APPLE TEACHING NOTE

The Apple case can be used to illustrate the issues of make or buy and managing the supply chain. It is best used in the middle part of an operations strategy course. It not only introduces the issues of managing suppliers but also affords the opportunity to reinforce other key topics, including developing an operations strategy, designing products, and managing lead times and inventory. Questions similar to the ones below have been found adequate to bring out the key issues in the case study. 1. How does Apple compete in its major markets: Macs, iPods and iTunes? 2. How has operations designed its supply chain to support these markets? 3. What must Apple do to maintain its competitive position in the future?

1 How does Apple compete in its major markets: Macs, iPods and iTunes?
It is best here to consider each of Apples major markets separately before then looking at the overall picture. Within each market, it has also been found best to discuss the nature of the products before discussing how it competes in this market. 1) MAC PRODUCTS

The Mac product range currently consists of: a) Desktops iMac, Mini and Mac Pro Portables MacBook, MacBook Pro and MacBook Air Servers Xserve Product nature

The first question to ask is, what is the nature of the products that Apple designs, manufactures and sells? Its products involve the following key characteristics: High-specification standard products there is very little choice and models are continually discontinued to ensure the range does not proliferate (see Exhibit 6). It is important at some time to bring to the attention of participants that although the products are of a high specification, they tend to cost about the same as an equivalent specification from HP or Dell (see TN/1) Short product life cycles products tend to be discontinued after 12 to 18 months and replaced with one of a higher specification sold for about the same price as the old one Relatively high margin the products must be relatively high margin as Apple makes a 35% gross margin (see TN/2). They are at the luxury end of the desktop and portable computer market Niche although the Mac products have annual sales of $10bn and 8 million units, they still only have 3% market share

b) How it competes in this market The next step is to ask what the order-winners and qualifiers are for this market. At this point it is worth highlighting the differences between an initial purchase of a Mac (when someone is often moving from a PC) and a repeat purchase. The points raised are summarised in TN/2 and include: Order-winners Technical support for both product hardware and software. This is more important for customers buying a Mac for the first time as there is a feeling of taking a leap into the unknown by moving away from a PC Product design concerns the form and functionality of the products how they look and what can they do. Also important is the compatibility between hardware and software (both designed by Apple) and with other Apple products. Apples philosophy is to design products to work easily with one another, although this is not as important for the first sale as customers do not already own any Macs Brand name some customers buy products simply because they are designed by Apple. This, in part, is a feature of compatibility, but Apple have also created a product image that attracts certain people

Qualifiers Price Apple products are generally seen as being good value as they are high specification, as shown TN/1. However, basic HP and Dell products are much cheaper. The subsequent higher margins are reflected in profit performance of the three companies Apples gross margin (% sales) is 1.5 times that of HP and 1.8 times that of Dell (see TN/3) Quality conformance quality conformance concerns meeting the design specification described earlier. Customers expect Apple to manufacture and assembly Macs to its high specification Delivery speed and reliability although customers are prepared to wait until products become available, they do expect them to be delivered within a reasonable time period (delivery speed) and meet Apples promised delivery (delivery reliability)

2)

iPOD PRODUCTS

The iPod current product range consists of: iPod shuffle randomly plays up to 240 songs iPod nano stores up to 2,000 songs or 8 hours of video iPod classic holds up to 40,000 songs or 200 hours of video iPod touch stores up to 3,500 songs with a variety of features including touch screen, WiFi connectivity and variety of applications Product nature

a)

As with Macs, these are high-specification products with a short lifecycle and relatively high margin (the first iPod had a 64% gross margin). However, unlike Macs, these are not niche products as their market share has fallen from a high of 97% to its current 62%. Although the MP3 player market is maturing, Apple is still seen as the market leader with technically superior products to its competitors.

