Brand Description: Apple Inc - Paper Example

Apple Inc. hardware products include the iPod, Macintosh computers, iPad, and iPhone. Its software includes the iTunes media browser; Mac OS X operating system; the life suite of multimedia; Final Cut Studio, and film industry. The company was lucky to have the leadership of Steve Jobs whose insight was practical about how individuals intend to interact with technology.

Market Environment

Apple has over 300 stores. It depends on their Cingular success in the USA plus its strategic partners around the globe, for instance, China Unicom, T-Mobile. Despite Apple targeting corporates, the organization faces fierce competition from competitors such as Google and Microsoft.

Geography 

Google.com

Fig 1 shows that Apple is the global brand covering most parts of the world where it holds a market share that is above 30% outside the US. Apple is working towards moving to more regions outside the U.S as per 2018 forecast which shows an increase in market share in Asia and China.

Leadership

The company is growing its leadership tremendously in digital music market with iTunes. Apple has managed to increase its sales from 2003 selling over 40million iPod and around 2 billion songs in iTunes. The company to establish its position took advantage of its Macintosh and iPod consumer base to create a competitive advantage by assisting in the marketing and sale of the iPhone. Moreover, Apple has a local customer base that is not only loyal but large allowing the company to enter new markets. The exceptional leadership is attributed to diversification strategy. Apples utilization of its brand loyalty of customer was key CITATION AlA05 \l 1033 (Al - Attar).

Trend Setter

The company has been on the forefront of establishing the latest technological innovations in their industry; the latest is a watch that has features that all an individual to send a heartbeat to a friend. Despite, the function receiving a lot of criticism it has put Apple at the top and a competition to watch out CITATION Dav171 \l 1033 (Davidson).

Stability

Apple in its balance sheet has an excess of free cash on its balance sheet worth $137billion; the company has zero debt in long-term debt. In fact, the company is the largest regarding market capitalization globally, and no organization is more financially sound. The company is less risky than brands such as coke.

Protection

The brand needs more than ever to work towards protecting the brand following the absence of Steve Jobs. The identity of the brand got massively intertwined with him; it was bound to suffer damages after he passed away and no matter what the executive think it has taken a serious hit on the brand. The proof writing is in the competition especially by Google and the prices of the stock.

Support

The culture of an entity determines its capabilities in supporting new policies, change, and strategies that are new. The company integrates and develops its employees effectively into the culture of the organization thus facilitating rapid innovations. For instance products such as the iPhone represent the change that is observable. Moreover, the company has managed to fine-tune its culture to match the business environment dynamics, further increasing its strength CITATION Mey17 \l 1033 (Meyer).

Brand Rating

-6667533655Category

Rate Stability Market Environment Leadership Trend Setter Geography Support Protection

Points (1-100) 97 85 80 75 94 87 54

Average Total Score 81.7

Apple is a global brand having a market share outside of the U.S of 30% and above. The brand has a recognized profile beyond its local market. Geographically Apple is successfully selling in more than three major continents, and the boost of comprehensive market coverage. Moreover, the financial performance of the brand is excellent where the economic profits are ascending over the long term. Further, the returns exceed the financial cost. It is a trend setter due to its support levels that are high. Despite the market environment being unfavorable and brand protection being weak Apple is a powerful brand.

Works Cited

BIBLIOGRAPHY \l 1033 Al - Attar, Amjad. "A Market Leader Overview." 2005. www.scribd.com. 4 September 2017 <https://www.scribd.com/document/25771493/Market-Leader-Apple>.

Davidson. "Apple Setting the Trend." n.d. courses.digitaldavidson.ne. 4 Semptember 2017 <http://courses.digitaldavidson.net/dig210/2015/03/18/apple-setting-the-trend/>.

Meyer, Pauline. "Apple Inc. Organizational Culture: Features & Implications." 29 January 2017. panmore.com. 4 September 2017 <http://panmore.com/apple-inc-organizational-culture-features-implications>.