Apple Inc is an American company founded in 1976.The company has been in existence for over 30 years, and it has experienced the ups, and down that any other organization experiences. However, Apple Inc has stood the test of time and proven that it can survive against its competitors. The paper below highlights the company’s corporate and business level strategy.

Corporate Strategy

Mission: Apple Inc. is committed to providing its customers with the best computing experience across the globe through its innovative and user-friendly software and hardware.

Goals

Apple Inc has several goals that relate to its business activities and serving their customers. First, the company aims to provide its customers with high-quality services by having qualified and knowledge employees. The company’s second goal is to bring out the best user experience through the release of its products and technologies. The company’s third goal is to design and develop its operation system, hardware, application software, and services. Lastly, the company aims to increase its sales volume by establishing new stores, new products and streamlining production to suit the market needs.

There are two forms of diversification that an organization can adopt when discussing corporate strategy. The first form is linked diversification that occurs when a company enters new businesses based on another business the company is already involved in. On the other hand, constrained diversification is where a company enters a new business based on their core competencies. Constrained diversification allows companies to maximize their resources (Yoffie, & Cusumano, 2015). Apple Inc uses constrained diversification as it utilizes its competencies to manufacture computer hardware and software.

Products such as the Macintosh, iPad, iPhone, and iPod are part of Apple’s hardware that allows the company to share its resources. For instance, the iPad and iPhone use the OS X operating system that enhances shared resources and cost-cutting measures. Apple also engaged in business where they manufacture two forms of the same products. For instance, the Macintosh is of two types, the desktop and notebook. The desktop and notebook are separate products that share the same resources and complement each other. Apple also has platforms that complement each other. For instance, Macintosh computers sync their media and personal data with other platforms thus providing customers with a user experience that works. Apple takes time to choose the business they want to enter thus ensuring that they reinforce already existing businesses to become more competitive. In short, their platform strategy ensures that each business is more valuable than it would be as a separate entity.

Business level strategy

Apple strives to provide their customers with the best products thus the emphasis on continuous innovation and improvement of existing products. The company has adopted a differentiation strategy thus they engage in the manufacture of products that are exclusive. Apple products have been touted as the most expensive gadgets in the market. However, the company still enjoys a significant percentage of the market niche. Apple’s target markets are customers who are willing to pay more for a product that suits their needs and provides them with the ultimate customer experience. Apple serves customers who want to have fun with technology.

Apple Inc adopts two forms of business strategies. The first is the intensive growth strategy while the second is the generic strategy. Apple’s generic strategy is demonstrated by product differentiation. Product differentiation is a business process that entails the distinguishing of a product or services from others with the intent to make it more competitive that its competitor’s products. Apple focuses on the manufacture of products with unique features that enable it to beat its competitors. Apple manufactures products with unique features that enable its target market to ignore the element of high pricing and focus on enjoying the product’s features. Apple also adopts a premium pricing strategy that matches the quality of the product. Therefore, an expensive product from Apple is an indicator of the quality of the product.

Apple products thus come off as high-end commodities that enable the company to retain its leading position as the provider of high-end products. To keep up with the generic strategy of doing business, the company must continue to encourage innovation. Innovation is best achieved through research and development activities so that the company determines the precise customer needs. Competitors will always catch up with the newest innovation that Apple makes thus their emphasis on continuous innovation. Another of Apple’s generic strategy is market expansion. Apple has been aggressive and making intense efforts to penetrate all market segments in the industry.

The intensive growth strategy that Apple adopts is extensive product development with the intent to upgrade their products to the most recent trends. Innovation ensures product development as evident with the manufacture of the Apple watch. The development of new products ensures that Apple continues to earn revenue. Apple Company also engaged in initiatives aim at enhancing market penetration. Market penetration strategies enhance growth as they allow the business to grow as the company taps into new markets. A unique penetration strategy that Apple has adopted involves the use of authorized dealers to sell products in geographical areas where they are not well tapped. Using the authorized dealers, Apple engages in promotion initiatives to inform and attract customers to the new product. The company also engages in market development initiatives as a strategy of acquiring intensive growth. Market development is about establishing a presence in a new market and moving beyond existing markets (Grant, 2016).

Conclusion

An organization must have a corporate strategy as it acts as the platform from where the organization can attain its long-term plans. The presence of a corporate strategy allows for the organization to have objectives and goals that guide the organization in its overall direction. A corporate strategy also provides an organization with a means of measuring its rate of success or failure. Similarly, a business strategy is important as it outlines the specifics on how the company will attain its goals. An effective business strategy ensures customer retention as the company delivers products based on company needs. An effective business strategy also ensures a proper utilization of resources thus cutting the cost of production. Apple has been successful in retaining a competitive edge against competitors such as Samsung due to its efficient corporate strategy and effective business strategy.

References

Grant, R. M. (2016). Contemporary strategy analysis: Text and Cases edition. John Wiley & Sons

Yoffie, D. B., & Cusumano, M. A. (2015). Strategy Rules: Five Timeless Lessons from Bill Gates, Andy Grove, and Steve Jobs. Harper Business