Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Economic Environment
1. Introduction
Apple
Inc.
is
an
American
multinational
corporation
founded
in
1977
by
Steven
Jobs
and
Steven
Wozniak.
The
company
designs,
manufactures
and
markets
a
range
of
personal
computers,
mobile
communication
and
media
devices,
and
portable
digital
music
players
selling
them
worldwide.
In
2011
Apple
became
the
most
valuable
company
in
the
world.
Apple's
products
can
be
grouped
into
different
product
lines,
which
are:
Macintosh,
iTunes,
iPhone,
iPad,
iPod,
peripheral
products,
software
products
and
computer
technologies,
and
Internet
software
and
services.
Apple
launched
the
iPhone
in
June
of
2007.
The
device
combines
a
mobile
phone,
a
widescreen
music
player
with
touch
controls,
and
an
Internet
communications
device
in
a
single
handheld
product.
Based
on
the
company's
multi-touch
user
interface,
iOS,
iPhone
features
desktop-class
email,
web
browsing,
searching,
and
maps
and
is
compatible
with
both
Macs
and
Windows-based
computers.
Picture
1
iPhone
3G
First
iPhone
sold
in
Portugal
Source:
www.apple.com
The
cell
phone
companies
operating
in
Portugal
sold
5.6
million
phones
in
2009.
The
smartphone
sub-market
represented
11%
of
the
all-cellular
phone
market.
Brand
Nokia
Samsung
Vodafone
Others
Total
Sales
2009
2332000
1913000
371000
995000
5611000
2010
2254000
1849000
589000
1409000
6101000
Sales
Variation
2010
vs
2009
-3%
-3%
59%
42%
9%
Table 1: Cell phone sales Source: IDC European Mobile Phone Tracker, February 2011
HG
In 2009, Nokia lead the market with a 42% share followed by Samsung with 34% share and Vodafone, as a cell phone brand, with 7% share. In 2010 the top three players of the market kept their positions.
37%
In
2010,
6.1
million
phones
were
sold.
The
smartphone
market
increased
93%
representing
19%
of
the
all-cellular
phone
market.
Brand
Nokia
Research
in
Motion
Samsung
Apple
Others
Total
Sales
2009
371000
62000
47000
44200
72800
597000
2010
487000
132000
90000
89000
353000
1151000
Sales
Variation
2010
vs
2009
31%
113%
91%
101%
384%
93%
In 2009 the smartphone market was lead by Nokia with a 62% share followed by RIM with 10%, Samsung with 8% and Apple with 7%. In 2010 the top players kept their positions with RIM and Apple increasing their market share.
8% 8% 11%
HG
4.1. Competitive Rivalry We can start our analysis of the smartphone industry looking to its competitive rivalry. If the access to an industry is easy then competitive rivalry will probably be high. This is the case for most of the mobile phone market. If customers can easily choose between substitute products then the rivalry will be high. Competitive rivalry will be elevated if: - It is difficult to leave the industry.
HG
- There is not much differentiation between the products sold and the customers. - Competitors are around the same size. - Competitors have comparable strategies. A lot of companies are creating smartphones that have some of the features of the iPhone, but almost any of them have the niche market skills that Apple hopes to take. While all cell phones make phone calls, some others play music and offer multimedia features Apple differentiates itself by its integrated system, iOS + AppStore + iCloud. 4.2. Power of suppliers Suppliers are vital for the industry. Raw materials are indispensable to produce smartphones. This means that suppliers have some power. This power comes from: - If the supplier is the only who can provide a particular part or material. - If the cost of changing a supplier is high. - If there is no substitute for their product. The iPhone has very exclusive specifications and is very distinct in sourcing its parts. The touchscreen is one of the most important parts of the iPhone. The supplier from this particular part is Balda, a German company, that makes glass-surfaced screens that are more sensitive, thinner, and harder to scratch or smudge than the usual plastic displays. Apple patented software that allows a user to place thumb and forefinger on the display, and then spread them apart to magnify an image. Balda is the only one who can supply the part making Apple vulnerable for the first rule of the Power of suppliers. 4.3. Power of buyers Costumers can apply great impact and control over an industry in certain situations. This occurs when: - There is little differentiation over the products and where replacements can be found easily. - Costumers are sensitive to price. - Change of product is not expensive. A lot of costumers are price sensitive when it comes to mobile phones. Some only want a phone for free or a very low cost. The high price of the iPhones, 590 to 690, will discourage many, leading to the adoption of other smartphones. The power of the buyer will apply some pressure on the iPhone.
HG
4.4. Threat of substitutes Are their different products that customers can buy over smartphones that can offer the same benefit for the same or less price? The threat of substitute is high when: - The price of alternative product drops. - It is easy for costumers to change from one alternate product to another. - Customers are prepared to substitute. There is no one substitute for all the capability of smartphones. To substitute a smartphone you need a cell phone, a gps device, a camera, a music player, a netbook therefore the cost to the substitute is higher than the smartphone. 4.5. Threat of new entrant If a company can enter easily into an industry then the threat of new entrants is high. Organizations needs to address some concerns: - Are the customers loyal to existing products? - How fast can new entrants attain economies of scale? - Do new entrants have access to suppliers? Almost all mobile phone companies, Nokia, Samsung, LG, Sony Ericsson, Motorola, launched products addressing the smartphone market. Apple, Dell, Acer, Asus and others, computer companies, enter the mobile phone market lunching smartphones. Others can try to enter the smartphone market but the financial, technical, productive barriers are high.
HG
Until now Apple strategy has been very successful. They managed to differentiate their phone from the competitors adding new features at each release, like Siri in the iPhone 4S, enabling them to stay ahead of the competition. Apple had in June 2011 $76.4bn of reserves. Apple could use this money to secure the control of key suppliers, like Balda, ensuring the source of important parts. They also could use their reserves to acquire smaller firms that develop systems that they could add into their devices, like Siri in 2010, enabling them to differentiate even more their product. Apple presented recently is 5th phone iteration, iPhone 4S, but kept the past two iterations on the market, iPhone 4 and iPhone 3GS. In the Portuguese market the average smartphone price is 230 almost half of the cheapest iPhone, 590. Apple could use the three phones they have on the market to differentiate prices allowing to reach a higher range of consumers.
6. Bibliography
Datamonitor,
2011.
Apple
Inc.
Company
Profile.
London:
Datamonitor.
IDC,
2010.
IDC
Notcias
-
Mercado
Portugus
de
Telemveis
Decresceu
7%
em
2009,
Afirma
a
IDC.
[online]
Available
at:
< http://idc.pt/press/pr_2010-03-22.jsp>
[Accessed
27
October
2011]
IDC,
2011.
IDC
Notcias
-
Mercado
Portugus
de
Telefones
Mveis
Cresce
9%
em
2010.
[online]
Available
at:
< http://idc.pt/press/pr_2011-03-16.jsp>
[Accessed
27
October
2011]
Bernstein
Research,
2009.
Apple:
The
next
waves
of
growth.
New
York:
Bernstein
Research.
BBC,
2011.
Apple
holding
more
cash
than
USA.
[online]
Available
at:
<http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-14340470>
[Accessed
9
November
2011]
OReilly
Radar,
2010.
Apple's
segmentation
strategy,
and
the
folly
of
conventional
wisdom.
[online]
Available
at:
<http://radar.oreilly.com/2010/09/apple-segmentation- strategy-an.html>
[Accessed
9
November
2011]
HG