Company Business Plan Project – Apple Inc

Company Business Plan Project – Apple Inc

Executive Summary

Apple Inc. is a multinational entity, established in 1976. The company started out as a small entity under the leadership of its founders, Ron Wayne, Steve Jobs, and Steve Wozniak. Despite being high school dropouts, the two remaining founders built an entity that has become a renowned player in the technology sector. Apple’s main products include hardware, software, applications, operation systems, displays, as well as peripheral products. The main brands associated with the company include iPhone, Mac, and Apple. The most renowned products include smartphones, watches, computers, and digital content. Apple targets consumers in the education, business, government, and enterprise sectors. Apple is under the leadership of Timothy D. Cook (the CEO) and Luca Maestri (CFO), Jeffrey E. Williams (COO), and Katherine L. Adams (CNN Business, 2016).

Mission Statement

Apple’s mission is “to bring the best personal computing products and support to students, educators, designers, scientists, engineers, businesspersons and consumers in over 140 countries around the world.”

Based on the mission statement, Apple pays attention on computing products as the main outputs. However, these computing products do not restrict the company to smartphones and computers; instead, they allow Apple to produce other services that depend on computing technology. The company also targets a wide market at an international level.

Business Goals

Apple’s main goal has been to differentiate its products for different markets. To achieve this goal, the company emphasizes the design as well as the functionality of its products. Adopting features that place its products apart in the market from the competitors and ensuring that it moves its items first offers Apple a competitive advantage.

Secondly, Apple also intends to improve its customer experience. This element is achieved through ease if use for the products. Clients are not expected to download any applications or software to use the products. Thirdly, Apple intends to strengthen its ecosystem through vertical integration. The integration allows the company to achieve further expertise in the services, software, and hardware elements simultaneously. This integration also results in seamless synchronization of the hardware and software elements. Unfortunately, Apple products do not sync with similar products from other companies, making the ecosystem closed. A closed ecosystem creates costs for clients in case they want to switch to other providers. Finally, Apple intends to minimize its dependence on iPhone sales and instead boost other business units.

Keys to Success

Guaranteed user satisfaction is among the factors that have contributed to the company’s immense success. Surveys have established that users are satisfied and likely to recommend the phones to others. The rate of recommendation is 54.5 percent. Secondly, the consumption of the iPhone as a mobile data gadget is relatively high. The company’s loyal clients tend to consume mobile data more than clients using phones from other companies. At least 85.9 percent of American iPhone users were online within the first months of using the gadget. Thirdly, Apple’s operating system is a game-changer when compared to other operating systems in the market. Apple produces the software and hardware while other companies only produce hardware and rely on software from other providers. Apple’s iOS is compatible with other company products. Apple can easily make customizations as required on the operating software leading to optimum performance. Apple’s clients find it difficult to switch to other providers due to this convenience that other players may view as costly. Other factors that have contributed to Apple’s success include large market share, the average revenue per client, the services, third-party applications, hardware features, design, and innovation (Abba, Muhammad, & Mohammed, 2020).

Ethical and Legal Issues

Apple Inc. encounters various ethical and legal issues. These issues relate to the people, environment, pollution, management of the supply chain, and political activities. In December 2019, Apple was named as a defendant in a lawsuit by the Guardian article. This lawsuit had been filed in Washington, DC, on behalf of children and parents from the Democratic Republic of Congo. The 14 parents and their children and other families sought compensation for the minor and legal workers who suffered injuries or perished in cobalt mines that make up the company’s supply chain. The case also involved other defendants, including Google, Tesla, Microsoft, and Dell.

Apple’s environmental reporting in 2019 scored the lowest rating from Ethical Consumer. This rating was due to the lack of dating and quantification of future environmental goals. In 2018, Italian authorities fined Apple £10 million due to claims of ‘planned obsolescence’. The authorities claimed that this element was built into the company’s smartphones. This implies that Apple makes a major contribution to toxic electronic waste. Other issues of tax evasion or avoidance also came up in 2019, whereby Apple’s tax gap was $100 billion in a period of ten years (Ethical Consumer Research Association Ltd., 2021).

