Bucks Uni BM627 CW2: Apple Inc. Innovation Action Plan Report

This report, prepared as part of the BM627 module, provides an in-depth analysis of Apple Inc.'s innovation strategies within the consumer electronics industry. It begins with an executive summary outlining the key findings, including the dominance of innovation such as AI and IoT, and the potential for new products like the iKeyboard, iCar, AR smart glass, and foldable iPhone. The report then delves into the future of the industry, highlighting current trends and the competitive landscape. It examines Apple's innovation requirements and proposes a virtual iKeyboard as a key innovation. Furthermore, the report outlines a detailed roadmap for developing and launching this innovation, including the proposition, impact of change, R&D, resource allocation, and required technical skills. The analysis underscores the importance of innovation for Apple's continued success and provides a strategic framework for future product development.

Managing Innovation
in Business
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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
The below mentioned report is in continuity with CW1. The CW2 deals with the role of
innovation within fostering the development and growth of Apple Inc. in upcoming time period.
The first section of this project reveals that consumer electronics industry is dominated by and
will continue to be so by the innovations such as Artificial Intelligence (AI), Internet of Things
(IOT), Gigabit LTE, 5G devices, phone having 3 cameras etc. The next section revealed that the
entity is considering some alternatives for bringing innovation in upcoming time period. Such
alternative options for innovation include iKeyboard, iCar, AR smart glass, Foldable iPhone etc.
It is suggested that Apple Inc. should opt for Virtual iKeyboard out of the before mentioned
innovation alternatives. For this, the entity has utilised a road map which will lay down the
structured way of preparing for development and launch of recommended innovation.
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Table of Contents
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY.............................................................................................................2
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................4
MAIN BODY...................................................................................................................................4
Future of Industry 2020 and beyond......................................................................................4
Organisation's innovation requirements 2020 and Beyond....................................................5
Building the future innovation capabilities for the organisation............................................7
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................9
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................11
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INTRODUCTION
Innovation is comprehensively said to be as the process that add on additional value to
the already existing product according to the needs and requirement of the customers (Ma and et.
al., 2019). Innovation basically plays important role in the businesses which supports businesses
in gaining competitive edge. The current project completely relies upon Apple, a large scale
company which operates its business at global level and provides vast range of technological
products especially electronic gadgets to its customers. Apple mainly emphasizes on bring both
the invention as well innovations within their business in order to enhance their sustainability
within the industry.
The present report provides information on the future innovations that develop range of
opportunities for Apple within the same industry that support them in holding good positions at
marketplace. The main motive of this project enhances insight over Apple’s innovation based
necessities in 2020 or beyond. In the last section, a detailed analysis will be conducted on Apple
and the industry in which the company is dealing so that they can grab good positioning within
the marketplace.
MAIN BODY
Future of Industry 2020 and beyond
Consumer electronic industry involve group of organisations that deal in manufacturing
and sale of audio-video gadgets such as television, VCD, mobile phones, DVD, laptops, digital
cameras, computers, jukeboxes etc. These all are considered to be essentials of an individual’s
life in this techno driven world. The organisations operating in consumer electronics faces tough
competition as each of them keep on engage in launching new technology or innovate to provide
a product with more advanced technology and smooth functioning to grab one another rivals
customer base (Pomaquero-Yuquilema, López-Salazar and López-Aguirre, 2019). This
competition and regular launch of innovation has taken the consumer electronic industry to a
new level.
From the past few years, it has been observed that there are certain organisations are
ruling the consumer electronic industry such as HP Inc. LG, Samsung Electronics, Panasonic etc.
The main reason behind success of these organisations are they focus toward research and
development activities where they continuously seek for demand and trend among consumer and
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with their innovative base try to bring something more advanced then the expectation of
customers which support in adding value to the product or services offered by these some brands
of consumer electronics. Due to the hard work of these players the consumer electronic market
become so much successful that it launched recently some of the best innovations which enhance
the quality of an individual’s life such as drones, driverless care, voice-controlled equipment etc.
Currently, Samsung launched a phone, Galaxy A7 having 3 cameras, that all are made of
different lenses and with this innovation it become first brand to come up with such technology
(The consumer electronics industry is where the future is happening! 2019).
Additionally, it is believed that now it is a phase of virtual and augmented reality, 4K and
5K televisions, autonomous vehicles, robots etc. which are expected to be ruling the world with
their strong technological base. Other than this organisation are also using these days some
technologies like Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Internet of Things (IOT) which are products
that putting emphases toward enhancing their customer expectation toward improving their
lifestyle. There are several organisations continuously improving their practices to provide more
innovative products to deal with customer expectations. For example, companies like Cisco and
HPE are planning to bring edge computing and continuously developing the software, hardware
and related services that help this plan to be successful. Other than this mobile manufacturer
brands like Samsung and Sony using Qualcomm Snapdragon technology in order to bring
Gigabit LTE and 5G devices (Top 10 Trends For Digital Transformation, 2019).
