APPLE

INTRODUCTION:
Apple Inc. is an American multinational corporation that designsand manufactures
consumer electronics and computer software products. The company's best-known
hardware productsinclude Macintosh computers, the iPod, and the iPhone. Apple
softwareincludes the Mac OS X operating system, the iTunes media browser,the iLife
suite of multimedia and creativity software, the iWork suite of productivity software,
Final Cut Studio, a suite of professional audio andfilm-industry software products, and
Logic Studio, a suite of audio tools. The company operates more than 250 retail stores in
nine countries, andan online store where hardware and software products are sold.
Established in Cupertino, California on April 1, 1976 andincorporated January 3, 1977,the company was
called Apple Computer,Inc. for its first 30 years, but dropped the word "Computer" on January 9,2007 to
reflect the company's ongoing expansion into the consumerelectronics market in addition to its traditional
focus on personalcomputers.Apple has about 35,000 employees worldwide and hadworldwide annual
sales of US$32.48 billion in its fiscal year endingSeptember 29, 2008. For reasons as various as its
philosophy of comprehensive aesthetic design to its distinctive advertising campaigns,Apple has
established a unique reputation in the consumer electronicsindustry. This includes a customer base that is
devoted to the companyand its brand, particularly in the United States. Fortune magazine named Apple the
most admired company in the United States in 2008 and inthe world in 2009.

BRIEF INTRODUCTION:
>Type:Public (NASDAQ: AAPL, LSE: 0HDZ, FWB: APC)

>Founded:Cupertino, California, United States (April 1, 1976)as AppleComputer, Inc.

>Founder(s):Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak, Ronald Wayne
>Headquarters: Infinite Loop, Cupertino, California, USA
>Number of Locations: 251 (Q1 FY 2009)
>Area
serve:Worldwide;
United
States,
Japan,Australia,INDIA,Italy,germany and china.

United

Kingdom,

Canada,

>Key people:Steve Jobs (CEO, Chairman, and co-founder)Tim Cook (COO) Peter
Oppenheimer (CFO)Phil Schiller (SVP Marketing) Jonathan Ive (SVP Industrial
Design)Mark Papermaster (SVP Device Engineering)Ron Johnson (SVP Retail)Sina
Tamaddon (SVP Applications)Bertrand Serlet (SVP Software Engineering)Scott Forstall
(SVP iPhone Software)
>Industry: Computer
distribution.

hardware,Computer

software,Consumer

electronics,Digital

>Products:Mac (Pro, Mini iMac MacBook, Air, Pro Xserve)iPhone, iPod (Shuffle,
Nan, Classic, Touch) Apple TV, CinemaDisplay, AirPort,Time Capsule Mac OS X
(Server iPhone OS), iLife, iWork
>Services:Stores (retail, online, iTunes, App), MobileMe
>Revenue:US$32.48 billion[4] (FY 2008)
>Operatingincome:$ 6.28 billion[4] (FY 2008, 19.32% operating margin)
>Net income:$ 4.83 billion[4] (FY 2008, 14.88% profit margin)
>AUM:$24.49 billion[4] (FY 2008, 1.74 quick ratio)
>Total assets:$39.57 billion[4] (FY 2008, 12.21% ROA)>
>Total equity:$21.03 billion[4] (FY 2008, 22.97% ROE)>
>Employees:35,000[3] (Q1 FY 2009)>
>Website:Apple.com

FOUNDERS INTRODUCTION:
The founders of Apple inc, are Steve Jobs,Steve Wozniak, RonaldWayne.

