Marketing Firm Case Solution And Analysis, HBR Case Study Solution & Analysis of Harvard Case Studies

Strategic Analysis

Marketing Mix

Product

The company is offering multiple products like Mac, iPod, iPhone, and iTunes and other developers and server as well. In each of these segments, the company is providing numerous products for the market and the target market is essentially the same or differs slightly.

Place

Placement or distribution is done through the retail stores of the company as well as from other stores. However, the 200 global retail stores of the company hold the major distribution of the products.

Price

The company is a premium brand, which is why the pricing strategy followed by the company is premium pricing. However, recently the company has shown leverage in the prices and started to adopt price skimming strategy as well.

Promotion

The company has been using explicit marketing techniques and vast mediums to promote the brand, the use of social; media is enhancing and growing and the company has been using this channel effectively. Apart from that, different promotion and discount offers are also provided as part of the promotional strategy.

Porter’s Five Forces

Bargaining Power of Buyers: LOW

The company has acquired a huge customer loyalty and has acquired a significant place in the consumer's consideration set. This scenario suggests that consumers or the buyers in the industry don't have the power to bargain as there are very few providers of highly efficient and innovative products. This aspect is also supported by the stronghold of Apple in the industry that has always focused on developing new segments in the industry to gain first mover advantage that gives buyers a very minimal chance to bargain.

Bargaining Power of Suppliers: LOW

Suppliers in the industry do not have the luxury to claim high prices or bargain as there are ample suppliers for small chips and other materials required. However, Apple also maintained good relationships with their suppliers and is seeking different materials from different suppliers. Therefore, it can easily be stated that the players in the industry face no threat from suppliers and can easily switch a supplier due to low switching cost.

Threat of New Entrant: LOW

The industry has significant entry barriers that discourage new entrants from entering the market. One of the most important barriers is the investment or the startup cost that needs to be ample and heavy as the industry is highly dependent on technology. Secondly, assessing new and innovate technology and huge investment in research and development to create product differentiation is also a difficult task.

Threat of Substitutes: MODERATE

Currently, the iPhone is a new and pleasant innovation and has opened a new segment of the smart phone market; therefore currently the industry has no substitutes.

However, viewing the overall industry the substitutes are present, but do not present a significant threat to the industry or any player especially Apple. Nonetheless, the company can face significant challenges in the near future as many companies are becoming technology efficient and are investing heavily in research and development.

Competitive Rivalry: HIGH

The rivalry in the industry is highly intense, although Apple is enjoying market leadership and has constantly developed new products to stay ahead of the competition, however the competitors are also pacing up to match the company.

SWOT Analysis

Strengths

The brand name and brand image of the company allows the company to leverage this strength and introduce new products in the market. The extensive use of innovation and technology accounts for the strength of the company and the sales and profits are also significantly high. On the other hand, the company has a strong user base, a rich user interface and strong marketing hold and expertise that will help the company make a product successful with the launch.Marketing Firm Case Solution

Weaknesses

Although Apple is a renowned brand but with the iPhone, however the company is targeting high-end consumers and charging high price that restrict the company to target a niche. This strategy does not allow Apple to go beyond and include new consumers as well to increase their consumer base and lower end consumers that are huge in numbers is neglected.

On the other hand, the company does not have a strong distribution channel and the segmentation of the company for iPhone is not done properly and is only described high-end consumers while the age and demographics are not clear. The phone is not considered friendly for corporate users and is only targeting youth, but still not targeting the huge segment due to the high price......................

This is just a sample partial case solution. Please place the order on the website to order your own originally done case solution.