is differentiated from its competitors
through its effective product innovation, exclusive design and most prominent and effective
marketing strategies. The product portfolio of Apple inc. comprises of Mac, iPhone, iPad, iPod,
Apple Watch, Apple TV, Digital content, Software, Accessories and other associated Cloud
services (Budzinski and Kuchinke, 2020). Thus, being a multinational company and operating in
technology sector a huge level of competition is faced by Apple Inc. thus, current study is lead
out to evaluate about the marketing strategies of Apple Inc. along with determination of their
competitors and weaknesses.
Importance and rationale for selection of topic
The selection of current topic is important as it is viable and rationale to evaluate the
marketing strategies of Apple Inc. that plays a vital role in its success and global invasion. Apart
from this, Apple Inc. is a multinational company which faced a high level of competition threat
thus, determination of its competitors and along with their weakness is helpful and important to
ensure adoption of better’s strategies and ways to have better success and enhanced performance.
A description and analysis regarding the importance and the role of marketing strategies in the
success and worldwide invasion is also made along with analysis of better ways to become more
successful and have better invasion at global level which is rationale and important from
organisational view pint. Apart from this, selection of current topic is also meet the personal
interest of researcher along with ensuring better skills development and enhanced knowledge on
selected topic.
Aim of the research project
The main aim set out for current dissertation is, “To evaluate about the marketing
strategies of Apple Inc. along with determination of their competitors and weaknesses”. A
research work on Apple Inc.
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Research objectives
Following are the main objectives set out for current investigation on Apple Inc.
 To evaluate about the role of marketing strategies in the success and worldwide invasion
of Apple Inc.
 To implicate about the main weaknesses and shorting coming in the marketing strategies
of Apple Inc.
 To review about the main competitors of Apple Inc. along with weaknesses in their
strategy.
 To determine the better ways that can be adopted by Apple Inc. to become more
successful and have better invasion at global level.
Research questions
The research questions evaluate under current dissertation are stated as below:
 What role is played by marketing strategies in the success and worldwide invasion of
Apple Inc.?
 What are the main weaknesses and shorting coming in the marketing strategies of Apple
Inc.?
 Who are the main competitors of Apple Inc. along with weaknesses in their strategy?
 Are there any better ways that can be adopted by Apple Inc. to become more successful
and have better invasion at global level?
Scope and limitation
The scope of current dissertation is wide which comprises of evaluation about the role of
marketing strategies in the success and worldwide invasion of Apple Inc along with implication
regarding the main weaknesses and shorting coming in the marketing strategies of Apple Inc.
Beside this, a deep discussion about the main competitors of Apple Inc. along with weaknesses
in their strategy is also made to develop better understanding about selected research topic.
Further, the main focus and scope of current investigation consists of determination of any better
ways that can be adopted by Apple Inc. to become more successful and have better invasion at
global level.
The main limitation and shortcoming associated with current dissertation is based on lack
of sufficient resources and adequate amount of time along with collection of reliable data for
study. Therefore, implication of suitable research method is made for collection of data to meet
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set objective in a better way. Further, implication of Gantt chart is useful in overcoming the
issues of time management through leading effective time frames for timely completion of
activities.
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LITERATURE REVIEW
It forms one of the most vital and crucial chapter of a dissertation which comprises of a
discussion and evaluation of various available secondary information to get better understanding
about selected research topic along with providing a base for further investigation through
analysis of objective (Gilbert, 2020). Literature review provides a comprehensive summary and
description about previous research work on a specific topic with the help of surveys of scholarly
articles, journals, books, documents and other relevant sources to clearly enumerate, describe and
evaluate set objectives (Jeong, Lee and Lim, 2019). The current literature review is based on
marketing strategies of Apple Inc. along with analysis about its competitors and weakness for
which a number of online articles and journals are reviewed a discussion about which is provided
below:
To evaluate about the role of marketing strategies in the success and worldwide invasion of
Apple Inc.
