APPLE Inc.

ABSTRACT Apple Inc. (previously Apple Computer, Inc.) is an American multinational corporation that designs and markets consumer electronics, computer software, and personal computers. Since its formation in 1976 Apple Computer has been a pioneer in the PC market. Despite its brilliance in design, and the quality of the user experience from its computers, Apple was increasingly challenged by the rise of IBM-compatible machines and the Windows operating system. Following profound crisis in the 1990s, the firm had a renaissance under the leadership of its previously exiled founder, Steve Jobs. Eventually, the runaway success of the iPod and iTunes music products restored the firms profitability.

INTRODUCTION Apple Inc. (previously Apple Computer, Inc.) is an American multinational corporation that designs and markets consumer electronics, computer software, and personal computers. As of September 2011, the company operates over 300retail stores in eleven countries, and an online store where hardware and software products are sold. As of September 2011, Apple is the largest publicly traded company in the world by market capitalization and the largest technology company in the world by revenue and profit. On August 9, 2011, Apple briefly surpassed Exxon Mobile to become the world's most valuable company and surpassed the magain the following day. Established on April 1, 1976 in Cupertino, California, and incorporated January 3, 1977, the company was previously named Apple Computer, Inc., forits first 30 years, but removed the word "Computer" on January 9, 2007, to reflect the company's ongoing expansion into the consumer electronics market in addition to its traditional focus on personal computers. As of September 2010, Apple had 46,600 full time employees and 2,800 temporary full time employees worldwide and had worldwide annual sales of $65.23 billion. For reasons as various as its philosophy of comprehensive aesthetic design to its distinctive Apple has established a unique reputation in the consumer electronics industry. This includes a customer base that is devoted to the company and its brand, particularly in the United States. Fortune magazine named Apple the most admired company in the United States in 2008 and in the world in 2008, 2009, 2010 and2011. The company has also received widespread criticism for its contractors' labour, environmental, and business practices HISTORY 19761980: The early years: Apple was established on April 1, 1976 by Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak, and Ronald Wayne, to sell the Apple I personal computer kit. They were hand-built by Wozniak and first shown to the public at the Homebrew Computer Club. The Apple I was sold as a motherboard (with CPU, RAM, and basic textual-video chips)less than what is today considered a complete personal computer. The Apple I went on

sale in July 1976 and was market-priced at $666.66 ($2,723 in 2012 dollars, adjusted for inflation.) The Apple I, Apple's first product, was sold as an assembled circuit board and lacked basic features such as a keyboard, monitor, and case. The owner of this unit added a keyboard and a wooden case. The Apple II was introduced on April 16, 1977 at the first West Coast Computer Faire. It differed from its major rivals, the TRS-80 and Commodore PET, because it came with character cell based color graphics and an open architecture. While early models used ordinary cassette tapes as storage devices, they were superseded by the introduction of a 5 1/4 inch floppy disk drive and interface, the Disk II. The Apple II was chosen to be the desktop platform for the first "killer app" of the business worldthe VisiCalc spreadsheet program. VisiCalc created a business market for the Apple II, and gave home users an additional reason to buy an Apple IIcompatibility with the office. According to Brian Bagnall, Apple exaggerated its sales figures and was a distant third place to Commodore and Tandy until VisiCalc came along. By the end of the 1970s, Apple had a staff of computer designers and a production line. The company introduced the ill-fated Apple III in May 1980 in an attempt to compete with IBM and Microsoft in the business and corporate computing market. 19811985: Lisa and Macintosh: The Model from Apple's "1984" ad, set in a dystopian future modeled after the George Orwell novel Nineteen Eighty-Four, set the tone for the introduction of the Macintosh. Steve Jobs began working on the Apple Lisa in 1978 but in 1982 he was pushed from the Lisa team due to infighting, and took over Jef Raskin's low-cost-computer project, the

Macintosh. A turf war broke out between Lisa's "corporate shirts" and Jobs' "pirates" over which product would ship first and save Apple. Lisa won the race in 1983 and became the first personal computer sold to the public with a GUI, but was a commercial failure due to its high price tag and limited software titles.

