Apple's Developing Strategy

What recommendations would you make to allow Apple to strengthen its position in its most important market?

Based on the evaluation analysis we have worked on, we highly recommend that Apple should continuously pursue the broad differentiation strategy to keep their image consistent with its initial vision "Think Differently" since its founding days. This slogan has been a mainspring for Apple's success.

To be specific, we have come up with a specific course of actions that Apple can employ to reinforce its standing:

i. Customer service: To strengthen its market position, Apple should further expand their retailing chain store on a global scale to service more effectively its huge customer base that is scattered around the world, giving them a sense of "Apple experience". Along with that, they can integrate other in-store amenities to enhance the shopping experience of customers right when they walk in the store.

To grab more market share in its most important market such as iPad, iPhone, Apple should sporadically offer irresistibly special promotion to draw more customers to try their products and get them loyal with the company.

ii. Start-up Acquisition: Apple should also acquire the budding start-up company whose ideas, patents or products has a huge potential for helping Apple better develop their products and at the same time, by so doing, they can keep their R&D cost to a minimum and avoid likely patent wars with other technology and digital companies in this domain in the future.

iii. Chinese market: As a matter of fact, Chinese population accounts for roughly one-seventh of the world population with 700 million mobile phone users yet sadly, Apple has been unable to dominate this fertile market because of counterfeit industry in this country and a high portion of population with low income. As a result, in its quest to become a true world leader in technology realm, Apple must step up the game to attack the China market with all resources and capabilities at its disposal. To obtain a large market share in China, the first thing Apple must take under consideration is price. One way for it to do that is to offer iPhone version with limited features with lower price along with other promotions to get customers attracted and buy its products.

Apart from that, Apply must also figure out a way of designing their product that is difficult to be counterfeited since Chinese have a knack for copy-cat.

iv. Improve the efficiency of supply chain: As supply chain has been always a biggest driver of profits of Silicon Valley-based company, Apple should work more closely with its manufacturers and suppliers to better design and produce the components of its high-tech products with detailed-to-the-bone specification to preempt problems that could happen as in the case of iPhone 4's antenna. With such a high reputation for top-notch product's quality, even a minuscule blunder could sabotage Apple's image and retard its standing in the market that could be easily overtaken by other rivals.

Furthermore, it should take bold steps to split the cost of improving factory conditions with its primary foreign manufacturer that it outsources its value chain activities to. As a matter of fact, it would bean effective way of putting