BRIEF COMPANY HISTORY
FOUNDERS
Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak, Ronald Wayne
DATE STARTED
April 1, 1976
ORIGINAL LOCATION
Cupertino, California
MARKET SEGMENTATION/ INDUSTRY
Operating Software
- HomePod Software (current version is 13.4.x)
- iOS (current version is 14.x)
- IPadOS (current version is 14.x)
- macOS (current version is 11.0 Big Sur)
- tvOS (current version is 14.x)
- watchOS (current version is watchOS 7.x)
-
Application Software
- iLife - App Store
- iWork - Apple Music
- iCloud - FaceTime
- iTunes - GarageBand
- iPod Shuffle - iMessage
- iPod Touch - iMovie
Hardware
- Apple TV - iPad Mini
- Apple Watch - iPad Air
- Apple Watch SE - iPhone
- HomePod - iPhone SE
- HomePod mini - iPod touch
- iMac - Mac Pro
- iMac Pro - Mac Mini
- iPad - MacBook Air
- iPad Pro - MacBook Pro
Peripheral and Devices
- AirPods - Lightning to USB
- AirPods Pro Camera Adapter
- Apple Pencil - Mac Pro Wheels Kit
- Apple Remote - Mac Pro Feet Kit
- EarPods - Magic Keyboard
- iPhone TTY Adapter - Magic Keyboard for iPad
- Lightning Digital AV Pro
Adapter - Magic Mouse 2
- Lightning to 3.5 mm - Magic Trackpad
Headphone Jack - MagSafe Charger
Adapter - Pro Display XDR
- Lightning to 30-pin - Pro Stand
Adapter - Remote Loop
- Lightning to SD Card - Siri Remote
Camera Reader - Smart Cover
- Lightning to USB 3 - Smart Keyboard
Camera Adapter - Smart Keyboard Folio
- SuperDrive
CURRENT CEO/ CHAIRMAN OF THE BOARD
Chairman: Arthur D. Levinson (2000- present)
CEO: Tim Cook (2011- present)
COO: Jeff Williams (2015- present)
CURRENT LOCATION
One Apple Park Way in Cupertino, California, United States
BRANCHES AROUND THE WORLD
511 retail stores in 25 countries as of 2020
Finance
Apple’s Threats
1. Rising Labor Costs in Other Countries
The rising cost of labour in foreign markets is an aspect that is
putting a serious dent in Apple financial muscle. The costs involved
in contracting manufacturers from countries like China, greatly
shrink the profit margins or push the prices a bit higher.
https://www.statista.com/statistics/744071/manufacturi
ng-labor-costs-per-hour-china-vietnam-
mexico/#:~:text=Read%20more-,Manufacturing%20labor
%20costs%20per%20hour,%2C%20Vietnam%2C
%20Mexico%202016%2D2020&text=In%202018%2C
%20manufacturing%20labor%20costs,2.73%20U.S.
%20dollars%20in%20Vietnam.
https://www.hrone.com/china-labor-market/
2. Market Penetration
There has been a significant change in market penetration by other
brands in the smartphone market. Companies like Samsung, HTC,
and Lenovo are using Android software to create new smartphones.
Currently, Android has captured 72.23% of the market share, while
Apple has only 24.55% of the market share globally.
Report: Xiaomi beats Apple to become world’s third biggest smartphone firm
Xiaomi, with a record quarter, overtook Apple as the world’s
third-biggest smartphone maker.
https://www.androidauthority.com/global-smartphone-market-q3-
2020-1173152/
https://podnews.net/update/iphone-android
3. Apple Bullied By Counterfeits
Apple has become vulnerable to third world countries illegally
utilizing the brand image to sell counterfeit products. The illegal
dealers sell Apple counterfeit products at the same value as an
original Apple product.
Counterfeit products can make potential customers believe that it is
a product made by Apple with low quality. big news can result in
negative reviews and bad publicity for the company.
https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-37715531
4. Increasing Competition
Although Apple as a brand has solidified itself, it still faces threats
from competitors. With the advancement in technology, brands
like Samsung, Google, and Dell are giving Apple tough competition.
As the competition is getting stronger, Apple either has to introduce
new technologies or revise its pricing policy to stay ahead of its
competition.
https://gadgets-africa.com/2020/09/21/asus-ranked-
best-laptop-brand-2020/
https://tech.co/phones/best-phone-brands
https://straitsresearch.com/blog/worlds-largest-top-10-
smartphone-companies-in-2020/
5. Lawsuits
60 class-action lawsuits have been filed against Apple. Consumers
were upset and baffled when Apple announced that it deliberately
throttles CPU performance on iPhone models with older and
degraded batteries.
The tech giant said that it did so to prevent unexpected shutdowns.
Despite the clarification, consumers felt betrayed because they that
Apple does not believe in transparency. This led to a number of
people filing lawsuits against the company.
The first class-action lawsuit was filed on December 21st, 2017 and
alleged that Apple’s actions not only negatively affect the resale
value of their products but also forces its users to upgrade to newer
versions prematurely.
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-12-02/apple-
faces-eu-lawsuits-over-iphones-that-wear-out-too-quickly
https://variety.com/2020/digital/news/apple-113-million-
settlement-states-iphone-battery-slowdown-1234835118/
https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2020/12/10/cydia-
apple-lawsuit/
6. New Affordable and Quality Brands
Emerging strong competitors who are offering the same type of
products at a lower rate is the biggest treat. There are alternatives.
Samsung is offering premium products as well as cheap products.
Other competitors such as Sony, Asus, and Nokia are growing
larger as well.
https://www.business-standard.com/article/companies/apple-
samsung-in-close-competition-for-title-of-top-smartphone-
seller-120013001871_1.html
https://www.owler.com/company/apple
Sources:
Brief Company History
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apple_Inc.#History
Apple Inc. Consolidated Financial Statement 2020
https://www.apple.com/newsroom/2020/07/apple-reports-
third-quarter-results/
Apple Financial Statements 2016-2020 | AAPL
https://www.macrotrends.net/stocks/charts/AAPL/apple/financia
l-statements
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arthur_D._Levinson
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeff_Williams_(Apple)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tim_Cook#:~:text=Cook
%20joined%20Apple%20in%20March,in%20October%20of
%20that%20year.
SEGMENTATION
https://apple.fandom.com/wiki/List_of_Apple_products
APPLE’S THREATS
https://bstrategyhub.com/swot-analysis-of-apple-apple-swot/
