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Apple SWOT analysis

E

erandall38

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Jun 24, 2007
463
1
I am doing a project for my marketing class. I need to make a SWOT
analysis for Apple the company in general.
For those of you who do not know what SWOT is:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swot_analysis


I plan on doing 5 bulletin points for each; Strengths, Weaknesses,
Opportunities, and Threats.

I basically have the just of it done but since I did a similar report
last year, thought it would be fun to get everyones views and opinions.

Join in if you would like, and I appreciate the insight.

EDIT:
I am also doing a SWOT analysis for Apple's iPhone. If you would like to add insight there as well you can find it: https://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?p=4819222#post4819222
 
Here are a few:

S

Closed ecosystem gives total control of user experience from R&D to retail sale. Competitors have to fight for shelf-space and use whatever Microsoft OS and Intel reference designs come out, which leads to a lot of $499 junk laptops loaded with crapware, on a shelf at OfficeDepot where the main user purchase assistance is "LetmeseeifIhaveoneinthebackstillinthebox". Apple gets to set the specs in detail, and deliver to the customer through a controlled retail experience (Apple Store, Apple On-line Store) that helps them explain the value to the customer and extract a premium for that value.

W

Higher R&D costs than Dell etc. due to above. Slightly higher channel costs due to above. Can't be distracted by every dead-end niche (headless iMac) though vocal minorities will attempt to draw Apple into these traps. Will never compete at the bottom "junk" end of the market and that will limit unit sales.

O

iPhone, bootcamp, and virtualization can be re-entries into corporate sales if Apple stakes out a premium position rather than chasing the beige box market. iPhone is already phenomenally successful and can be leveraged to much higher levels with attention to corporate market and by developing multiple price points. Set top box market has a dominant player, Tivo, with many weaknesses that could be exploited by Apple TV 3.0 or 4.0.

T

Highly dependent on consumer purchases which are more likely to contract during slow economic periods compared to business purchases. Record/Television/Movie content providers are key suppliers and act as if they were sole sources, giving them considerable power to impact Apple earnings. Slim chance that open source operating systems could gain a foothold in traditional markets but the possibility should be defended. Microsoft is the dominant PC operating system player and could stop market share loss with simple steps, such as refining existing XP platform rather than attempting to roll the market to Vista. Special interests may persuade Apple to provide OS X on non-Apple hardware. This was a disaster in the OS 7/8 era, narrowly averted by withdrawing the licenses and purchasing the licensees. Apple will not be able to recover from the damage if it makes the same mistake again.

I plan on doing 5 bulletin points for each; Strengths, Weaknesses,
Opportunities, and Threats.
Click to expand...

Math class going well I hope? :)
 
Thanks for the response, great thoughts.

No I meant I was doing 5 bulletin points for each of the sections S,W,O,T
Like this:
S
-
-
-
-
-
W
-
-
-
-
-
O
-
-
-
-
-

etc,etc
 
Off the top of my head:

STRENGTHS

- Strong brand loyalty predicts return customers. It costs far less to keep an existing customer than to lure in a new one.

- Simple, easy-to-use design and concise product range attract customers (recall the Paradox of Too Much Choice).


WEAKNESSES

- Limited product range, especially absence from low-end desktop and netbook markets, limit potential market saturation and alienate some potential buyers. While many users will buy used Macs, Apple receives no profit from resale of used goods.

- General lack of regard for OSX and perceived higher costs make it difficult to achieve wide-spread adoption in the business sector, limiting potential market share.

OPPORTUNITIES

- Poor public perception of Windows Vista allows Apple to push OSX as an attractive alternative option for users.

- Success of Apple iPhone is a viable stepping stone for Apple to attract new users who previously had not owned an Apple computer.


THREATS

- Global economic situation is likely to reduce demand for higher-priced consumer items. Since Apple offers no lower-end alternatives, consumers will switch to other manufactures in the face of falling incomes.