The first Macintosh, released in 1984.The Mac was particularly powerful in this market due to its advanced graphics capabilities, which had necessarily been built in to create the intuitive Macintosh GUI. It has been suggested that the combination of these three products was responsible for the creation of the desktop publishing market. 19861993: Rise and fall The Macintosh Portable was Apple's first "portable" Macintosh computer, released in 1989.The success of the PowerBook and other products brought increasing revenue. For some time, it appeared that Apple could do no wrong, introducing fresh new products and generating increasing profits in the process. The magazine MacAddict named the period between 1989 and 1991 as the "first golden age" of the Macintosh. Apple saw the Apple II series as too expensive to produce, while taking away sales from the low end Macintosh.[51] In 1990, Apple released the Macintosh LC with a single expansion slot for the Apple IIe Card to migrate Apple II users to the Macintosh platform.[51] Apple stopped selling the Apple IIe in 1993. Microsoft continued to gain market share with Windows, focusing on delivering software to cheap commodity personal computers while Apple was delivering a richly engineered, but expensive, experience. Apple relied on high profit margins and never developed a clear response. 19941997: Attempts at reinvention: In 1994, Apple allied with IBM and Motorola in the AIM alliance. The goal was to create a new computing platform (the PowerPC Reference Platform), which would use IBM and Motorola hardware coupled with Apple's software. The AIM alliance hoped that PReP's performance and Apple's software would leave the PC far behind, thus countering Microsoft. The same year, Apple introduced the Power Macintosh, the first of many Apple computers to use IBM's PowerPC processor. At the 1997 Macworld Expo, Steve Jobs announced that Apple would join Microsoft to release new versions of Microsoft Office for the Macintosh, and that Microsoft made a $150 million investment in non-voting Apple stock.

On November 10, 1997, Apple introduced the Apple Online Store, tied to a new build-toorder manufacturing strategy. 19982005: Return to profitability On August 15, 1998, Apple introduced a new all-in-one computer reminiscent of the Macintosh 128K: the iMac. The iMac design team was led by Jonathan Ive, who would later design the iPod and the iPhone. The iMac featured modern technology and a unique design, and sold almost 800,000 units in its first five months. Apple retail stores allow potential customers to use floor models without making a purchase. On May 19, 2001, Apple opened the first official Apple Retail Stores in Virginia and California. Later on July 9 they bought Spruce Technologies, a DVD authoring company. On October 23 of the same year, Apple announced the iPod portable digital audio player, and started selling it on November 10. The product was phenomenally successful over 100 million units were sold within six years. In 2003, Apple's iTunes Store was introduced, offering online music downloads for $0.99 a song and integration with the iPod. The service quickly became the market leader in online music services, with over 5 billion downloads by June 19, 2008. 20052007: The Intel transition Apple's transition to Intel processors. At the Worldwide Developers Conference keynote address on June 6, 2005, Steve Jobs announced that Apple would begin producing Intel-based Mac computers in 2006. On April 29, 2009, The Wall Street Journal reported that Apple was building its own team of engineers to design microchips. Apple also introduced Boot Camp to help users install Windows XP or Windows Vista on their Intel Macs alongside Mac OS X. Apple's success during this period was evident in its stock price. Between early 2003 and 2006, the price of Apple's stock increased more than tenfold, from around $6 per share (splitadjusted) to over $80.

20072011: Widespread success Apple achieved widespread success with consumer electronics that refer to Apple's iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad that introduced innovations in respective devices: mobile phones, portable music players and personal computers. The business model of offering a store for applications to be purchased was an innovation from a business point of view. Touch screens had been invented and seen in mobile devices before, but Apple was the first to achieve mass market adoption of a touch screen based user interface that included particular pre-programmed touch gestures. After years of speculation and multiple rumored "leaks" Apple announced a large screen, tablet-like media device known as the iPad on January 27, 2010. The iPad runs the same touch based operating system that the iPhone uses and many of the same iPhone apps are compatible with the iPad.. Later that year on April 3, 2010, the iPad was launched in the US and sold more than 300,000 units on that day and reaching 500,000 by the end of the first week. In May of the same year, Apple's market cap exceeded that of competitor Microsoft for the first time since 1989. 2011present: PostSteve Jobs era On January 17, 2011, Jobs announced in an internal Apple memo that he would take another medical leave of absence, for an indefinite period, to allow him to focus on his health. Chief operating officer Tim Cook took up Jobs' day-to-day operations at Apple, although Jobs would still remain "involved in major strategic decisions for the company."[104] Apple became the most valuable consumer-facing brand in the world. In June 2011, Steve Jobs surprisingly took the stage and unveiled iCloud. iCloud is an online storage and syncing service for music, photos, files and software which replaced MobileMe, Apple's previous attempt at content syncing. This would be the last product launch Jobs would attend before his death. It has been argued that Apple has achieved such efficiency in its supply chain that the company operates as a monopsony (one buyer, many sellers), in that it can dictate terms to its suppliers. Briefly in July 2011, due to the debt-ceiling crisis, Apple's financial reserves were greater than those of the US Government. On August 24, 2011, Jobs resigned his position as CEO of Apple. He was replaced

