Discussion

1. Nature of business
Apple Inc. is the world’s second largest information technology company. It is
headquartered in Cupertino, California, and is involved in the manufacturing, designing,
and marketing of technology devices such as mobiles, computers and software. Apple
was founded by Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak, and Ronald Wayne on April 1976. The
company was incorporated as Apple Computer, Inc. on January 3, 1977, and was
renamed as Apple Inc. on January 9, 2007, to reflect its shifted focus toward consumer
electronics.
Apple’s first product was the Apple I personal computer kit on April 11, 1976. In
1977, Apple introduced their second product is Apple II, which spawned an entire
family of home computers and became widely popular worldwide. On May 19, 2001,
Apple opened the first official Apple retail stores in California and Virginia. In the same
year, Apple introduced Apple iPod portable digital audio player, reflecting Steve Jobs’
desire to “bring customers what they want”. In 2003, Apple introduced the iTunes
Stores, which offered online music downloads. In the following years, Apple continued
to launch superbly popular consumer products. In, 2006, it introduced the first laptop
MacBook Pro, which was easy to carry, thin and had a then unsurpassed battery life.
In 2007, it introduced the iPhone and Apple TV. The iPhone was designed with a
multi-touch touchscreen in a way in which users can interact directly with the display
thereby removing the mouse and physical keyboard. Apple launched the App store (IOS)
to sell applications for the IPod touch and IPhone in July 2008.
At present, Apple sells a range of products and services which includes the iPad,
Mac, iPhone, iPod, Apple TV and software applications, among others. Those are
available worldwide while software applications can also be found through Mac Store,
iBookstore, iTunes Store, and iOS App Store.
2. Business practices
a. Early entry into the market
As Sun Zi said those who arrive first at the battleground will have sufficient time
to rest and prepare against the enemy.
In the personal computer industry, competitors tend to copy each other’s offerings,
hence, most of today’s most profitable companies in this field sells similar products.
Apple is no exception but once in its history did it sold something new, and it was a
runaway success.
In 1984, Apple launched the Macintosh, the first personal computer to be sold
without a programming language at all. Alone, the product was just like any other at
the time, but it sold widely with the introduction of the LaserWriter, the first PostScript
laser printer to be sold at a reasonable price, and PageMaker, an early desktop
publishing package. The combination of these three products were responsible for the
creation of the desktop publishing market. The Macintosh was particularly popular due
to its advanced graphics capabilities, which had necessarily been built in to create the
intuitive Macintosh GUI. Its success helped keep Apple as the second-largest PC
manufacturer for the next decade. This established Apple as a popular computer
manufacturer in the world market and paved the way for the continued genius of its
founder, Steve Jobs.
The launch of the Macintosh pioneered many different tactics that are used today
in launching technology products, including the "multiple exclusive," event marketing,
creating a mystique around a product and giving an inside look into a product's creation.
 b. Bluff
Sun Zi said: When I desire not to fight, even though I may be occupying any
ground and not erecting any defences (like merely drawing a demarcated line on
the ground to defend it), the enemy will still be unable to wage battle against me.
Apple is a master of bluff and deception as it has always been a very secretive
company. Employees there are not encouraged to mix with other project colleagues or
with other employees from competing companies. Whenever, Apple launches a new
products, it goes into stealth mode. Any enquiries are brushed off, excuses given, until
the day of the launch itself. Former employees have claimed that Apple uses bluff
because is that the new product won’t steal the thunder from existing products.
According to Apple logic, if consumers know exactly what’s coming, they may hold
off on a purchase for fear it will be superseded by the next generation, thereby causing
reduced sales and profits.
The famous Steve Jobs, its founder, was a master of the treatment. Jobs would
conduct confrontational interview questions which allowed him to determine a new
employee’s finesse for the company. An executive who was interviewed remembered
him challenging the executive’s assertion that Apple should sell music. This was a time
when the iPod already was a modest success, but users lacked an easy way to buy songs.
Jobs ridiculed the idea during this executive’s interview, but within months he
announced the iTunes Music Store. Whether by design or simply because it was his
way, this allowed Jobs to learn if a recruit could handle Apple’s rough culture.
In recent years, Apple has continued with its bluffing tactics to keep competitors
and consumers guessing alike as to their motives. For instance, Apple is rumoured to
be planning a car project using the deliberately vague name SixtyEight as a cover. Leaks
say that Apple is planning to produce its own car for release in 2019. Will the car be
another cover for yet another, even more secret project, or will it come to fruition with
Apple’s brand of interesting and novel devices, only time will tell. But, this proves that
Apple as an institution loves to deceive the world about its projects, surprising everyone
at the very last moment, creating maximum attention and enthusiasm towards it.
 c. Absorb and adapt
As Sun Zi said so, in the conduct of war, there is no fixed situation and condition,
just like water has no constant shape and configuration.
Apple is different from its many competitors Microsoft, Dell and others, in its
approach to products. Apple mentality was always about its uniqueness, and attention
to detail is part of that ethos. In Apple, executives and planners focus on making
products that they think consumers will like, and those products need not be a new
MacBook Pro or the next new iPhone.
