Apple Inc. Case Analysis and Recommendation Summary

Re: Apple, Inc. Case Analysis and Recommendation Summary

Apple, Inc. has had an explosion of revenue and market capitalization over the past decade with its ability to create and develop the most innovative electronic products and media store (iTunes). Until Steve Jobs took over as CEO in 1997 and vowed to change the direction of the company, though, Apple struggled in its early days when it focused its attention solely on the PC industry. Competitors such as IBM took control of the markets with their abilities to produce PC's that had the same capabilities as MACs but could be produced in a higher volume for a much lower cost. In order to curb this problem of falling sales, profits, and market share, Jobs turned to innovation as its credo and in turn redefined the CE industry.

Apple's internal environmental factors that keep a great future ahead of them are many but really all comes down to one thing, innovation. What Apple has done better than any company I can recall is that they have continued to innovate and not settle. They started with just computers, then to selling music, mobile music devices, mobile phones, and now a tablet device that is essentially an iPhone and laptop in one. They have not fallen into the trap of just being stuck in the industry they started in, which many companies do. They also have not fallen into innovating just to innovate because if you try and do too much it can be counterproductive. They took it step by step and slowly have managed to get their hands in a broad group of products, each of which have been extremely successful.

In looking to the future to figure what Apple's next move should be, the answer is apparent in the breakdown of product sales in even the last few years. This chart shows Apples net sales and percentage change in sales by product (2007-2009).

Net Sales by Product 2009 Change(%) 2008 Change(%) 2007

Desktops $4308 (23) $5603 39 $4020

Portables 9472 9 8673 38 6294

Net Mac Sales 13780 (3) 14226 38 10314

Ipod 8091 (12) 9153 10 8305

Other music products 4036 21 3340 34 2496

iPhone/Related Prod. 6754 266 1844 --- 123

Peripherals, etc. 1470 (11) 1659 32 1260

Software/service 2406 (9) 2207 46 1508

Total Net Sales 36537 (12) 32479 35 24006

When analyzing this table of the sales from 2007 to 2009 of Apple's sales, it becomes apparent what the company should focus on moving into the future. Although this table does not take into effect the sales of the iPad, the latest of the innovative devices Apple has introduced in 2010. The most telling

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