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b) How it competes in this market The order-winners and qualifiers are similar to those for Mac products as shown in TN/3: Order-winners Product design the form and functionality of iPods have been critical to their success. They look good and are easy to use Technical support unlike Macs, iPods are seen to have only a limited life (2 to 3 years) before they stop working. Therefore, technical support is not as important, although customers know they can take it into an Apple store if there is a problem. Software is updated on products, but there tends to only be significant functionality changes on the iPod Touch Brand name Apple has created an image around their products that attracts a certain user group

Qualifiers Price Apples iPods are considered good value, but they are not low price. However, their price has either remained the same or fallen even though the technical specification of the product (storage, battery life and product features) has increased significantly every 12 to 18 months since its launch. It is also estimated that each customer spends another 30% of the iPod value on accessories Quality conformance customers expect Apple to manufacture and assemble iPods to their high design specification Delivery speed and reliability although customers are prepared to wait until products become available, they do expect them to be delivered within a reasonable time period (delivery speed) and meet Apples promised delivery (delivery reliability)

3)

iTUNES PRODUCTS

iTunes was first developed in 2001 as software for customers to extract music from their CDs onto their computers and then onto their iPods. In 2003, the iTunes on-line store was introduced, originally to sell digital music. However, it now sells the following products: a) Digital music and books purchases Movies and TV show rentals Software applications and games for iPod Touch and iPhone Product nature

These products are very different to Macs and iPods. Although it is a unique product and Apple continually increase the range of products sold through the store, the products are: Commodity products often available from other retailers in a physical or electronic format. They are also relatively easy to imitate as long as the appropriate agreements are in place with distributors. Equally, these products are often available for free elsewhere on the internet if you know how to find them Low margin although iTunes products have only a 9% margin, the sales of iPod products grew seven-fold when the iTunes store was first introduced in 2003. iTunes also creates specific music library standards that lock users into using iPods

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Cash rich although iTunes products are low margin, they are cash rich as there is no physical inventory involved. The only cash outlay for Apple is the purchase of equipment on which to store the digital products that are then downloaded by customers

b) How it competes in this market The different product natures of iTunes to Macs and iPods are reflected in the different orderwinners and qualifiers as shown in TN/4: Order-winners Price it is less expensive for a customer to buy digital products from iTunes than physical products from other retailers Delivery speed once products have been bought they can be downloaded and used immediately. This is significantly quicker that physical alternatives Accessibility customers can purchase products from anywhere as long as they have an internet connection Product range the range of products available is significantly greater than in a typical record (music) or video store (film). Equally, certain products such as iPod Touch or iPhone applications or games can only be downloaded from the iTunes on-line store

Qualifiers Delivery reliability customers expect product to download at the same speed each time they make a purchase Quality conformance customers expect products to meet their design specification for example, music to play on their MP3 player and be of a sufficient sound quality

2 How has Apple designed its supply chain to support these markets?

The supply chain configuration used to support the Mac, iPod and iTunes product groups has changed during the life of the company as shown in TN/5: 1976 1997 the original approach developed by Jobs, Wozniak and Markkula involved manufacturing, assembling and distributing computers themselves. This practice continued until 1990 when Sculley joined the company and started to outsource manufacturing to reduce costs. The CEOs that followed continued this process. 1997 2001 when Jobs was reinstated as CEO in 1997 he outsourced the remaining manufacturing, eliminated relationships with smaller retailers and expanded the Apple presence in national chains. In Nov 1997, the Apple web site was launched selling products directly to customers. 2001 current in 2001, Apple launched its first retail stores to showcase products and create a fun and enjoyable experience. The stores also offer free services such as the Genius Bar to solve customer technical problems and the Design Studio to help customers create photos and design graphics. Regular workshops and presentations are held in theatre-like sections of the store to train customers on aspects such as the Mac operating system, editing home movies and recording music. Also, customers can purchase one-to-one weekly training

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at a store for a little over 1 per session. By 2007 Apple was the fastest growing retailer in the world with 197 stores drawing over 100 million visitors a year. Within this, Apple has developed slightly different approaches to support the order-winners and qualifiers within each of its major markets as shown in Attachment TN/6.

3 What must Apple do to maintain its competitive position in the future?

The key to Apples product/service position in its markets include: High specification, yet competitively priced product (comparing similar specification with HP and Dell) Make switch to Macs from PCs even more user friendly Retain customers once they have switched to Macs Provide visible and approachable customer support within their Apple stores Continued R&D investment and product range consolidation to maintain the high specification as standard strategy Short product lifecycles to maintain product leadership and encourage repeat purchases from existing customers

A full market and operations strategy review to support its Mac, iPod and iTunes markets has been summarised in Attachments TN/6 and an illustration of how it acquires and retains Mac customers is shown in TN/7.

