Table of contents

Apple competitive advantage ……………………………………………………………… p 3

The personal computer industry ………………………………………………………….. p 6

Apple’s competitive advantage in PCs …………………………………………………... p 9

The introduction of IPhone as a blue ocean strategy ……………………………………. p 13

Apple’s competitive position in smartphones …………………………………………… p 19

How does the death of Steve Jobs affect Apple’s overall strategy for the next 5 years …. P

References list …………………………………………………………………………….

I. Apple’s competitive advantage

In order to explain Apple’s competitive advantage, we need to look at Porter’s generic strategies. Porter defines 3 strategies: * Differentiation focus * Cost focus * Cost leadership
and Slind Michael in “Apple Inc., 2008”.

Source: Epstein, Z. July 14th 2011. Global PC market shows growth in Q2; Lenovo wins globally, Apple wins in U.S.

Then, according Virki T. (2008) there were more than 1 billion personal computers in use all around the world in 2008; previsions say that it should double by early 2014 because of the strong growth in emerging market. Indeed, while mature markets represent 58% of the first billion installed PC’s, it would only account for about 30% of the next billion.
Finally, as say Yoffie and Kim (2011), it exists three different segments on the computer industry: the desktop, the laptop and the netbook. The average desktop’s selling prices declined by 8% annually between 1999 and 2005 and the prices for key components declined by 30% annually. The consequence was the low profit margin of most PC manufacturers' with an average one below 5%. Again with laptops, its average selling prices was around $544 in 2009 whereas it was twice more important in 2007. We can easily think that the same scenario will happen again with the netbook.

Now, we will analyze the industry according the five Porter forces, which are the threat of new entrants, the bargaining power of buyers, the threat of substitute products or service, the bargaining power of suppliers and the rivalry among existing firms.

The threat of new entrants

As Masi (2009) says in his analysis, a new