Steve jobs:
Steven Paul "Steve" Jobs (born February 24, 1955) is an American businessman, and the
co-founder and chief executiveofficer of Apple Inc.Jobs previously served as CEO of
Pixar AnimationStudios.In the late 1970s, Jobs, with Apple co-founder Steve
Wozniak,created one of the first commercially successful personal computers. Inthe early
1980s, Jobs was among the first to see the commercial potentialof the mouse-driven
graphical user interface.After losing a power strugglewith the board of directors in 1985,
Jobs resigned from Apple andfounded NeXT, a computer platform development company
specializing inthe higher education and business markets. NeXT's subsequent1997
buyout by Apple Computer Inc. brought Jobs back to the companyhe co-founded, and he
has served as its CEO since then. Steve Jobs waslisted as Fortune Magazine's Most
Powerful Businessman of 2007. In 2009he is ranked #57 on Forbes:The World's Most
Powerful People.In 1986, he acquired the computer graphics division of LucasfilmLtd
which was spun off as Pixar Animation Studios.He remained CEO and majority
shareholder until its acquisition by the Walt Disney Company in2006.Jobs is currently a
member of Walt Disney Company's Board of Directors. Jobs' history in business has
contributed greatly to the myths of theidiosyncratic, individualistic Silicon Valley
entrepreneur, emphasizing theimportance of design and understanding the crucial role
aesthetics play inpublic appeal. His work driving forward the development of products
thatare both functional and elegant has earned him a devoted following.In mid-January
2009, Jobs took a 5 month leave of absence fromApple to undergo a liver transplant.

Much has been made of Jobs' aggressive and demandingpersonality. Fortune noted that
he "is considered one of Silicon Valley'sleading egomaniacs."Commentaries on his
temperamental style can befound in Mike Moritz's The Little Kingdom, one of the few
authorizedbiographies of Jobs; Jeffrey S. Young's unauthorizedSteve Jobs: The Journey Is
the Reward ;The Second Coming of Steve Jobs,by Alan Deutschman; and iCon: Steve
Jobs, by Jeffrey S. Young & William L.Simon.
Jef Raskin, a former colleague, once said that Jobs "would havemade an excellent king of
France," alluding to Jobs' compelling andlarger-than-life persona.
Jobs has always aspired to position Apple and its products at theforefront of the
information technology industry by foreseeing and settingtrends, at least in terms of
innovation and style. He summed up that self-concept at the end of his keynote speech at
the Macworld Conferenceand Expo in January 2007 by quoting ice hockey legend Wayne
Gretzky:
There's an old Wayne Gretzky quote that I love. 'I skate to wherethe puck is going to be,
not where it has been.' And we've alwaystried to do that at Apple. Since the very very

beginning. And wealways will."Steve Jobs

Steve Wozniak:
Stephen Gary "Woz" Wozniak (born August 11, 1950 in San Jose, California) is an
American computer engineer who founded AppleComputer, Inc. (now Apple Inc.) with
Steve Jobs and Ronald Wayne. Hisinventions and machines are credited with contributing
significantly tothe personal computer revolution of the 1970s. Wozniak createdthe Apple
I and Apple II computers in the mid-1970s. The Apple II gainedmuch popularity,
eventually becoming one of the best selling personalcomputers of the 1970s and early
1980s.
Wozniak has several nicknames, including "The Woz", "WonderfulWizard of Woz" and
"iWoz" (a reference to the ubiquitous naming schemefor Apple products). "WoZ" (short
for "Wheels of Zeus") is also the nameof a company Wozniak founded. He is sometimes
known as the "OtherSteve" of Apple Computer, the better known Steve being co-founder
Steve Jobs. He is of Polish descent.
Ronald Gerald Wayne:
Ronald Gerald Wayne (born 1934) is often referred to as the "thirdfounder" of Apple
Computer (in addition to Steve Jobs and SteveWozniak). He drew the first Apple logo
and wrote the Apple I manual.While at Apple, he also wrote their partnership agreement.

Wayne worked with Jobs at Atari before co-founding Apple Computeron April 1, 1976.
He was given a 10% stake in Apple, but relinquished hisstock for $800 only two weeks
later because legally all members of apartnership are personally responsible for any debts
incurred by any of the other partners.Later that same year, venture capitalist Mike

Markkula helpeddevelop a business plan and convert the partnership to a corporation.