- Windows 7 seems well-poised to correct many of the flaws of Vista and offer a "clean slate" for public perception, discrediting one of Apple's major selling points (i.e., that it's not Vista).
 
Your strengths, opportunities, and threats identification are OK, but you are completely off-target in your weaknesses analysis.

Demosthenes X said:
...

WEAKNESSES

- Limited product range, especially absence from low-end desktop and netbook markets, limit potential market saturation and alienate some potential buyers. While many users will buy used Macs, Apple receives no profit from resale of used goods.

- General lack of regard for OSX and perceived higher costs make it difficult to achieve wide-spread adoption in the business sector, limiting potential market share.

...
Click to expand...
Limited product range--Apple's products are profitable. Even in the best of times, only one or two Windows OEMs earns a profit. We now see even Microsoft forced to layoff workers to keep its head above water. We also see Dell take a major hit. Notice that we don't even talk about HP-Compaq anymore?

Low-end computers are cheaper for the customer to buy, but they are not a heck of a lot cheaper to manufacturer. The difference is red ink on the bottomline. Dell was notorious for using its low-end to get the customer "into the store" where it could then sell a computer that actually earned a profit.

Apple does not have to resort to bait-and-switch tactics. This customer is happy about that.

Lack of regard for OS X--I have no idea where you get that idea. The fact is that OS X is held in very high regard by the people who are familiar with it. Michael Dell begged Steve Jobs for a license. There are numerous websites devoted to porting OS X to commodity PCs. The only thing about OS X that people don't like is that you have to buy Apple hardware to get it.
 
erandall38 said:
I am doing a project for my marketing class. I need to make a SWOT
analysis for Apple the company in general.
For those of you who do not know what SWOT is:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swot_analysis


I plan on doing 5 bulletin points for each; Strengths, Weaknesses,
Opportunities, and Threats.

I basically have the just of it done but since I did a similar report
last year, thought it would be fun to get everyones views and opinions.

Join in if you would like, and I appreciate the insight.

EDIT:
I am also doing a SWOT analysis for Apple's iPhone. If you would like to add insight there as well you can find it: https://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?p=4819222#post4819222
Click to expand...

Dear erandall38,

There is an easier way to write a SWOT analysis of a company. I have used a FREE SWOT Analysis Generator.
It was completed in less than a MINUTE. All I had to do is to input company’s name and its industry of operations and choose from the extensive list of available strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats (you can input your own if necessary).
In just 2 CLICKS I got a proper SWOT analysis with an introduction, references and explanation of each point I have chosen. And THIS IS FREE!
Here is the link for you perusal: http://www.ivoryresearch.com/free-swot-analysis-generator.php

Kind regards,
Richard
 
RichardGold said:
Dear erandall38,

There is an easier way to write a SWOT analysis of a company. I have used a FREE SWOT Analysis Generator.
...
In just 2 CLICKS I got a proper SWOT analysis with an introduction, references and explanation of each point I have chosen. And THIS IS FREE!
Here is the link for you perusal: http://www.ivoryresearch.com/free-swot-analysis-generator.php

Kind regards,
Richard
Click to expand...
You don't believe that erandall38's professor knows about this site:rolleyes:
 
Damn, we got some pretty decent answers so far and I'm surprised a lot of points were missed, but i guess we all have different perceptions of Apple. Let me give a little input based on someone who just bought a mac, loves it, but doesn't hardly consider myself as part of the "apple cult"

Strengths
- Strong, reliable eco-system (OS)
- Easy to use, intuitive
- Small product footprints (saves office space)
- Attractive designs (yes, I had to say it)
- Product integrations (all their products connect/work with each other)

Weaknesses
- High Cost: can build a MUCH better spec'd computer for the same price or even hundreds to thousands less in most situations
- Application support is still incredibly limited: most users still will not be able to "only" run Mac OS and will find they still need Windows applications quite a bit.
- Practically zero gaming capabilities (due to parts used in the Mac)
- Non upgradeable. What you buy is pretty much what you're stuck with unless you're looking at the Mac Pro, and even that has its limitations, as it only supports about 4 graphics cards and none of them are the best available.
- Closed off eco-system, while being great for limiting itself to viruses, also means the user has little control of the system for customization.

