Global Business Strategy – Apple
Apple, Inc. is the largest company in the world it seems. It did not become this way over night. We will mention the company profile and what exactly they do as well as the marketing strategies that they have when entering markets. We will also discuss the international activities used by Apple, Inc.
Apple is a US based company that sells as well as manufactures products such as computers, phones, media devices, and peripherals. Products that are manufactured are Iphones, Ipads, Macbook, Ipod, MAC OS X, Apple TV, and much more. This company was founded in April 1976 by Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak, and Ronald Wayne. The company is based in Culpertino, CA and is continually growing at an alarming rate.
Apple international activities are the exact same as in the US. They offer products and services in more than 80 countries. The biggest international hit is the infamous Iphone. Last quarter alone the iphones that were active, 63% were outside of the US. The newest venture for Apple is China (Jan 2012). There are 33 more countries to come in the near future for the iOS App store. They also provide technical support as well all all other services that are offered in the US.
Apple when entering china, did not have a strategy. This could have been disaster, however they pulled it off simply because they are much like the chinese in the fact that Apples decision making is done by one individual. This kept the chinese from playing the keys players at apple against each other. Apple waited until china consumers could afford the products, this way the didnt have to drop the asking prices of the products they offer.
Apple uses the transitional approach when entering markets. They introduce the products in a given country according to the needs and demands. Products are slowly integrated into new countries to see how they perform in the test markets for that country. This is why not all of Apples products are available in all countries. If there is going to be no demand then why waste the time of manufacturing for those particular items or products.
Apple uses other methods in conjunction with the transitional approach. They have made it known that they will market second. It seems as Apple takes a look at the companies who release first and find out how they can make it better by making it a better looking device and more easy to use than the competitors.