Hence, it can be said that the future of consumer electronic industry is very bright as
players of this industry are continuously indulged within the R&D practices to innovate new
technologies to serve customers well. Their regular efforts toward brining innovation and
launching new technology foster other organisations like Apple which is consider to be the king
of consumer electronic and durable gadgets to come up with more advanced technology and new
innovation to keep the competition at bay.
Organisation's innovation requirements 2020 and Beyond
Apple Inc, is considered as the large scale company which deliver high technology oriented
products to its customers. The company is popularly known for its regular based innovations
which ultimately support them in acquiring good positioning at marketplace. Along with this, it
can be further said that changing expectation of the customers directly influences interest of
Apple’s employees to bring as much possible innovation which ultimately contributes them in
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running their business effectively and attaining success towards the same in rightful manner
(Luo, Boland and Chan, 2020). This also provides support to Apple in gaining competitive edge.
Some of the innovations that would be introduced by Apple in the near future are stated as
below:
Foldable iPhone: The main focus of Apple is bringing range of innovations in their
products and services so that they can easily fulfil expectation of customers and influence them
stay loyal with the company for longer period of time. Foldable iPhone is one of the upcoming
innovations of Apple in their phones which is expected to be introduced in 2020. This phone
would be having some special features that would help them out in attracting more number of
customers towards them that would ultimately enhance their sustainability within the industry (Li
and Tan, 2019). As a result, it would contribute in the increase in sales performance as well as
profitability of the company at marketplace.
Apple AR smart glass: Another effective innovation that is expected to be introduced
by Apple Inc., in 2020 is AR smart glasses for consumers that will assist users to take data as
well as details through clouds with the use of laser light that is being connected to eyeball (Apple
Is Clearly Working on AR Glasses, 2018). Here, it can be said that the respective device would
be highly beneficial in getting connected with several devices in order to obtain information from
it. It would easy to carry by users and they can also manage it properly without many errors.
Introduction of Apple AR smart glass would help the company in gaining competitive edge
within the same sector by simply attracting maximum number of customers towards them.
Apple iCar: Apple iCar would be soon going to be introduced in 2020 which would look
like mouse and has features of electric car. This do not utilise conventional designs of battery but
develops batteries independently. Apple iCar is being launched in order to eliminate drivers in
order to shuttle its workforce from and to work and this will be launched in 2020 (Apple iCar to
be launched in 2020, could potentially rewrite the mobility game, 2019). Introduction of this car
would definitely reduce the consumption of petrol and also develop pollution free environment.
This would definitely give stiff competition to the market leaders of Automobile sector and
motivate automakers to bring more innovations within the same industry.
iKeyboard: iKeyboard could be seen as the creative innovation that would be introduced
by Apple. Here, iKeyborad is seen virtual keyboard that would not have any physical presence.
In order to develop this keyboard with special feature AI would be used by the developers (Hu
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and et. al., 2019). Light sensor would be used by developers that would contribute in formulating
light in order to make keys of virtual keyboards visible to all.
Building the future innovation capabilities for the organisation
Innovation is regarded to be an inseparable element of any corporation. It is important for
each and every firm operating within the confines of market place to leverage innovation in rapid
intervals of time so as to sustain the attention of customers within the offerings of the company.
Now, Apple Inc. has been a renowned organisation operating within the boundaries of
technology industry, more specifically, consumer electronics industry (Wierzbicki and
Nowodziński, 2019). In this relation, it has been acknowledged that the management of this
company has decided to come up with an innovative offering into market place. For this purpose,
the organisation would be making use of an innovation road map which serves as the chain of
steps that need to be executed in order to ensure the successful launch of an innovation of the
company in market. This provides assistance to the corporation in developing the future
innovation capabilities for the company. Thus, the road map for Apple Inc. is presented as
follows:-
Proposition and rationale: Post gaining insight into the needs and demands of customers
prevailing in the market place, it is suggested that Apple Inc. would be coming up with the
innovation named Virtual iKeyboard. This innovation has been selected out of a number of
alternatives as this product is not being offered by any other company in market at present. Thus,
its launch will boost the brand name and positioning of the organisation across the globe.
Impact of change: It is determined that the development of an innovative offering tend to result
into alterations within a number of domains of the business entity (An and et. al., 2019). In this
relation, it can be said that the creation of a Virtual iKeyboard will not just place impact over a
single function but multiple functional areas such as marketing, sales, human resource
department, research and development department, finance, Information Technology etc.
