Apple Inc.

in 2009 Case Questions

1. How well has Steve Jobs done as Apples CEO? Has he done a good job of performing the five tasks of strategic management discussed in Chapter 2? Why or why not? What grade would you give him? 1. Developing a strategic vision

2. Setting objectives 3. Crafting a strategy to achieve the objectives and the vision 4. Implementing and executing the strategy 5. Monitoring developments, evaluating performance, and initating corrective adjustments.

6. In which industrycomputers or digital music playersis competition more intense? Prepare a five-forces analysis of each industry to support your position. 7. What does a competitive strength assessment reveal about Apple, as compared to other main players in the digital music industry? Use the methodology in Table 4.2 to support your answer. Among these digital music player competitors, which company enjoys the strongest competitive position? Who is in the weakest overall competitive position? Has Apples strategy resulted in a substantial competitive advantage over its rivals in the digital music player industry? What is the basis for whatever competitive advantage Apple has?

Apples key success factors have high strength ratings compared to competitors especially in quality/product performance, reputation/image, and new product innovation ability. Despite new product innovation, Other competitors such as Creative Labs have a lack of financial resources and a weaker relative cost position. Sansa enjoys the strongest competitive position with its low prices, aggressive marketing and comparable features to the i-pod nano. Microsoft is in the weakest overall competitive position due to its poor development of the Zune Marketplace where the company places a condition of accessing your downloaded music only by monthly subscription service. Apples competitive advantage derives from a distinctive competence through its development of i-tunes. Itunes allowed customers to purchase music, videos, movies, and tv shows and play them on any of the ipods. Itunes eventually became the number one music retailer in the US. What is your assessment of Apple Computers financial performance the past three years? (Use the financial ratios in the Appendix of the text (pages 240-241) as a guide in doing your financial analysis.) 8. What accounts for Apples noteworthy success in the markets for smart phones and

digital music players, but its overall weak showing in the computer industry?