by Tim Cook and Jobs became Apple's chairman. Prior to this, Apple did not have a chairman and instead had two co-lead directors, Andrea Jung and Arthur D. Levinson, who continued with those titles until Levinson became Chairman of the Board in November. APPLE COMPUTER PRODUCTS AND FEATURES Apple computers have long been a leader in the personal computer market. It was Apple that actually started the revolution in the 1970s with its Apple II microcomputer. Known for quality and its innovative edge, with products like iPod, iTunes and iPhone, Apple continues to pave the way for the next generation of personal computer development companies. iPod First launched in September of 2006, iPods were an instant hit. In the first 7 months of production over 100,000 were sold. Today this portable music system claims 75% of the market share, and is accompanied by more than 3000 accessories. This highly successful MP3 player includes a range of features and colors for every budget. The iPod Classic, is their high end player which features hard disk storage and a screen for easy navigation with a wheel located on the front of the device. The iPod Touch is another high end player that features touch screen navigation and flash memory. The touch screen is great fun though compromises storage space. The iPod Nano is Apple's mid-priced product, offering flash memory and a screen for easy navigation with a wheel located on the front of the device. The iPod shuffle is Apple's low-priced alternative for those that are interested in a lightweight player that's perfect for a morning jog. This player features flash memory and no screen. All or your uploaded selections are randomly played. Desktop Mac Apple leads the way in style and reliability. Their current line-up of desktop computers is no exception to their long-standing record for quality.

The Mac Mini is Apple's entry level desktop computer. This computer is essentially a Macbook in desktop form. It is a bit underpowered for its cost, though is big on style, and a great choice for budget-minded Mac lovers. The,27-inch iMac Desktop Computer offers a slightly larger screen than the 24-inch model. The interface is elegant, and the screen color is vibrant. MacBooks Apple offers 3 laptop models that start at about $1000.00.The MacBook is Apple's entry level laptop computer. It features a 2GB hard-drive and a built-in 7 hour battery. The MacBook Pro is Apple's mid-priced laptop computer. The model with the largest screen also offers increased battery life. The MacBook Air is Apple's most expensive laptop computer. The biggest advantage to this Mac is its size and weight. Its incredibly thin shell that measures . 76 inches at its thickest point, and weighs in at less than 3 pounds. Its a novel item, though if you need a great all-around performer, MacBook Pro models are your best bet. Magic Mouse The Magic Mouse replaces the Mighty Mouse in Apple's line-up of products.The mouse as you know it is a thing of the past. The whole surface of the mouse is a button. Click or doubleclick anywhere. Right click, left click, 360 degree scrolling, magnification, and forward and back navigation in Mac's Safari browser make this product alone worth your consideration of an Apple computer. iPhone On the heels of the iPod, Apple revolutionized the mobile phone just one year later, releasing it in the US in June of 2007. Its features include an MP3 player, a phone and a small scale personal computer. ATT is currently Apple's exclusive service provider, and the cost of service can be a bit expensive. This exceptional product is worth considering, though be sure to ask about ATT service costs before you make your purchase.

