Assignment

APPLE'S MARKET POSITION

Apple Inc. is a consumer electronics company that is headquartered in California, USA. The company began in 1978 by manufacturing computer hardware and software. The company has evolved over the years and entered the mobile phone market, tablets, music players, operating systems, and television sets. The company is one of the most valuable brands in the world and enjoys customer loyalty that most of its competitors cannot match. The company's current Chief executive is Timothy Cook who has carried on the company's legacy of producing elegant products and premium pricing (Mushtaq et al., 2013).

The first target group of Apple’s products is teens and college students. The company targets them through products such as iPod music player, smart phones that can easily access social networking sites, and enable easy research for university students. The company's tablet, the iPad can easily record notes for students and is easy to carry around. The second target group of Apple is business people who want to use products that portray an enviable image. The company targets these people by producing elegant products that do not break down easily and as such are efficient for storing sensitive business information (Mushtaq et al., 2013).

Young people in college and teenagers need products that are easy to carry around and serving many functions. For instance, they need to call, message, store and listen to music, carry out research, and appear fashionable in the midst of their social cluster. The company's smartphone, the iPhone, can serve all these purposes. The business people on the other hand need products that only serious and reputable persons should be identified with. Apple Inc. therefore develops durable and premium priced products such as Mac books. In addition, the company offers such things as updates to the software their products use so that customers keep purchasing their products. Businesspeople need to feel as if they are in a partnership with the company and Apple provides this by increasing the number of interactions with clients beyond the purchase point (Mushtaq et al., 2013).

Customer satisfaction

Apple's products satisfy customer's needs by giving them a sense of belonging to a unique class of customers that can afford elegant products. Although Apple's pricing can be described as high, not many of its customers complain. In fact, every time the company releases an upgrade of the current product, there are hundreds of thousands of customer waiting to replace their current product with the new one (Mushtaq et al., 2013). In addition, the company's products are long lasting and perform beyond customers' expectations. The company rarely faces situations where it has to recall products due to glitches in performance. One area however it should relook is the compatibility of its products with other operating systems. Although this could be the company's strategy, it often limits the ability of customers to use software applications that do not have a version that is compatible with Mac computers (Mushtaq et al., 2013).

In the smart phone market, Samsung is Apple's main competitor in terms of sales. Samsung has origins in Asia and is therefore quite popular in the Eastern hemisphere. The rivalry between the two companies is fierce and there are court cases involving accusations of copyright infringements between them. In the tablets market, Amazon is perhaps Apple's biggest competitor because they design quality and affordable products. They also bundle the tablets with other products such as music and e-books from their business partners. Google is Apple's biggest competitor in the operating system's market. The two companies are always competing to have their operating systems used in tablets and smartphones as it results in revenues (Mushtaq et al., 2013).

The company differentiates itself by pricing products at a price that is high but at the same time gives updates to operating systems. Further, their products do not allow the use of other operating system and the company does not advertise its products directly. Instead, the publicity created by its customers is enough to attract new customers while keeping the current ones satisfied. The company's competitive advantage arises from the compatibility of all its products due to the use of a single operating system. Their iPod is compatible with their computers and so are the phones. Therefore, loyal customers tend to purchase all their personal electronics from the company. Competitors find it hard to win customers from the company and to build such a high level of loyalty (Mushtaq et al., 2013).

5P's Analysis

Renowned scholar Philip Kotler insisted that a proper marketing strategy has to pay attention to the critical elements that include product, price, place, and people. Apple's products are designed to look elegant and to serve customers efficiently. Each time the company develops a product, the team has to have the customer in mind (Mushtaq et al., 2013). Their prices are meant to attract a clientele that wants to feel special and it is therefore premium. The company's main promotional method is through word of mouth where customers and employees are used to convince their friends, colleagues, and family to purchase the company's products. The company creates place utility by having its own stores where people can visit for inquiries and purchases. They also allow private store owners to stock their products while purchases can also be made online. Lastly, the company allows its staff to enjoy their work and stretch their creativity. The people who interact with customers are well-trained to handle all questions and concerns that visitors to the stores might have.

Reference

Mushtaq, K., Gafoor, A., & Dad, M. (2013). Apple Market Integration: Implications for Sustainable Agricultural Development. Lahore Journal of Economics, 13(1), 129-138.

Appendix 1

I conducted interviews with three middle and senior level managers at Apple Inc and got insight on various aspects of the company's operations. The first interview gave insight on the company's plans going into 2015 and the current shifts in the market. The second interview was helpful in understanding how the company's strategy has changed in the past two decades and the reasons for the company's sharp growth. The final interview shed light on the company's marketing mix and how competition shapes strategies.

Appendix 2: Market Analysis Matrix

Market Position Analysis: Product Position versus Competitor Product Position

Needs of the Consumer	Apple Inc	Samsung Electronics	Google	Amazon
Quality	2	1	1	1
Price	1	2	2	2
Availability	2	2	2	2
Features	2	2	2	1
Functions	2	2	2	2
Brand Image	2	2	2	1
Total Score
Narrative/Comments