As per the view point of Chirag Kulkarni, 2016, marketing is essential for good business
which helps to reach and connect with target audience and lead to better growth and invasion of
organisation. Marketing strategies and exclusive way of promotion provides a method for Apple
Inc. to differentiate itself from its competitors and allows to focus in its strengths to attract and
cater larger customers through providing better quality product and services. The marketing
strategies of Apple Inc. is having many key features which makes it better and more attractive
than its competitors in business environment and plays a vital role in its success and worldwide
invasion a description and evaluation of which is provided below:
Keep marketing strategies simple- Apple Inc. is used to keep its marketing strategies
simple as technology consumers often get over whelmed with complex marketing strategy and
leads to creation of confusion in their minds. Apple Inc. Keeps its marketing message very
straightforward with simple graphics without much use of jargon or any other complex technical
terms so that consumers can translate and understand marketing message in a better and more
effective way without any complexity and confusion (Yang, Nam and Kim, 2018).
Leverage reviews- The another key aspects of marketing strategy of Apple Inc. comprises
of getting regular reviews from its customers along with implementing relevant suggested
modification in its services and products which makes it more better to meet the expectation and
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desire level of consumers. Apple inc. is having a strategy of offering free trail and sample to
have and exchange testimonial and review of its customers at social media and websites which
makes its customers happy and attracted towards its product and services (Lee, Zhou and Wang,
2018).
Knowing Audience through speaking in their language- The another vital marketing
tactics of Apple Inc. consists of interacting with customers in their common or local language
which lead to a deeper bond with customers at global and international level thus, plays a vital
role in world wide invasion of Apple inc. through encouraging its global sales. Keeping in touch
with customers and focus on study of needs and wants of customers through regular interaction
and talk at social media offers enhanced success to Apple inc. and enhance its invasion and
expansion at global level (Heracleous and Papachroni, 2016).
Understanding needs of the customers- This is one of the most important marketing
strategy that the Apple Inc. has adopted. It states that until and unless requirements and demands
of the customers are identified, it can be most difficult to sale the product. Therefore, Apple
takes care of the consumers demand and supplies accordingly in order to satisfy the needs of the
customers.
Creating the visual content- This is another tactic that Apple has adopted and it states that
if an organization wants to create the awareness of it's products than the promotion must be
attractive and attention gaining. Therefore, visual content is the most attractive part of adverting
the product. It contains animation and social site usage for better reach across global customers
so that customer can buy online or can go to the nearby store for purchase (Ducange, Pecori and
Mezzina, 2018).
4 Ps- Four Ps of marketing is an effective tool that has greatly utilised by the Apple in a
very effective manner. For example, product they are offering contains high uniqueness selling
propositions, price they are offering are premium thereby rich society purchase that for better
experience and to maintain status as well and place are also limited because there are less stores
where Apple products are being sold out because of the usage of it's high advanced technology
and the fear of stealing that by some one.
Hiring of right people- Hiring of a professional salesperson can have a great impact on the
marketing strategies of Apple Inc. It is important to employ right people at right place on right
time at right positions in sales and marketing department. This is what the company has focused
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on, they have expertise who are brilliant in selling the products of Apple and are trained very
well for the same (Malfona, 2018).
To implicate about the main weaknesses and shorting coming in the marketing strategies of
Apple Inc.
According to the information provided by Hitesh Bhasin, 2020, Apple inc. is a global
brand which is well known for its product quality and services but still some treats and short
coming are faced by Apple inc, in its marketing strategies which hampers its performance and
success level. The one of the major weakness of Apple Inc. at global level comprises of difficulty
in meeting its customers’ expectations as being a leading company a larger number of market
share is targeted by Apple Inc. thus, the marketing strategies of Apple is left behind and not able
the maintain a balance with needs and expectation of its customers. Further, as a larger target
market is addressed by the Apple Inc. thus it is more difficult and weakness of marketing
strategy of Apple to have a strong emotional connection and better interaction with its customers
at international level that is a weakness and shortcoming of its marketing strategy (Payne, 2017).
Apart from this, use of simple and traditional form of marketing and promotion strategy
limits the scope of success for Apple Inc. along with its incompatibility with other devices which
leads huge impact on consumer decision making. Beside this, the premium pricing strategy and
dependency in fewer products is also creating weakness for marketing strategy of Apple Inc. as it
limits the marketing content and promotion strategy to attract and cater larger number of
customers at global level (Alnabhan, 2020). Apart from this, the high level of competition and
increasing threats from competitors like Dell, Sony, Lenovo who are making continuous
modification and improvement in their marketing strategies through use of more innovative and
viable technology is again creating weakness and shorting coming for marketing strategies and
promotion of Apple Inc. at global level that is affecting its sales margin and worldwide invasion.