Inits first year of operations (1976), Apple's sales reached US$174,000. In1977 sales rose
to US$2.7 million, in 1978 to US$7.8 million and in 1980to US$117 million. By 1982
Apple had a billion dollars in annual sales;Wayne's stake could have been worth as much
as US$1.5 billion. Heclaimed that he didn't regret selling the stock as he had made "the
bestdecision available at that time."According to CNET, as of 1997 Wayne was working
as an engineerfor a defense contractor in Salinas, California.
https://www.scribd.com/doc/25552964/Assignment-Apple-inc-Profile

Marketing Strategy Of Apple:

Apple's overall marketing strategy aligns very closely with its corporate mission of
"bringing the personal computing experience by constantly innovating [its] hardware,
software and internet offerings" (Apple, 2014). Its marketing strategy focuses on building
a premium brand that customers associate with: (1) innovation, (2) simple design, and (3)
superior customer support. Apple leverages its marketing strategy through its unique STP
(Segmentation Targeting Positioning) and robust USP (Unique Selling Proposition)
Apple's overall marketing strategy is fueled by context and four key players:
customers, competition, collaborators, company:
Its customers are tech savvy people who want a simple user experience across multiple
platforms that exist within one ecosystem. Apple customers are very brand loyal, nonprice sensitive, and associate the Apple brand with high quality and superb customer
service. In the early 2000s, Apples initial customers were fairly new to the brand, young,
and tech savvy. Today (2014), Apple appeals to many demographics of all ages, statusseeking people, and Apple enthusiasts.
Its competitors are other tech giants such as Samsung, Microsoft, Google, and
Amazon. Microsoft has been a longtime rival of Apple, and in the 1990s, it was able to
capture the dominant market share of the personal computer (PC) with Windows OS. The
collaboration between Google and Samsung to leverage the Android OS in Galaxy
smartphones has created competition and threatened Apple's market share in the
smartphone space. In recent years, Amazon has been attempting to develop its own robust
ecosystem for media consumption through its Prime subscription offering. Between all
four competitors, each has their own product line of smartphones and tablets: Galaxy,
Galaxy Tablet, Moto X, Nexus Tablet, Nokia Windows Lumia, Surface Tablet, Fire
Phone, Fire Kindle.
Its collaborators are music label companies, FoxConn (a manufacturing plant in
China) as well as a couple competitors, Microsoft and Samsung. To develop its iTune
ecosystem, Apple partnered with music label companies and artists to launch a unique
sale model of music a la carte. Apples competitive pricing is due to its ability to reduce
production costs through outsourcing to FoxConn in China. Samsung also serves as one
of Apple's suppliers for chips and technology used in the iPhone. In the past, Apple has

also collaborated with Microsoft to integrate Microsoft Office Suite with Apple iOS.
As a company, Apple leverages its human capital by promoting a culture of
"innovation and calculative risk." This has led Apple to advance and disrupt current
markets with products such as the iPod, iPhone, and iPad. Apple's dedication to
perfection pushes its employees to deliver innovative, welldesigned, and usercentric
products.
Within its context, Apple's growth is tied with its ability to cut costs and stay
innovative in a competitive market. To cut production and manufacturing costs, Apple
has been outsourcing production since Jobs return in 1997. This limitation poses ethical
and social impacts that Apple has been trying to address in recent years. In order to stay
competitive within its industry, Apple must continue to deliver innovative, simple, and
usercentric products that customers have always associated with the Apple brand.
Apple is able to implement its overall marketing strategy fueled by the 5C's through its
focus on Segmentation Targeting Positioning (refer to Q4), Unique Selling Proposition
differentiation, and 4P's (Products, Promotion, Place, Price) (Lecture 5, STP and 5P's).
Apples USP is its ability to differentiate itself from competitors through cutting edge
innovation, usercentric products, and superior customer service.
Product: iPad, iPhone, iMac, Macbooks, Online Marketing, Accessories, AppleTV, iPod.
Unlike its competitors, Apple provides its own operating system software and
applications, gaining the ability to maximize hardware and software efficiency and
quality. Apple products have unique feature of connecting with other apple products,
encouraging Apple product consumers to buy more of the other Apple products (some
refer to as the Apple cult).
Placement: In 2001, Apple opened its first Retail Store (direct channel), and this allowed
consumers to have a very specific and unique experience when purchasing Apple
products. Since Apple has expanded its distribution channels to include retailers such as
WalMart and Costco (indirect channels), they needed to come up with a way to
differentiate their products from the others in the store. Apple designed large displays to
create a unique buying experience. Customers can also shop online at apple.com to have
access to Apples full product line. Apple products are synonymous with high quality,
so Apple marketers wanted their customers to experience a high quality purchasing
process as well.
http://www.erikaw.com/assets/docs/ErikaWhiteAppleCase.pdf