Essential Operations Management Lecturer Resources Alex Hill and Terry Hill 2011

Apple

Attachment TN/1 PRODUCT RANGE COMPARISON BETWEEN APPLE AND DELL (Apple MacBookPro 15 vs Dell Studio 15) Dell (399 1,412) Aspect Standard specification Number of options 5 3 6 6 7 18 4 3 3 2 2 2 2 2 2 156,764,160 Standard specification 2.4Hz Intel Core 2 Duo 2GB 1066MHz 250GB iLife 1yr warranty Aluminium None None 1440 x 900 9400MHD Backlit 6-cell Lithium Included None Mac OSX Number of options 2 2 5 2 2 160 Apple (1,400 - 1,600)

Processor Memory Hardrive Software Hardware support Colour and finish Mouse Mobile broadband Screen resolution Graphics card Keyboard Battery Webcam Security Operating system Total combinations

2.0GHz Intel Pentium Dual-Core 1024MB 800MHZ 160GB Microsoft Works 1yr warranty Black None None 1280 x 800 4500MHD None 6-cell Lithium None None Windows Vista Home

Note: Only the standard Apple specification is available for the colour and finish, mouse, mobile broadband, screen resolution, graphics card, keyboard, battery, webcam, security and operating system.

PRODUCT COST COMPARISON BETWEEN APPLE AND DELL (Apple MacBookPro 15 vs Dell Studio 15) Cost by product specification ($) Lowest Highest Equivalent Dell 399 1,412 1,352 Apple 1,400 1,600 1,400

Apple

Attachment TN/2

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GROSS MARGIN AND R&D AS A PER CENT OF SALES FOR APPLE, DELL AND HEWLETT-PACKARD (1997-2007) INDEXED ON APPLE PERFORMANCE 1997
Performance 1997 2000 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007

Gross Margin (%) Apple Dell Hewlett-Packard R&D/Sales (%) Apple Dell Hewlett-Packard

100 110 181

133 100 148

138 90 138

138 90 129

143 86 119

143 81 124

167 90 114

100 8 58

42 17 42

67 8 42

50 8 33

33 8 25

33 8 25

33 8 25

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Attachment TN/3 Apple

ANNUAL SALES REVENUE BY PRODUCT GROUP (2002-2007) INDEXED 2002

Mac iPod iTunes and other music products Other Total

100 100 100 100 100

99 241 900 126 108

109 913 6,950 167 144

138 3,175 22,475 209 243

163 5,368 47,125 224 336

227 5,808 62,400 272 418

ANNUAL SALES REVENUE % TOTAL APPLE SALES (2002-2007)

Mac iPod iTunes and other music products Other Total

79 2 18 100

72 6 1 22 100

59 16 3 21 100

45 33 6 16 100

38 40 10 12 100

43 35 10 12 100

ANNUAL SALES REVENUE % WITHIN MAC PRODUCT GROUP (2002-2007)

Desktops Portables Total

62 38 100

55 45 100

48 52 100

55 45 100

45 55 100

39 61 100

Apple

Attachment TN/4

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ANNUAL SALES, MARKET SHARE, LEVEL OF NEW PRODUCT INTRODUCTION AND AVERAGE PRODUCT LIFE FOR EACH PRODUCT GROUP

Product group

Annual sales (US$BN)

Market share (% total sales)

Average number of new products introduced per year (2000-2007) 5 2 -

Average product life (months)

Mac iPod iTunes

10 8 2

3 70 70

20 17 -

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Apple

Attachment TN/5

MARKET ORDER-WINNERS AND QUALIFIERS BY PRODUCT GROUP

Product group Competitive criteria

Mac iPod
Repeat sale

iTunes

Technical support

Software Hardware Form Between hardware and software With other Apple products Functionality

Product design Orderwinners

Compatibility

Brand name Price Delivery speed Accessibility Product range Price Accessibility Qualifiers Delivery Reliability Quality conformance
Key: , , = increasing level of order-winner weighting Q = qualifier QQ = order-losing qualifier

Q Q Q Q QQ

Q Q Q Q QQ

Q Q Q Q QQ Q QQ

Speed

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Apple

Attachment TN/6

SUPPLY CHAIN DEVELOPMENT BY PRODUCT GROUP

Year Product group From To

Supply chain activities completed by Apple in-house Retail Manufacturing Assembly Distribution On-line Physical

Mac

1976 1997 2001

1997 2001 Current

iPod

2001

Current

iTunes

2003

Current

Notes

1. 2. 3.