 Company Summary

Company Ownership or Legal Entity

Apple Inc. is publicly owned by multiple shareholders. Arthur Levinson, who is Apple’s board chairman, owns the largest share. Other owners include Tim Cook, Steve Jobs, Craig Federighi, Jeff Williams (Lindsay, 2018). The institutional owners include the Vanguard Group Inc., Berkshire Hathaway Inc., BlackRock Fund Advisors, SSgA Funds Management Inc, Fidelity Management & Research Co. LLC, Geode Capital Management LLC, among others (CNN Business, 2016). Individual stakeholders own 0.34 percent, mutual fund holders own 28.05 percent, while other institutional shareholders own 30.90 percent of Apple Inc.

Management Structure

Apple Inc utilizes a hierarchical organizational structure. This structure still has significant divisional elements as well as a weak yet functional matrix. Currently, the company’s decision-making process is collaborative and involves different units. The current management structure offers the company’s management a chance to make the rapid implementation of strategic decisions but limits the company’s flexibility.

Products and Services

The company’s produces a variety of products and services, including iPhone, iPad, Mac, Air Pods, Apple Care, Apple Watch, Beats Products, licensing services, iOS, iCloud, Apple TV, digital content, and Streaming services. These products and services serve a wide variety of clients at an individual and organizational level.

Location and Facilities

The company’s main headquarters are in California. Other distributions and location centers are listed in the table below.

Table 1: Distribution Centers and Locations

Region	Distribution Center Location
United States	Virginia, Tysons Corner Center
Italy	Roma Est, Rome, Centro Commerciale
United Kingdom	Regent Street, London
Germany	Munich, Bavaria
France	Paris, Louvre, Carrousel
Australia	George Street, Sydney
Japan	Tokyo, Ginza
Canada	Toronto, York-dale Shopping Centre
China	Beijing
Macau	Galaxy Macau
Turkey	Istanbul, Zorlu Center
Brazil	Rio de Janeiro, Village Mall
Sweden	Taby Centrum, Stockholm
Netherlands	Amsterdam, Hirschbuilding
Hong Kong	IFC Mall
Spain	Barcelona, La Maquinista
Thailand	Iconsiam, Bangkok
Austria	Vienna
South Korea	Seoul, Gangnam
Taiwan	Taipei
Singapore	Orchard Road

(Apple Inc., 2020)

Suppliers

Apple’s suppliers are in the USA, United Kingdom, China, India, Mexico, Thailand, Taiwan, Vietnam, Germany, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Singapore, Philippines, Finland, Malta, and South Korea, among other countries (Apple Inc., 2021).

Financial Management

Apple Inc’s financial management is important for its shareholders. It determines the profitability of the company during specific financial periods. This data influences the company’s stock price. It is represented in financial statements, balance sheets, financial ratios, as well as valuations (Stock Analysis on Net, 2021).

References

Abba, A. A., Muhammad, A., & Mohammed, K. K. (2020). Apple Success Factors. doi:10.13140/RG.2.2.31346.84160

Apple Inc. (2020). Apple Inc. Headquarters, All Office Locations, and Addresses. Retrieved from Apple Inc.: https://headquartersoffice.com/apple/

Apple Inc. (2021). Supplier List.

CNN Business. (2016). Apple Inc. CNN Business. Retrieved from https://money.cnn.com/quote/shareholders/shareholders.html?symb=AAPL&subView=institutional

Ethical Consumer Research Association Ltd. (2021). Apple Inc. Retrieved from Ethical Consumer: https://www.ethicalconsumer.org/company-profile/apple-inc

Lindsay, J. (2018). Who owns Apple, and who are the biggest shareholders? Metro. Retrieved from https://metro.co.uk/2018/08/03/owns-apple-biggest-shareholders-7793058/

Stock Analysis on Net. (2021). Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL). Retrieved from Stock Analysis on Net: https://www.stock-analysis-on.net/NASDAQ/Company/Apple-Inc/Quarterly-Data

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You recently graduated from AIU and have been hired by the company chosen in your discussion. Your first task is to take a thorough view of the company’s existing operations and begin the formation of a business plan.

For the Capstone Project Unit 1 Executive Summary and Company Summary, complete the following tasks:
Note: The company for this paper is Apple.
Executive Summary
Company Name
Mission Statement
Business Goals
Keys to Success
Ethical and Legal Issues
Company Summary
Company Ownership or Legal Entity
Management Structure
Products and Services
Location and Facilities
Suppliers
Service
Financial Management