Apple: Strategies Used To Capture The Indian Smartphone Market

It is a fact that the iPhone delivers one of the best experiences on a mobile phone.
However, the smartphone has not got much of a market share in India and a primary
reason for this is the exorbitant cost of the handset that limits its adoption only to the
upper middle class. While some may argue that it is cheaper in the US, the contractbound phone ends up costing as much or even more, by the time the contract gets over.
Nevertheless, there is certainly a keen interest in the device as we had reported just before
the iPhone 5 became legally available in India. New IDC data also confirms this notion
because it reported a 400% increase in sales, indicating that a growth potential exists. It
would be interesting to know how Apple could achieve something that was thought to be
impossible to achieve in a price-sensitive market like India.
Thus far, Apple had been relying on selling the iPhone mostly by tying up with service
provider contracts, the same way as in the US. However, there is one major difference
between the pricing - US consumers are required to pay just the monthly bills, while
Indian consumers still have to pay the price of the iPhone upfront, thereby negating the
perceived usefulness of a contract-bound device. To their credit, the mobile phone
companies provide incentives such as not having to pay the monthly rental for a year or
so and also free calling minutes, SMS, and data usage up to a certain pre-determined
limit, which a few presume will easily offset the cost of the handset in a couple of years.
It seems that Apple drew from its experience in China and applied it to a similarly
untapped market in India. Rather than relying on the earlier distribution method via
mobile providers, the company is now selling the flagship smartphone off the shelf via
distributors and retailers like other companies do. The company has employed Redington
and Ingram Micro to distribute and its smartphone to retailers.
This seems to have worked well in its favour because these distributors, backed by Apple,
have started selling the smartphone on instalments. In a budget economy like India, EMI
is a more viable payment option. Also, this helps expand the customer base to include

even those who would not want to part with a large chunk of their monthly earnings in
one go.
Another important and visible thing that was done by Apple was to start an extensive
advertising and marketing campaign in India last September. While most companies use
in-house resources to take care of these responsibilities, Apple did it through its partners.
These partners obviously had a better perspective about what works in India, which
would have been difficult for Apple's in-house team to achieve. The financial burden of
the advertisement budget was also reimbursed by Apple by offering higher margins on
iPhone sales.
With Samsung's dominance in the high-end market, things are not going to be easy for
Apple even with the increased sales. A primary reason is that Samsung has a host of
Android smartphones ranging from affordable to expensive GALAXY S III, which still
costs a lot less than an iPhone. Apple, on the other hand, has just the iPhone, with no
variants to cater to different market segments. Probably the only way to counter this
competition is by introducing a mini version of the iPhone with a reduced feature set.
Rumours have already been going on about such a device being prepared and we have
every reason to believe it to be true, ever since the company launched the iPad mini.
To recap, here are three strategies Apple has used in India:
a) Incentives by mobile operators, to customers who buy an iPhone.
b) Sales off-the-shelf via distributors and retailers, who then offer EMI payments.
c) Extensive advertising and marketing campaign in India through partners.
http://www.techtree.com/content/features/2947/apple-strategies-capture-indiansmartphone-market.html