Opportunities
- Branching out and working with more developers for more application support without the need of Windows.
- Upp'ing the specs in their systems to their PC counterparts. The days of "you're paying for the OS" is getting old when you consider for the cost of the highest end iMac you can buy a Core i7 PC that will outperform any Mac for the same price.
- Featuring a full sized keyboard on the 17" notebooks that also has a number pad. What the hell is up with all that wasted space?
- Providing better warranty support. Apple's warranty purchase plan is pretty horrible and you only get like 90 days standard service compared to everyone else at 1yr.
- Removing HDCP from the newly released iTunes HD Movie Store so that they can actually challenge Netflix and not only provide a service that's only valuable if you have an iPod or iPhone.

Threats
- Economic crisis is all ready seeing Apple's market share dip incredibly fast now that people don't want to spend the excess amounts of cash for a Mac when they can get a better spec'd PC for far less.
- Windows 7 is actually shaping up pretty nice and adding that to the cheaper cost of PC might actually challenge Apple's market share even further, especially for budget shoppers. At the very least, Windows 7 is nice enough to make sure that any PC users that were considering leaving to Mac might consider staying with PC now.


Sorry I couldn't really think of 5 bullets for Threats because I think we're all in agreement that for the most part, Price is really the only thing that's hurting Apple, especially now.
 
Swot Analysis

I would be extremely interested in reading your SWOT analysis of Apple and i found this thread to be very helpful. I am not comfortable leaving my email on this thread tho and i only registered in order to contact you specifically. I would really appreciate a response as to how to go about it.....that is if you are willing to send it to me.

thank you.
 
twinkletoes said:
I would be extremely interested in reading your SWOT analysis of Apple and i found this thread to be very helpful. I am not comfortable leaving my email on this thread tho and i only registered in order to contact you specifically. I would really appreciate a response as to how to go about it.....that is if you are willing to send it to me.

thank you.
Click to expand...

hey send me an instant message on aim/ichat with your email and I will help you out. I tried contacting you on here but it looks like you blocked all communication. Sorry bad response time but I am not on here as much.
my aim is erandall38
 
why dont you just use the SWOT provided by apple?


its to long to post here but if you give me a email i can email the 32page document provided by apple that covers

company
key facts
business description
hisotory
key employees
major products and services
revenue analysis
SWOT analysis
top competitors
company view
locations and subsidiaries

it is a pdf file from a database that my school pays for
 
hey pcb can i get that info you posted about? i added you as a friend.. can you send private messages on here so i dont have to post my email to everyone?
 
erandall38 said:
I am doing a project for my marketing class. I need to make a SWOT
analysis for Apple the company in general.
For those of you who do not know what SWOT is:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swot_analysis


I plan on doing 5 bulletin points for each; Strengths, Weaknesses,
Opportunities, and Threats.

I basically have the just of it done but since I did a similar report
last year, thought it would be fun to get everyones views and opinions.

Join in if you would like, and I appreciate the insight.

EDIT:
I am also doing a SWOT analysis for Apple's iPhone. If you would like to add insight there as well you can find it: https://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?p=4819222#post4819222
Click to expand...

did you find anything? let me know!
 
PCB Documents

Hi PCB:

I am interested in obtaining a copy of your document. I added you as a contact, I hope we can facilitate the process.

Thank you!
 
pcb said:
why dont you just use the SWOT provided by apple?


its to long to post here but if you give me a email i can email the 32page document provided by apple that covers

company
key facts
business description
hisotory
key employees
major products and services
revenue analysis
SWOT analysis
top competitors
company view
locations and subsidiaries

it is a pdf file from a database that my school pays for
Click to expand...

I just added you as a friend also. Would you please send me the Apple SWOT analysis in PDF? Thank you.
 
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