The Marketing Environment

Apple's Marketing Environment

Apple is one of the few companies in the industry of computers that design and manufacture the entire product. The hardware, applications, and operating system that are used in there products are all created by them.

One of the factors that help build and maintain successful relationships with customers is the connection between all of there products. For example the Ipod, Iphone, and Ipad are all linked products that make the Mac the ultimate personal computer to share media and information between there products. Because of this connection, the Mac has always stood out from the typical PC and to consumers. Even though Apple has always set there prices high, consumers of all kinds including the average consumer always manage to buy there products regardless of price. The phrase "you pay for what you get" is a phrase that all Apple consumers clearly understand when buying an Apple product. Also Apple's target market for the Mac is anyone from the younger to older generations who like a simple high performance computer. To be more specific in who the target market is for the Mac, I would have to say the Mac is exclusively for creative professionals such as artists, editors, writers, musicians, photographers, etc.

Ethical and Social Responsiblity

Apple's Ethnics Responsibility:

Apple believes its workers including non-apple workers everywhere should have the right to safe and stable working conditions. They also believe workers should have access to educational opportunities to improve their lives. To make sure there workers live up to these ideals, they have continual cycle of inspections, improvement plans, and verification.


Apple's Social Responsibility:

Apple products are simple, intuitive, and easy to use. They help consumers do more through award-winning assistive technologies that is including in all of apple products so every device not only has accessible features but accessible features as well. For example, every Mac includes features that are designed for people with disabilities. The OS X technologies like VoiceOver, bulit-in braille support, and Sticky keys help users navigate and use the Mac easily.

Strategic Planning for Competitive Advantage

Apple Inc. has effectively managed to be a successful company in a very competitive consumer electronics industry. It has innovated and differentiated the company’s products with similar products in the markets by offering high quality products and good customer service. The company has set high standards that even the company itself has to be on its level best to maintain the standards that it has set.

Apple is a multinational corporation with products that belong in different industries, because of this, apple has several marketing strategies to fill out its duty for each set of products, one of these strategies is called strategic alliance. The strategic alliance strategy helps Apple learn from competitors, manage risk, and share costs. One of apple's most notable alliances is apple's alliance with AT&T in production and launching of the iPhone. Another notable alliance is Apple's alliance with Microsoft. Under this alliance, Microsoft agreed to develop Microsoft Office software for the Mac and in return, Apple agreed to bundle Internet Explorer in all of Apple Computers.

Another strategy that plays an important role in Apple's success is called the differentiation strategy. This strategy has helped apple stand out from the competition by focusing on design quality. Apple offers sufficient hardware and software features that allow its consumers a high quality user experience. It is on the high-end market because of their hardware, which are made to provide high value for the money. Apple's computers are made from the same company unlike windows computers which are made from dozens of different manufacturers. All this has helped Apple stand from competition and till this day continue to do so.

History and Mission Statement

Mission

Apple's mission to people such as students, educators, creative educators, creative professionals, and consumers, is to bring them the best personal computing experience through its innovative hardware, software and Internet offerings.

History (Macintosh)

Apple Inc., formerly called Apple Computer, Inc., is a multinational corporation that creates consumer electronics, personal computers, computer software, and commercial servers, and is a digital distributor of media content. Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak, who are the founders of the company, created Apple Computer on April 1, 1976, with the release of the Apple 1, and incorporated the company on January 3, 1977, in Cupertino, California. For more than two decades, Apple computer was a manufacturer of personal computers, including the Apple II, Macintosh, and Power Mac lines.

The Macintosh also known as the Mac, is a line of personal computers designed, developed, and marketed by Apple Inc. It all began in 1976, with Jef Raskins, an apple employee who envisioned a computer for the average consumer. He named the computer after his favorite type of apple, the Mcintosh. In 1985, the Macintosh Computer line received a big sales boost with the introduction of the LaserWriter printer and PageMaker. After the introduction of the Macintosh, 50,000 units had been sold.