Apple’s

Positionning

Vision & Culture of Apple• Distinct marketing approach

“ People talk about technology, but Apple was a marketing company. It was the marketing company of the decade”

John Sculley ex-Apple CEO

• Design• Apple Community (Apple Store…)

Porter 5 Forces Analysis

Threat of new competition

Threat of substitute products or services

Bargaining power of customers (buyers)Bargaining power of suppliers

Intensity of competitive rivalry

Where to compete ?• Phones• Music devices (MP3…)• Digital Media• Soft/Hardware• Tablet• Computer• TVs

How to compete ?• Simplicity• Design a full experience• Passionate customers• Sell at a premium• Cross-sell the product line• Element of surprise

Apple’s SWOTSTRENGTHS

• Brand perception & Advertising• Strong leading team• Focus on detail, quality &

reliability

WEAKNESSES• Price of Apple products• The big cost of constant R&D• Closed Software

OPPORTUNITIES• Create a new market• Constant Market Growth• Loyal Customer Base

THREATS• Intense competition• Good ideas are easily copied• Initial Skepticism

Mission Statement

« Our mission is to bring the best personal computing experience to

students, educators, creative professionals and consumers around

the world through innovative hardware, software and Internet

offerings  »

Settings objectives• Market share / Sales growth

• Penetration rate How many Apple devices per home?

• Substitution rate Does people change their former products for Apple’s ones?

Strategy selectionWhy acquisitions ?

Getting into new markets

Acquire new technologies without additional R&D investments

(Re)acting faster than starting from scratch in quickly evolving markets

3 TargetedCompanies

Purpose: Acquire a direct competitorADVANTAGES DRAWBACKS

• Increase market shares• Different target audience: Professionals’ smartphones• Economies of scale • Patents

• No additional gains on our current customers• Is it consistent with Apple’s strategy? (one brand)

Purpose: Widen our products offer

ADVANTAGES DRAWBACKS• Sell headphones and speakers of high quality with iPod/iPhone• Already recommended by Apple’s website • Apple is an historical music provider (iTunes)

• Bose’s clients are not necessarily Apple’s ones• Non-listed company makes it harder to buy

Purpose: Develop a new product internally

ADVANTAGES DRAWBACKS• A strategic alliance is already implemented to develop the iTV•May lower the dependency towards Samsung• Current’s price of Sharp is very low ($3bn at 2$ per share vs $15bn 1 year ago)• Recognized specialist of high-end tactile screen

• Limited capacity (hence Samsung would remain Apple’s biggest supplier)• The company is in trouble (see share price drop)

Our choice: Buying Sharp• Why not a fusion?For Apple it is more important to have the advantage of being independent in the production of the screens. Since Sharp actually worth 5 times less than last year, it’s a good opportunity to buy it, not sharing profits with anybody.• How?With cash. Apple has actually 30 billion dollars of cash (cash only). Sharp actual price is below 2,5 billions.