The Battle Over iPhones in India

Winning over Indian consumers seems to officially have become one of the global tech
industrys Next Big Things. Some estimates indicate that there will be one billion users
online in the country by 2030. Although only one-fifth of its 1.3 billion people have
online access today, India has already overtaken the U.S., becoming the second largest
smartphone market in the world.
The evidence continues. Forrester Research reports that online spending in India will
grow to nearly $75 billion by 2020, from $12.1 billion in 2015. In 2015 alone the country
attracted $9 billion in venture capital and was home to four unicorns privately held
ventures valued in excess of a billion dollars. In terms of a startup ecosystem, India may
well be the home to the worlds most dynamic hubs: A 2015 Compass study found
Bangalore to be the fastest-growing VC and seed investments destination, blowing past
global favorites such as Singapore, Paris, and Tel Aviv.
Indias demographics are also in its favor. By 2020 India will have 900 million people of

working age. The average age of its citizens will be a youthful 29, and many of them will
be eager for digital products. Besides the pull from the demand side, the supply side of
the industry is also primed for a push into India: In addition to the many involved in the
tech industry worldwide, CEOs of several major players in the tech ecosystem
Microsoft, Google, Adobe, Nokia, MasterCard, and SoftBank, to name a few are
Indian. Clearly, theres awareness and connectivity between major corporate leadership
and the prospective tech market in India. The consumer opportunity is particularly
attractive since the markets in the industrialized world are maturing and another big
player China has been a difficult market to penetrate for many major tech players.
Despite all these attractions, the Indian opportunity is not for the faint of heart. The
country presents the industry with an unusually complex combination of contextual
challenges. To participate in this market, companies must develop a keen understanding
of its myriad sociopolitical, environmental, and institutional factors, which are quite
different from other markets. And these contextual factors must be built into the market
strategies and business models a process that has profound implications for global
players looking to make their move.
So while the global tech giants come up the learning curve on the nuances of the local
context, indigenous players with stronger contextual intelligence have a chance to gain
an early foothold. Having a contextually appropriate strategy may well be the true source
of competitive advantage in the game of winning over the Indian consumer.
Weve seen some creative efforts from global tech giants already some of which were
foiled. Facebook launched an initiative aimed at bringing online the vast majority of the
Indian population with no internet access through a controversial but innovative initiative
called Free Basics. The idea was to form a partnership with a local telco to offer a limited
number of websites to consumers for free. Amazon had to overcome the regulatory
barriers that prevent foreign retailers from selling from their own inventories of goods by
owning no inventory and structuring its operations as a pure market maker between
consumers and retailers. Apple has sought to find ways to lower the price points on its
expensive products to appeal to the price-conscious Indian consumer.
I have written about Facebooks fumble in India, in which regulators shut down its Free
Basics service. Amazon is confronting its own regulatory hurdles. While Indian
regulators confirmed that online marketplaces may be considered legal, they also decreed
that no single seller could account for more than 25% of sales. If enforced, such a
requirement would eliminate Cloudtail, the largest seller on Amazon India, effectively
making its operations illegal.
Now it is Apples turn to discover the contextual challenges of the Indian market. It faces
three serious challenges:
First, the iPhone is priced way above what the average Indian consumer can afford, and
the Indian smartphone market is fragmented and heavily contested, with over 150 brands
competing. Only South Koreas Samsung and domestic supplier Micromax have market
shares of more than 10%. Apples share accounts for only about 2%, according to
Counterpoint Research. Other than at the very top end of the market, given the buyer