To give it credit, Apple has chosen to say no repeatedly. For many years, Apple
never made a phone, preferring instead to focus on its personal computer business, often
protesting that it didn’t want to be in the phone business. In truth, Apple actually started
developing the iPad before the iPhone, but it switched gears because it felt that the
timing wasn’t right for a tablet. Apple acts like water in the sense that its plans keep on
changing to suit executive satisfaction or fit it incoming technology. Apple under Jobs
was famous for the sheer number of abandoned and cancelled projects. Jobs would
often contradict previous suggestions and micromanage project lines. The result of all
that apparent inconstancy confused competitors, brought out a series of brilliant
products like the MacBook, iPhone, and iPad, and propelled Apple into the second
largest computer manufacturer into the world.
3. Advantage
Apple’s advantage in being the first in the market with a new computer system,
the Macintosh, paved the way for Apple’s image as an outstanding manufacturer of
computer. As, this was the first mass-market personal computer with its own graphical
user interface and mouse, the Macintosh became the forerunner of a family of
computers and laptops until the present day.
The advantage of Apple being first is that this creates a strong brand image among
consumers. For example, Apple wasn’t the first to use the word ‘i’ in its products but
no one can deny that it was the first to interpret that ‘i’ as an extension of consumers’
need, powerful and user-friendly applications at their very fingertips. Hence, today,
when any product with a little ‘i’ in front will surely remind users of Apple and its
phones and tablets. This “first”, creates a strong brand equity, swinging consumers to
buying Apple products because they can see that Apple’s offerings are simply good.
Company first introduce their product like iPhone, many of the customers will be able
to recognize iPhone is Apple company product. Besides, other competitors cannot copy
this innovation because the use of such ‘i’s has become synonymous with Apple. Any
other copy, say ‘u’-something will only be ridiculed. And, with today’s strong copyright
laws, any attempt to wrestle Apple’s market share by aping its product names will only
be met by lawsuits and hefty fines.
Moreover, being first in one way or another also allows Apple to be a trend leader,
leading other companies in their understanding and use of new technology. For instance,
when Apple first introduced the latest technology and applications in the iPhone 6S,
this drove people to form long queues just to buy it. With its many and specific features,
such as 3D touch, improved cameras, A9 chip which is the most advanced chip ever in
a smartphone, it was certainly a high-end phone. But the main reason was that people
wanted to have the satisfaction of being able to say “I was the first.” It is Apple’s lure
as a trend leader that attracts people to brave weather and fellow mortals alike just to
get a new Apple product before anyone else does. This will attract more customers to
consume their products because nowadays chasing the latest product is the “in” thing.
 In addition, the advantage of being a first company introduce a product, or in
Apple’s case, the ‘i’ concept is to control buyer-switching costs. Due to the past
experience of using its product the consumers will develop strong loyalty to the brand.
Since they are loyal to the company products, they will find it difficult to switch to other
brands’ products, so the company can save on its advertising costs. People always find
it easier to remember who is first, and very difficult to remember who is second.
As for Apple’s bluffing tactics, Apple reasons that by bluffing, and deliberately
withholding information about product launches, it protects both the new and existing
products. Announcing products before they are ready gives the competition time to
respond, raises customer expectations, and opens a company up to the carping of critics
who are bashing an idea rather than an actual product.
 Disadvantages
Apple is a company of paradoxes. As the author or many firsts and a leading
proponent of a flexible mode of churning out consumer products, a dark side unknown
to many is how its people are genuinely fearful of what would happen if their massive
gambles fail to wow consumers. The creative and seemingly formless side of the
business was dominated by Steve Jobs till his death and is now made up of lifers or
near lifers who “value only an Apple way of doing things—hardly the typical creative
mind-set.” This hardening of change by senior executives to think of “what Steve would
do” actually fossilizes thinking and inhibits creativity to a narrow scope in terms of
promotion and product designing. For example, when the iPhone 4S was launched,
“there was an awkward silence in the room as the energy seeped out of it.” To the
reporters, although the phone had a faster processor, a better camera and other new
features, but it was not a new phone physically, and it wasn’t an iPhone 5. People were
expecting something new, and for once, Apple disappointed them.
Apple’s mode of bluff may also help to inspire imitators to its method, which may
cause Apple its market share and customer base. Because Apple is such a secretive
company and a deceptive one too compared to its competitors, it would lose a great
chunk of information if those companies were to imitate its methods. Many have
regarded this as a grievous error on Apple’s part. By purposely withholding or
generalizing information, in its approach to business as well as to hardware and
software development, critics say that this very foxy nature allowed a technologically
inferior Microsoft to dominate the personal computer industry instead.
Besides, developing a new product is a high risk thing for the company. Apple
moves differently from its competitors in the way it designs its products. Apple
procedure is to develop many different working models, before one which is found
fitting is brought to its overseas factories for production. This method allows the
maximum amount of creativity and last-minute solutions but this does incur a high cost
of production. A failed product may affect the company in profits as well as image,
since Apple is the role model of innovation and uniqueness.