Research and Development: R&D department within the confines of a company is
concerned with getting engaged in innovative practices so as to ensure that the
organisation comes up with market disruptive offerings in due intervals of time. In this
relation, Virtual iKeyboard is a product that would require thorough research to be
conducted upon the technologies that will be required to make this new product. For this
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purpose, Apple Inc. will make a Research & Development team which will be engaged in
conducting all the market research related to the new product and related technicalities.
Necessary resources: Virtual iKeyboard is the upcoming innovation project of Apple Inc.
for which the company will require a wide set of resources that would suffice the
development and launch phase of the product in market place. In this relation, it has been
acknowledged that the concerned consumer electronics organisation will require financial
resources, competence manpower, advanced technologies, machineries and any other
type of tool. This will ensure the timely development and launch of Virtual iKeyboard
within the market.
Needed Technical skills: It is determined that Apple Inc. will require the assistance of
technical expertise and knowledge in order to effectively develop the Virtual i-Keyboard.
Thus, it is determined that Apple Inc. will hire skilled, competent and knowledgeable
candidates pertinent to technical backgrounds so that their expertise can be tapped for the
betterment of the company in the long run (Vasilaki and Tsakalidis Jr, 2019). In this
relation, the entity would need at least 2 programmers specifically for developing the
proposed product.
Cost of change: This phase is linked to ascertainment of overall cost which would be
required to bring the innovation in the premises of the organisation. In this regard, it has
been acknowledged that Apple Inc. is coming up with Virtual i-Keyboard for which it has
made a budget or cost structure that is presented as follows:-
Expenses Amount
Research & Development 41000
Marketing 20000
Advertisement 15000
Materials 206000
Human resource 23000
TOTAL 305000
It can be said that Apple Inc. has to incur an extensive amount upon the introduction of a
new technology within the company in a feasible manner (Karinharju and et. al., 2019). The cost
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ascertained for the innovative offering named Virtual i-Keyboard to be launched by the company
into market place is ascertained to be $305000. In this relation, it has been interpreted as per the
budget devised by the organisation that $41000 will be spend upon R&D and $20000 upon
marketing of the new product amidst the potential buyers. Further, $15000 will be incurred by
the entity for the purpose of advertising. Along with this, $23000 will be spent upon the human
resources that would be required for developing this innovative offering of Apple Inc. At last, it
has been ascertained that the materials for the new product, that is, iKeyboard will be procured at
a total cost of $206000.
Feasibility: It is concerned with ascertaining the viability of a particular project or plan of a
company. Thus, the management of Apple Inc. is conducting feasibility test in relation to Virtual
iKeyboard. The results have revealed that the proposed innovative product is feasible in terms of
technology, finance, human resource, market and other domains.
Approval process: Hereby, Apple Inc. will obtain approval from the Board of Directors to bring
essential changes to the company with the help of which the new product named Virtual
iKeyboard can be developed and launched into market. Any amount as per the budget will not be
incurred without attainment of approval from senior executives of the entity (Vasilaki and
Tsakalidis Jr, 2019).
Application of changes: This stage of the road map is concerned with actually implementing the
changes within the premises of corporation to introduce innovation. Thus, this stage will witness
the implementation of changes within Apple Inc. so that the company can come up with Virtual
iKeyboard. Hereby, the corporation will hold training sessions for the software engineers along
with programmers for making them capable of making Virtual iKeybard.
Review of impact of changes: Hereby, the success of innovation is assessed by the company.
Thus, Apple Inc. will take measures to identify the extent to which the targets associated with
launch of Virtual iKeyboard are accomplished. For this purpose, test marketing is done before
actually providing the product commercially.
CONCLUSION
On the basis of overall information provided in the above section, it can be said that
innovation is acknowledged as the best way by company can sustain longer within the company.
This is also determined as the strategic tool which supports company in providing stiff
competition to the rivalry by simply enhancing more number of opportunities for them at
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marketplace. In addition to this, it can be said that regular based innovations helps business
entity in gaining maximum number of loyal customers towards them. It has also been analysed
that large scale companies often make use of several innovations in order to maintain their
positioning within the industry. Some of the technology oriented innovations that have been
noticed are iKeyboard, iCar, AR smart glass, Foldable iPhone etc. All of them are developed by
simply evaluating customer demand and expectation from the businesses.
In order to bring innovation in rightful manner a business emphasizes on developing
effective roadmap that simply contributes in executing all work related to innovation in rightful
manner. In addition to this, it can be said road map simply includes range of steps which are
required to be followed by business head. By simply following these entire steps business leader
can easily bring innovation effectively within the particular sector. Here, it has further analysed
that innovation are highly important for the companies with which they can not only approach
maximum number of customers but at the same time they can also lead the industry effectively.
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