Comprehensive Marketing Management Analysis of Apple's Strategies

This report presents a comprehensive marketing management analysis of Apple Inc. It begins with an introduction to the company, its mission, and marketing approach, followed by an overview of its product offerings. The analysis delves into Apple's strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats (SWOT), examines its customer base, collaborators, and competitors, and conducts a PESTLE analysis to understand the external business environment. The report further explores Apple's target market, value proposition, and positioning, including a positioning map. A detailed analysis of the marketing mix is provided, covering product, price, place, and promotion strategies. The report emphasizes the company's marketing approach, which prioritizes the brand and hardware.

Running head: MARKETING MANAGEMENT ANALYSIS OF APPLE
MARKETING MANAGEMENT ANALYSIS OF APPLE
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1MARKETING MANAGEMENT ANALYSIS OF APPLE
Table of Contents
Issue 1.............................................................................................................................2
Introduction of Apple.................................................................................................2
Mission statement and slogan of Apple.....................................................................2
Marketing approach of Apple....................................................................................2
Description of the products........................................................................................3
Issue 2.............................................................................................................................3
SWOT analysis of Apple...........................................................................................3
Customers of Apple....................................................................................................4
Collaborators of Apple...............................................................................................6
Competitors of Apple.................................................................................................7
PESTLE Analysis of Apple.......................................................................................8
Issue 3...........................................................................................................................10
Customer needs and wants.......................................................................................10
Competitor Analysis.................................................................................................10
Context of the business environment.......................................................................11
Role of the collaborators..........................................................................................12
Issue 4...........................................................................................................................13
Target Market of Apple............................................................................................13
Value Proposition of Apple......................................................................................14
Positioning of the company......................................................................................14
Positioning map of Apple.........................................................................................16
Issue 5...........................................................................................................................16
Marketing mix of Apple...............................................................................................16
References....................................................................................................................21

2MARKETING MANAGEMENT ANALYSIS OF APPLE
Issue 1
Introduction of Apple
Apple Inc. is a multinational American organization which has its operations in the
technology industry. The headquarter of the company is located in Cupertino, California. The
organization mainly develops and sells computer software, consumer electronics, online
services and many more. The hardware products of the company include, iPhone, iPad, tablet
and other computer based devices. The software products on the other hand include, macOS,
iOS, iTunes and media player (Apple Leadership., 2018).
Mission statement and slogan of Apple
The current mission statement that has been designed by Apple is, “Apple designs
Macs, the best personal computers in the world, along with OS X, iLife, iWork and
professional software. Apple leads the digital music revolution with its iPods and iTunes
online store. Apple has reinvented mobile phone with its revolutionary iPhone and App store,
and is defining the future of mobile media and computing devices with iPad.”. During the
time of Steve Jobs however, the mission statement of Apple was “To make a contribution to
the world by making tools for the mind that advanced mankind”.
The slogan of Apple from the start of its operations in the technology industry has
been “Think different”. The company has been a pioneer of many new products and
innovative services that are offered to the consumers (Hill, Jones & Schilling, 2014).
Marketing approach of Apple
The major marketing approach that has been implemented by Apple is related to the
company first and hardware second philosophy. The operating system of the products of
Apple is based on this philosophy of the company. The hardware based products of Apple are

3MARKETING MANAGEMENT ANALYSIS OF APPLE
the major part of the revenues of the organization. However, the apps, interfaces and services
that are offered to the users hold much more importance for the company (Wheelen et al.,
2017).
Description of the products
Apple offers a wide range of products to its customers which include, the Apple
Macintosh which was designed by the founder of the company. The iMac, iPod, iPod Nano,
iPhone, iTunes and iPad. The major service that attracts the customers of the organization is
the iOS App Store.
Issue 2
SWOT analysis of Apple
Strengths
 High quality advertising capabilities,
which creates awareness of the
brand and stronger demand for the
products.
 Extensive and strong distribution
channels in the United States.
 Vertical integration capabilities.
 Reputation and brand awareness.
 Sound performance on the financial
grounds with strong cash flows.
Weaknesses
 Overdependence on the sales of
iPhone.
 Weak channels of distribution in
some areas of its operations in the
world.
 Low rate of expenditure on the
development and research based
capabilities of the company.
 Incompatibility with the other
operating systems.
Opportunities
 The market of Internet of Things or
IoT is growing and the rate of
growth is expected to increase in the
years to come.
 The gadgets related to health
concerns are also introduced in the
market.
 The market of mobile enterprise app
will gain more value in the coming
years (Meyer, Neck & Meeks,
2017).
Threats
 The intense competition in the
mobile market is creating pressure
on the profits of Apple on the long-
term basis.
 The U.S. dollar has become
stronger.
 The lawsuits that are being faced by
the company have resulted in the
damage of the brand.
 The company faces a huge risk of
data breach in the current
environment (Morschett, Schramm-
Klein & Zentes, 2015).

4MARKETING MANAGEMENT ANALYSIS OF APPLE
Customers of Apple
The customers of Apple mainly lie primarily in the consumer, education, government
and enterprise market sectors. The organization sells its products with the help of third party
sellers or its own stores. The customers of the company mainly lie in the premium group of
people who are more concerned about the quality of the products rather its price (Frynas &
Mellahi, 2015).