Mac and iPod products are also sold through non-Apple on-line and physical retailers. Mac manufacturing started to be outsourced in 1990. iTunes software was created in 2001, but did not sell music until 2003.

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Apple

Attachment TN/7

MARKET SUPPORT BY PRODUCT GROUP

Market order-winners and qualifiers

Market support by product group Mac iPod iTunes

Software

Technical support

Extensive on-line product support and help on Apple website Genius Bar to solve customer technical problems Free extensive product training in retail stores Design Studio to help customers create photos and design graphics Regular workshops and presentations to train customers on aspects such as the Mac operating system, editing home movies and recording music Genius Bar to solve customer technical problems Products are stylish and most have become design icons All products plug and play with other Apple products

Extensive on-line product support and help on Apple website

Hardware Form

N/A Software is stylish and striking Software runs on PCs, Macs, iPhones and iPod Touch Product is simple and easy-to-use Products can be downloaded directly to a computer, iPhone or iPod Touch Software is free to download Products tend to cost less than buying or renting them elsewhere for example songs are 99 cents Profits very low on sales (about 9%) Products such as music, movies, television shows, music videos, games and publications are delivered instantly and directly to customers through the on-line store The store is accessed through the internet using the iTunes software Product range is continually increasing and includes: music, movies, television shows, music videos, games and publications

Product design

Compatibility

Functionality

Products have cutting-edge technology, simple hardware and easy-to-use software Manufacturing and assembly are outsourced apart from basic assembly to compile the products, peripherals, software, documentation and accessories necessary for each order Suppliers are expected to reduce costs over time Apples global procurement function is split into product teams comprising buyers, engineers and designers who work collaboratively with suppliers to plan capacity and meet delivery schedules Products can be purchased through various online and physical retail stores Apple had 197 retail stores In 2007

Price

Delivery speed

Accessibility

Product range

Products are updated every 12 to 18 months

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Apple

Attachment TN/8

HOW APPLE ACQUIRE AMD RETAIN MAC CUSTOMERS

Market order-winners and qualifiers

Acquiring customers

Retaining customers

Software Technical support

Extensive on-line product support and help on Apple website Genius Bar to solve customer technical problems Free extensive product training in retail stores Design Studio to help customers create photos and design graphics Regular workshops and presentations to train customers on aspects such as the Mac operating system, editing home movies and recording music Genius Bar in Apple Store solves customer technical problems Products are stylish and most have become design icons

Software is not available for non-Apple products Software is updated every 12 to 18 months Software updates are inexpensive typically half the price of the Microsoft equivalent

Hardware

Genius Bar in Apple Store solves customer technical problems Products are updated every 12 to 18 months Existing customers are contacted about new products All products plug and play with other Apple products Customers would have to learn how to use non-Apple products Genius Bar in Apple Store to solve customer technical problems Apple retail stores showcase products Staff demonstrate product functionality Products are updated every 12 to 18 months Existing customers are contacted about new products Price remains constant for products even though technical specifications increase

Form

Product design

Compatibility

All products plug and play with other Apple products Products have cutting-edge technology, simple hardware and easy-to-use software Products can be purchased through various on-line and physical retail stores Apple had 197 retail stores In 2007 A limited range of desktop and portable computers are available

Functionality

Accessibility

Product range

Price

Delivery speed

Manufacturing and assembly are outsourced Suppliers have to reduce costs over time Product Teams comprising buyers, engineers and designers collaborate with suppliers to plan capacity and meet delivery schedules

Existing customers will wait for Apple products

Essential Operations Management Lecturer Resources Alex Hill and Terry Hill 2011