purchase criteria for the average consumer, price and functionality will trump the brand
cachet of Apple.
Second, the recent moves by Apple to compete with a lower-priced iPhone SE faced
several extra hurdles in India. While the SE went on sale for $399 in the U.S., the price in
India would be about a 36% premium over the U.S. price. There are several factors that
contribute to the Indian price being significantly higher. For one, Apple needs to insure
itself against foreign exchange fluctuations. For another, there are import tariffs to
contend with. Most significant, Apple has to rely on a series of middlemen who are
responsible for logistics and distribution and build in their respective profit margins. In
India there may be as many as five such middlemen involved in the distribution chain.
The third challenge has arisen from Apples attempts to find a different route to offering a
lower-priced phone by selling used iPhones in India. This move has been met with
significant resistance. In an application dated December 7, 2015, Apple sought the
governments approval to import and sell its certified pre-owned iPhones in India; and
manufacture and sell its certified pre-owned iPhones in India. Local businesses have
protested, warning that it would lead to electronic waste, create a source of unfair
competition for local manufacturers, and undermine the prime ministers much publicized
Make in India initiative to encourage local manufacturing. Apart from the potential
consumer sensitivity to being offered hand-me-downs, going up against a major political
priority would be bad move for Apple.
As the worlds tech giants have discovered, in markets such as India to adapt Peter
Druckers dictum context eats strategy for breakfast. It helps to keep three principles
in mind:
Anticipate the heightened competitiveness of local players, who can adapt to the market
much faster, thanks to their contextual intelligence.
Develop strategies that are resilient to variations in the decisions made by regulatory and
political authorities and the constituencies they attempt to please.
Make deep investments in the market by immersing in the sociocultural milieu,
employing contextual factors as part of the market evaluation process, and designing
strategies to address them in advance.
For Apple this might mean investing in its own distribution and manufacturing in India
and assessing the benefits of doing so against the investments needed both in dollar
terms and in understanding the complexity of the context. The other option is to not
bother with the contextual elements and focus on what it does well, such as product
innovation and marketing strategy for brand-sensitive consumers. This means ceding a
good part of the Indian market to local and lower-cost players. But perhaps being stuck in
the middle is actually the worst position in which Apple could find itself.
https://hbr.org/2016/04/the-battle-over-iphones-in-india

Apple iPhone 7, iPhone 7 Plus India prices are now official: Heres what
you need to know

Apple iPhone 7 launches in India October 7, and the final prices for the devices are
already here. Apple has announced the prices for the iPhone 7 on their official India
website. The starting price of the iPhone 7 will be Rs 60,000.
According to Apples website, iPhone 7 32GB will retail at Rs 60,000; the 128GB version
at Rs 70,000, and the 256GB version at Rs 80,000. The iPhone 7 Plus on the other hand
will be priced at Rs 72,000 for the 32GB variant; Rs 82,000 for the 128GB version, and
Rs 92,000 for the 256GB phone.
Both versions of the iPhone 7 are running Apples new A10 Fusion chipset which the
company claims will allow gaming at a console-level. The 4.7-inch iPhone 7 comes with
a 12MP rear camera with a bigger f/1.8 aperture and Optical Image Stabilisation (OIS).
The 5.5-inch iPhone 7 Plus features Apples first dual camera array, which couples a
wide-angle lens with a telephoto lens giving users 2X optical zoom when needed and
the ability for 10x digital zoom.
The iPhone 7 also ditches the physical home button in favour of a redesigned home
button with haptic feedback. The battery in both devices has also been increased from the
previous generation. The new phones will be available in five colour options Black,
Silver, Gold, Rose Gold and Jet Black. The Jet Black colour for the iPhone 7 will only be
available with the 128Gb and the 256GB versions of the phone.

Apple has done away with the 3.5mm headphone jack with the new iPhone 7 and iPhone
7 Plus. To connect your headphones, a user now needs to use an adapter, or use the
Earpods that are shipping with the phone that will connect through the lightening adapter.
The phones can also be connected wireless using Apples recently unveiled AirPods.
Price of the iPhone 7 32GB is Rs 2,000 cheaper than the what the iPhone 6S was
introduced in India for, and this time youre getting double the space as well. Apple
announced the price for the new AirPods as Rs 15,400, and will be sold separately.
EarPods with Lightning Connector are set to be priced at Rs 2,500, while the headphone
jack adapter is priced at Rs 900. Apple is bundling the EardPods and adapter in the box.
http://indianexpress.com/article/technology/iphone-7/apple-iphone-7-iphone-7-plusindia-full-price-list-all-variants-sale-date-3032499/