PriyankaTrivedi

ERP Case study to APPLE

1. Introduction
Apple Inc., formerly Apple Computer, Inc., is an American multinational corporation
headquartered in Cupertino, California that designs, develops, and sells consumer
electronics, computer software and personal computers. Its best-known hardware
products are the Mac line of computers, the iPod music player, the iPhone smart phone,
and the iPad tablet computer.
Its software includes the OS X and iOS operating systems, the iTunes media browser, the
Safari web browser, and the iLife and iWork creativity and production suites. The
company was founded on April 1, 1976, and incorporated as Apple Computer, Inc. on
January 3, 1977.The word "Computer" was removed from its name on January 9, 2007
Apple is the world's second-largest information technology company by revenue after
Samsung Electronics and the world's third-largest mobile phone maker after Samsung
and Nokia. Fortune magazine named Apple the most admired company in the United
States in 2008, and in the world from 2008 to 2012.However, the company has received
criticism for its contractors' labor practices, and for Apple's own environmental and
business practices
As of May 2013, Apple maintains 406 retail stores in fourteen countriesas well as the
online Apple Store and iTunes Store. It is the second-largest publicly traded corporation
in the world by market capitalization, with an estimated value of US$414 billion as of
January 2013. As of September 29, 2012, the company had 72,800 permanent full-time
employees and 3,300 temporary full-time employees worldwide. Its worldwide annual

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revenue in 2012 totaled $156 billion. In May 2013, Apple entered the top ten of the
Fortune 500 list of companies for the first time, rising 11 places above its 2012 ranking to
take the sixth position.
Apple was established on April 1, 1976, by Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak and Ronald
Wayne to sell the Apple I personal computer kit. The kits were hand-built by Wozniakand
first shown to the public at the Homebrew Computer Club. The Apple I was sold as a
motherboard ,The Apple I went on sale in July 1976 and was market-priced at $666.66
On August 24, 2011, Jobs resigned his position as CEO of Apple. He was replaced by
Tim Cook and Jobs became Apple's chairman
On October 4, 2011, Apple announced the iPhone 4S, which included an improved
camera with 1080p video recording, a dual core A5 chip capable of 7 times faster
graphics than the A4, an "intelligent software assistant" named Siri, and cloud-sourced
data with iCloud. The following day, on October 5, 2011, Apple announced that Jobs had
died, marking the end of an era for Apple Inc. The iPhone 4S was officially released on
October 14, 2011.

APPLICATIONS:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.

MAC
ipad
ipod
iphone
icomputer
itv

2. Mission Statement Of Apple Inc.

Apple Inc. is determined and committed to deliver the best personal computing
experience by offering technologically ingenious products and services to students,
educators, creative professionals and consumers around the world through it's unique
modern hardware and software. Apple is able to enhance resources for future generations
and for continuous improvements.

3. Customer Profile
Households with at least one Apple device now comprise 50% of all households across
the US and Europe, and 36% of people claim to be regular users of Apple devices. More
than half of the student population are now regular Apple users, compared to fewer than
one in five retired people. While Apple is the favoured technology brand with Apple

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users, Samsung, Sony, HP and LG are also preferred brands with this group. This Bulletin
presents selected survey findings related to users of Apple devices such as iPods,
iPhones, iPads, Apple TV and Apple computers.

4. Business Situation
Apple Computer Inc. is an American multinational corporation focused on designing and
manufacturing personal computers, closely related software products, and other consumer
electronic products such as MP3 players. Since its foundation in 1976, Apple has been a
pioneer in innovation with multiple ups and downs. In 1976, Apple introduced what was
to become the first highly successful mass-produced personal computer. Traditionally,
Apple has done extremely well at being the first company to introduce a new product or
concept but has struggled to maintain its market share in that product line.
Recently, Apple has undergone a transformation from an innovative computer
manufacturer to a state of-the-art consumer electronics company. In 2005, the company
had $13.93 billion in sales. For the same year, they only controlled 4.2 percent of the U.S.
market share in the PC industry. However, Apples iPod models accounted for well over
70 percent of the hard-drive MP3 player market and more than 40 percent of the flash
based player market.

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5. Problem Solution
Step#1: Believe in the Simple
Apple: The arrogance of simplicity
Apples design process
When you first start off trying to solve a problem, the first solution you come up with are
very complex, and most people stop there. But you keep going, you can often times arrive
at some very elegent and simple solutions.

Simplicity & Choices

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Fig1. Simplicity & Choices

Step#2: Design a full experience

Apple adopts a comprehensive approach
Apple re-legitimize vertical integration

Apple;s vertical integration offers three competitive advantages

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The digital music revolution

Fig.2 The digital music revolution

Apples vertical integration in h/w for consumer electronics

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Fig.3 Apples vertical integration in h/w for consumer electronics

Step#3: Look customers in

iTunes goal is to lock the consumer in
iTunes revenues are insignificant

Fig.4 iTunes revenues are insignificant

App store revenues are a drop in the bucket

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Fig.5 App store revenues are a drop in the bucket

Step#4: Sell at a premium

Apples revenues come from high margin h/w products
Apples profit comes from margins in h/w(iPad)

Fig.6 Apples profit comes from margins in h/w(iPad)

H/w drives Apples gross margin

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Fig.7 H/w drives Apples gross margin

Step#5: Cross-sell your product line

Apple brand appeal drives its product line
Who is the iCustomer?

Fig.8 Who is the iCustomer?

iPod and iPhone drive Mac sales

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Fig.9 iPod and iPhone drive Mac sales

Integration reinforced by retail strategy

Fig.10 Integration reinforced by retail strategy

iCustomers will drive Apples sales

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Fig.11 iCustomers will drive Apples sales

How did apple cross the chasm?

Fig.12 How did apple cross the chasm?

6. Future expectations
Three upcoming features to build an Apple cloud

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