The Apple iPhone is an elegantly designed information communicator forged from steel and silicon that runs pioneering software under Apples OS X in a Unix Kernel. The iPhone combines smart phone capabilities with a simple to use graphical interface projected on a large multi-touch display. Apple has managed to create a Macintosh computer with mobile phone capabilities, bundled within an Internet enabled PDA and an iPod body. The iPhones functionality is accessed through its 3.5-inch touch screen display and one home button. Using only finger commands, a user can navigate seamlessly through iPhones features, conjuring up a keyboard when needed. Some of its features include: 1) Smart iPhone: provides touch technology allowing users to make calls by simply pointing to a name or number in an address book or by dialing through a touch pad keyboard. 2) Wireless Internet Communication Device: serves as a Wi-Fi enabled Internet device that utilizes Apples Safari browser to access: Internet email, web sites, online maps, and search engines. 3) IPod: offers a 3.5-inch widescreen iPod with touch screen controls. 4) PDA, Computer and Camera: includes PDA features (appoint calendars, contact lists, photos, emails and documents, literally with a touch of a virtual button) ; enables users to take pictures at 2 MB resolution that can be stored in 4 GB or 8 GB flash memory cards or forward to others. Apples iPhone Strategy Price The initial price of the iPhone was set at: Price model 4gb model 8gb model Price $499 $599

Introduced in June 2007 at a top price of $599 in the United States, the iPhone was one

of the most anticipated electronic devices of the decade. Despite its high price, consumers across the country stood in long lines to buy the iPhone on the first day of sales. Just two months later, Apple discontinued the less-expensive $499 model and cut the price of the premium version from $599 to $399. Product Life Cycle: Focus on the iPhone

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One of the most popular smart phones on the market today, the Apple iPhone. Currently, the iPhone is moving into the maturity phase of the product life cycle. Apples primary concern is to defend market share while maintaining revenue. The iPhone has gotten to the Maturity Stage thanks to competition from other smartphone companies. When the iPhone first came out, it was able to catapult itself into superstar status. As a result, the market became filled with many Apple iPhone like products. In order for the iPhone to maintain status in the Maturity Phase, it will be launching a number of product enhancements for the phone, ranging from accessories to software updates. Apple will also need to reduce the price of the product if the company intends on staying competitive. By reducing the cost of the product, Apple is planning to increase the overall sales volume and distribution. Apple also believes that a possible launching of a totally revised version of the product, called the iPhone 5, would greatly increase the product life cycle of the Apple iPhone .

4ps Marketing mix Marketing mix is the set of controllable,tactical marketing tools that the firm blends to produce the response it wants in the target market. Product, price, place and promotion are the 4 Ps or components that make up a marketing mix. Product The iPhone will have a full year warranty along with an optional three year Apple care warranty.It is Lower weight and thin.It available in G, 3g, 3GS of 4, 8, 16 & 32 GB variants.3 features are available in one ,Mobile phone, Wild screen Iphone, & Complete internet Device. This product has the ability to surf the internet,listen and purchase music,watch videos,view photos,read email,read and purchase multiple applications.With Larger, removable disk storage capacity.GPS functionality is available. Improved camera & Wifi connectivity. Significantly longer battery life is provided by the company. Price The iphone can be purchased at multiple price points. 1. Apple iPhone 3GS 32GB 79,990 2. Apple iphone 3G 16GB 3. Apple iphone 3G 8GB 4. Apple iphone 8GB 5. Apple iphone 16GB Place The iphone will most likely be sold in place where other Apple products are sold.There several retail outlet that carry various Apple products so purchasing this product should not be difficult. Available in More than 79 Countries for example Pak, India, America, Europe, Australia, etc .customers can also order the product online in Apple website. 56,000 49,000 35,000 41,000

Promotion Apple held a press conference to debut the product.several of the major techblogs and websites(zdnet,gizmodo,engadget) also covered the event.Given Apple track record of heavy promotion and advertisement of its marquee products,the iphone has a high portability of getting the same advertising treatment.The iphone is already highlighted on the front page of Apple website . MARKETING STRATEGIES. If one had to summarize Apple Inc.s marketing strategies in one word, it would have to be differentiation. Apple makes huge efforts to differentiate its products from its competitors. Heres a snapshot of Apples marketing strategies. Success By Design Apples product strategy is simple. It incorporates superior design in all its products so that these stand out from its competitors products. Apples design philosophy is based on minimalism. It removes clutter both from its products outward appearance as well as from their user interface. It is no coincidence that Apple users rave about the exceptional user interface of their iPads, iPods or iPhones. In addition, Apple tries to exert control over the users experience with its products. So, apart from the hardware, the company also develops the software so that the user has the best possible experience. Pricing Apple is usually referred to as the technology industrys high-price leader. However, of late, the company has been offering its products at lower price points in a clear effort to expand its market. Even so, Apple, at the launch of its products, targets early adopters with higher-thancompetition prices. It initially adopts skimming strategy and later launches lower-price versions with fewer features (for instance, for the iPod) or launches a newer version while continuing to sell older versions at lower price points (for example, iPhone).

