Running Head: MMIP: APPLE 1
Marketing Management Individual Project: Apple
Collin G Holmes
Liberty University
BUSI 520-B12: Strategic Marketing Management
Prof. Jeffrey Kennedy
Sept. 5th, 2021
MMIP: APPLE 2
MMIP: APPLE
Q1. Provide a description of the product/service and a brief history of the firm.
When it comes to personal technology, apple is one of the biggest names in the business.
While they offer various personal tech products, their iPhone is their driving product seeing that
it had produced 54.7% of Apple’s total sales in 2019 (Williams, 2019). Apple is a United States-
born company that got its start in a garage in 1976. Since then, it has become one of the largest
multinational technology companies designing and selling computers, smartphones, tablets,
wearables, and services (Library, 2021). Their line of smartphones, which go by the name
iPhone, is the most sold phone brand on the market. In 2019 Apple operating software (OS)
accounted for a 45.2% share of the United States smartphone market (eMarketer, 2019).
Q2. Explain your current or possible global marketing efforts. (Ch. 3)
Apple is a company that has had very successful with its foreign direct investments.
Outside of the United States, China is one of the largest single country investments for Apple,
both when it comes to manufacturing their devices to marketing and selling them. For Apple to
sell in China, they need to make Product adaptations for both the physical device and OS to be
sold in China. The most recent investment into China is their new store opened in Changsha,
Hunan province (Newsroom B, 2021). ‘One way Apple is marketing this new opening is by
having apple Creative Pros offer free daily sessions in the store. These sessions provide creative
inspiration, teach practical skills, as well as helping customers learn how to go further with their
Apple products (Newsroom B, 2021).
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Q3. Explain the organization’s mission. Provide its mission statement or create one if
necessary. (Ch.3)
Apple does not currently have a written down mission statement. However, they have
given key ideas throughout time about the purpose of the company. Apple’s original mission
statement in 1977 was stated: “to making personal computing accessible to every individual to
help change the way we think, work, learn, and communicate.” (Farfan, 2019) Apple’s mission
has evolved to extend to other products than just their personal computers. Therefore, apple
should include these in their current mission statement. For example, the company could state,
“Apple is dedicated to making the best products on earth, bringing together the best user
experience to its customers through its customer-centered ecosystem, all while leaving the world
better than we found it.” If they used this mission statement, it would better encompass some of
its current main goals with their current technology (Farfan, 2019).
Q4. Explain your competitive strategy. (Ch.3)
The main goal of Apple’s competitive strategy is differentiation. Apple offers an
alternative to other companies when it comes to both their hardware and software. From its
beginnings through today, the company has had a history of differentiation itself from its
competition. While many other companies may offer devices that have specific features or
functions that are better than that Apple produces, Apple focuses instead on the usability, quality,
and interplay into the total ecosystem of their products. It may not be a cost leader. However,
many people are still willing to pay the premium to access the content-focused ecosystem that
Apple has created for itself.
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Q5. Conduct a SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats) analysis for the
organization. (Ch.3)
The company’s biggest strength is that they have created an ecosystem that contains
different devices, software, and accessories that are proprietary and function together across their
whole product line (Haselton, 2017). After someone enters Apple’s ecosystem, they will likely
become a part of Apple’s large customer base who buy products from Apple to build up their
personal Apple ecosystem (Haselton, 2017).
Apple’s biggest weakness has to be its high price relative to other companies. The current
price of a base model iPhone 12 is $699.00 on the apple store; however, versions with more
storage or the iPhone 12 pro model can cost up to $1399.00 (Apple, 2021). However, consumers
looking for alternatives can find phones running alternative operating systems such as Android
OS for prices as low as $50. This price difference is why, on average, the consumer base of
Apple OS has higher incomes than those who use Android OS (Williams, 2018).
There are many opportunities for Apple when it comes to implementing new
technologies. Because Apple has built up a company with major brand awareness and a large
market share, many people are likely already in the Apple ecosystem, even if that is just with one
device. Apple is currently working to provide the function for users to use Apple’s Security-
focused OS to store their IDs and Drivers licenses on their devices, eliminating the need to carry
around a wallet (Newsroom, 2021 A). They do this by using encrypted communication between
the device and the identity reader so that the user never has to hand over their device
(Newsroom, 2021 A). By jumping onto this technology before other companies do, it could
increase the number of people who will purchase an iPhone to need to carry around a physical
wallet anymore rarely.
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Apple does experience some threats, the biggest involving outside companies that
produce lower-cost alternatives to the products in the Apple ecosystem. There is rapid
development in consumer electronics, with many new technologies being released every year. It
can make it difficult for Apple to avoid this threat from outside companies that do not have a
reputation to uphold the quality and value of their product. Other outside companies with high
reputations, such as Google, are also working to create ecosystems for their customers, however,
at a lower cost than Apple (Haselton, 2017). While these companies have not been as successful
as Apple, it does impact Apple’s market share.
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References
Apple. (2021). Retrieved September 09, 2021 https://www.apple.com/.
eMarketer. (2019, March 12). Apple grows IPHONE share in us, Despite overseas challenge.
Insider Intelligence. https://www.emarketer.com/content/apple-grows-iphone-share-in-us-
despite-overseas-challenge.
Farfan, B. (2019, November 20). What Is Apple's Mission Statement? Retrieved September 09,
2021, from https://www.thebalanceeveryday.com/apple-mission-statement-4068547
Haselton, T. (2017, May 02). Here's why people keep buying Apple products. Retrieved
September 09, 2021, from https://www.cnbc.com/2017/05/01/why-people-keep-buying-
apple-products.html
Library of Congress. (2021). This month in business history: The founding of Apple
COMPUTERS, INC. Library of Congress: Research Guides. https://guides.loc.gov/this-
month-in-business-history/april/apple-computers-founded#note_1.
Newsroom (2021, September 2). Apple announces first states to adopt driver's licenses and state
IDs in wallet. Apple Newsroom. https://www.apple.com/newsroom/2021/09/apple-
announces-first-states-to-adopt-drivers-licenses-and-state-ids-in-wallet/.
Newsroom (2021, September 2). Apple Changsha Opens Saturday in China. Apple Newsroom.
https://www.apple.com/newsroom/2021/09/apple-changsha-opens-saturday-in-china/.
Williams, Jeffery (2019, October 31). Form 10-K Apple Inc. 10-K - Annual report [Section 13
and 15(d), not S-K Item 405]. SEC. https://sec.report/Document/0000320193-19-
000119/.