The summary of the whole weaknesses of Apple Inc. can be the high priced products
which states that not all the type of people can buy the products of an organization because it is
very high priced so only rich society can afford such products rather than the middle class or
lower class people. Therefore, target market is limited of the company, it has not any expanded
reach as per the target market (Clarke and Boersma, 2017). Another weakness can be that they
do not advertise or promote more of their products on television, newspapers, radios, magazines,
social sites and many more promotional channels or tools which is generally used by the
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company to advertise its products. This results in less awareness of the product so only less
people can reach to the products who are updated with the new features of the technical devices.
Moreover, it is incompatible with other programs and software because it contains it's own
operating system which has does not have the feature of compatibility with other software so this
can be the disadvantage for the people if they are requiring more than one software in an Apple
device. Distribution is also limited of the company that means the product contains the high tech
parts in a device and which are very costly so the distribution segments are less because of the
safety and security of the products from stealing, so they distribute to only those sellers who are
trustable or who are licensed for the Apple products like Apple showrooms and licensed stores of
mobile accessories (Razak, Hidayat, Launtu and Bahasoan, 2020).
To review about the main competitors of Apple Inc. along with weaknesses in their strategy
With respect to the information provided by Umar Farooq, 2019, Apple inc. is a famous
corporation deals in design, developing and marketing consumers electronics products and other
associated accessories worldwide and seek to differentiate its product with high level of
innovation, exclusive design and effective marketing strategies. But still a high level of
competition is faced and encountered by Apple from other global companies in international
market a discussion and evaluation of which is provided below:
Dell- It is an American multinational computer company which deals in manufacturing,
selling and repairing of computers and other parts and give strong competition to Apple
especially in laptop segment. The weakness and drawback of Dell in comparison with Apple
comprises of less loyalty in customers along with the strong brand awareness of Apple in mind
of consumer which is reflecting the shortcoming and weakness of marketing strategy of Dell
(SUWANDHI, 2016).
Lenovo- It is a multinational technology company the main headquarter of which is
situated at China, and North Carolina, United States of America and is the biggest threat and
competitor of Apple. Lenovo is currently the global leader in terms of providing Tablets,
Laptops, Computers and other software and telecom services thus, it is the main competitor of
Apple. The main challenge and issues faced by marketing strategy of Lenovo is based on the fact
that its laptops and devices are facing heating issues that lead to its negative image in market and
taken as failure of marketing strategy as it does not lead to improvement in its image at global
level.
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Sony- It is a Japanese corporation headquarter of which is located at Minato, Tokyo. The
main operations of Sony comprises of gaming playstations, consumer electronics,
Telecommunication equipment and computers thus, leading significant competition for Apple
inc (Palmatier and Sridhar, 2017). The only drawback of marketing strategies of Sony comprises
of limited reach and assess to customers at global level.
Samsung- It is one of the leading multinational conglomerate company based in South
Korea in 1938. They have vast variety of product ranges which offers not only the mobile phones
but also variety of home appliances, technical devices for study purpose or for the office use and
many more. It's weaknesses includes that it is highly dependent on the American markets and
android operating system which limits the company in expansion in gaining uniqueness in it's
products.
Microsoft- It is one of the leading technology company based in US in 1975. It has also the
vast range of the products which are offered by the company to it's customers which includes
mobile phones, variety of software and other technical devices. It's weaknesses includes that
their investments decisions are poor, they are highly dependent on the hardware manufactures
and they are slow in innovation (Jeong, Lee and Lim, 2019).
Asus- It is one of the leading computer hardware company based in China in 1989. It deals
with the variety of product ranges like mobile phones, laptops, VivoBook series, gaming series,
ZenBook series and support. It's weaknesses includes they highly lacks in marketing of their
products thereby low awareness among people and a lot of legal controversies are going on
currently with the company which directly affects it's reputation and goodwill.
Xiaomi- It is one of the leading home electronics company based in China in 2010. It also
deals with various product ranges like mobile phones, television, fitness products, smart home
products and other technical devices. It's weaknesses includes that they have distribution as
offline more, it is less reputed than other brands like Apple, Samsung and many more and
contains the skimming price as low (Wang, Lin, Lin and Hung, 2017).
To determine the better ways that can be adopted by Apple Inc. to become more successful and
have better invasion at global level
According to the information provide by Jonny Evans, 2020, the better and more effective
ways that could be adopted by Apple inc. to become more successful and better invasion at
global level consist of making improvement and timely modification in its marketing strategy to
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