5MARKETING MANAGEMENT ANALYSIS OF APPLE
Figure 1 – Source - (Frynas & Mellahi, 2015)

6MARKETING MANAGEMENT ANALYSIS OF APPLE
Figure 2 – Source - (Durand, Grant & Madsen, 2017)
Collaborators of Apple
The supply chain that is operated by Apple is considered to be one of the most supply
based networks of the world. The supply chain of the company is thereby built with the help

7MARKETING MANAGEMENT ANALYSIS OF APPLE
of various types of organizations who aim at providing their best services to the company.
Analog Devices is the supplier of the capacitive touch screens of the company. Glu Mobile
supplies the iOS apps and the mobile games to the company. Jabil Circuit manufacturing
facilities is an organization based in China and supplies casings of the phones that are
manufactured by Apple. Micron Technology, Inc. and the subsidiary companies like Elpida
Memory supplies the various modules that are used in the products of Apple. Qualcomm Inc.
is a leading company in the world for the manufacture of semiconductors, telecom services
and products and the mobile devices. The modems of the Apple devices are supplied by
Qualcomm Inc (Durand, Grant & Madsen, 2017).
Competitors of Apple
The industry in which Apple has its operations has been the most competitive in the
all the other sectors. The competition of the organization in this industry is increasing on a
continuous basis. The competitors of Apple in the sector of computers and laptops has been
Dell, Lenovo, Hewlett Packard, Microsoft, Asus and Acer. On the other hand, the
smartphones of the company are also provided huge levels of competition from the
companies like, Samsung, Sony, Google Pixel, Xiaomi (Trigeorgis & Reuer, 2017).

8MARKETING MANAGEMENT ANALYSIS OF APPLE
Figure 3 – Source - (Karadag, 2015)
PESTLE Analysis of Apple
Political  The high corporate taxation that is
faced by the company in various
areas of its operations is based on
the policies of the government.
 The high dependency of the
company on low cost manufacturing
in China is affected by the
government policies of the country.
 The costs related to the alternate
options of manufacturing is high.
 The close association of Apple with
China has caused political issues
with the other countries like USA
and Japan (Karadag, 2015).
Economic  The increase in the costs related to
labour in China has caused the lack
of the cost advantage of Apple in the
country.
 The stagnation that has occurred in
the income of the middle class
customers have caused pressure on
the revenues of Apple.
 The strength of the US Dollar can
cause changes in the exchange rates
of the company in various locations
(Hubbard, Rice & Galvin, 2014).

9MARKETING MANAGEMENT ANALYSIS OF APPLE
Social  The areas where the consumer
spending is expected to increase in
the coming years is Africa where the
people are not aware of the Apple
products.
 The backlash that has occurred on
the expensive products by the
customers of Apple has been caused
in some of the US based consumers.
 The ethical concerns that are related
to the manufacturing of Apple in
China is a concern for the revenues
of the company (Simon, Fischbach
& Schoder, 2014).
Technological  The technological capabilities of
Apple can be duplicated by the other
organizations like Samsung and
Google in an effective manner.
 The high usage of smartphones has
also decreased the demands for
smartphones.
 The high capabilities of the cyber
criminals have also a been a major
concern for the products of Apple
(Sakas, Vlachos & Nasiopoulos,
2014).
Legal  The entry of Apple in the financial
sector with the product named Apple
pay many increase the regulations
that are faced by the company.
 The plans of Apple to enter the
automobile sector can also increase
the legal complexities for the
company (Slater, 2015).
Environmental  The largest environmental issue that
is being faced by Apple is related to
the disposal of the used electronic
devices.
 The increase in the levels of
pollution that is being caused by the
production of Apple in China is also
an environmental concern for Apple.

10MARKETING MANAGEMENT ANALYSIS OF APPLE
Issue 3
Customer needs and wants
The customers of Apple Inc. are divided into four major segments by the company,
which are, America and Latin America, UAE, Asia or Pacific and Africa. The retail stores of
the company operating in these areas sell products which cater to the specific needs of the
people. The strategy that has been used by Apple is based on vertical product segmentation
which has been profitable and the successful for the company. The specific experience of the
users is targeted by the company. Apple has been give the position of the topmost
organization in terms of providing value to the customers (Guerras-Martín, Madhok &
Montoro-Sánchez, 2014). The organization has focussed on the smallest that are related to the
offering of products to the customers. The perception of the company related to the products
have been enhanced with the help of the operating systems of Apple. The customers of the
company are given the feeling that they are an integral part of the operations of Apple. The
customers of the company are valued with the help of the outlets of Apple that are formed in
the various areas of its operations in the world (Archer-Brown & Kietzmann, 2018).
Competitor Analysis
Apple has to compete with various types of organizations and products in the various
categories like, tablets, smartphones, application software and enterprise software. The levels
of rivalry in all the product categories are also quite high. Apple has the knowledge that the
competition in the market has been the major threat for the operations of the company. The
organizations which provide immense competition to Apple in the smartphone category are,
Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd., LG Electronics, Google Inc., Oppo Electronics Corp., Vivo,
Xiaomi Inc., ZTE Corporation, BlackBerry Limited and Nokia Corporation. The main
competitor of Apple in the smartphone category is Samsung and the company has been
providing the highest levels of competition with its various products to Apple (Cania, 2014).

11MARKETING MANAGEMENT ANALYSIS OF APPLE
Figure 4 – Source - (Kasemsap, 2014)
Context of the business environment
The analysis of the external environment is related to the uncontrollable factors of the
business environment has been done with the help of PESTLE framework. The external
factors of the business environment are controlled by the company with the help of the
various policies that are formulated by Apple. The company has decided the product portfolio
of the particular areas with respect to the choices of the local customers. The economic and
the social factors of the environment are taken into consideration by Apple for deciding the
prices and the offerings that they provide to the customers. The organization has many
competitors in the industry and this has been an external factor that has affected the prices
and the products that are offered by Apple (Kasemsap, 2014). The research and development