Distribution Apple eschews big-box retailers. Apple spends considerable resources to expand its stores so that it can get its prospects undivided attention. Also, it allows the company to exercise control over the sales process. The company has more than 300 Apple retail stores worldwide, with the majority of the stores in the U.S. In California alone, the company has more than 50 stores. The Hype Apples promotion strategy is centered around creating hype. The late Steve Jobs, founder of Apple, was known for hyping up. His theatrical style and panache were successful in creating excitement before the launch of Apple products. These efforts have succeeded in making Apple products aspirational. APPLE PRICING STRATEGY Apple is a premium brand of computer. Apple doesn't try to compete with PCs directly on price for several reasons that are well known. Cut throat pricing leads to diminished profits and loss of shareholder value. It diminishes the hard won reputation of the Apple brand. Finally, it's too early for Apple to jump on price decreases before it fully understands the the impact of the Jan-Mar quarter sales. Another reason is that dropping prices for a premium brand has to take into account Apple's experience with the price elasticity of its products. Price elasticity is defined as the response in demand for a product as the price decreases. For example, if Apple were to drop the price of the low end Mac mini from US$599 to, say, $399, would the demand increase so much that the new production rate would lower costs and make more money for Apple. Recession Realities It's a fact of life that people who are concerned about getting laid off tend to avoid premium products. That said, Apple still has to ask itself some hard questions about what the

impact of lowering prices would be on the company. Eventually, the U.S. and the rest of the world will climb out of this economic mess. Recession Proof Apple is definitely not recession proof. The collective consciousness of the country, even though about 91 percent of people are still working, is in the dumpers. Each day brings bad news, and Apple sales will be down this quarter. They may be down for a few quarters. Even so, Apple has the luxury, by virtue of its assets, to avoid a hasty, emotional decision.

WHY APPLE SHOULD KEEP ITS PRICES HIGH DURING THE RECESSION? Apple is a premium brand. And although a recession is hitting the world, Don Reisinger thinks it shouldn't stop the company from maintaining its price levels. For years, Apple has contended that it's providing more value for more money and it has always been loath to drop the price of its machines to compete on price with competitors. And so far, Apple hasn't made any statement regarding its desire to change that strategy. Historically, premium brands perform well because they're just that--premium. There's no reason for Apple to drop the price of its Macs to satisfy one analyst who worries the company's prices are too high. Mac sales are up, Apple's margins are healthy, and people covet Macs more than any other computer on the market. Consumers are drawn to Macs because they provide more perceived value than any other product on the market. And it's that perception that has made Apple's "premium" strategy an unbridled success. CONCLUSION The challenge for Apple is to keep coming up with proprietary products that fuel its business model, which is based on innovation and R&D for both hardware and software. Apples pricing strategies include setting the price high at the start of launching a new product. After gaining some profits from its early customers who are often fascinated with new technology, Apple seems to reduce its prices in order to make it affordable and popular among other competitive products. Not to mention the fact that Apple prices change according to its

customers as well as geographical locations. Basically, the company adapts prices according to the customers ability to pay in different countries, in addition to applying versioning and skimming pricing strategies.

REFERENCES http://voices.yahoo.com/apple-computer-products-features-5195047.html http://www.scribd.com/doc/88464355/Apple-Inc http://www.scribd.com/doc/73665668/83/Wireless-Input-Device-Does-Not-Pair

http://uwmktg301.blogspot.in/2010/01/integrated-marketing-mix-4-ps.html http://wp.tlt.psu.edu/gww5102/2012/01/31/product-life-cycle/