What, Historically, Have Been Apple’s Competitive Advantages Essay Example

The consumers are also very cost conscious and need value for money. It can be seen as market dynamics that is problematic for Apple. But on the other hand it can be seen as favorable to Apple in a way that there is room for a quality product that caters to customer’s needs for which customers are willing to pay more for. After Steve Jobs took over in 1997 he led Apple to create niche products for customers. Present company performance figures are proof of success.

How sustainable is Apple's competitive position in PCs? Steve Jobs laid out his vision for Macintosh computers to be a Digital hub. Apple wanted to target consumers who were living the digital lifestyle. I believe Apple’s competitive advantage is sustainable as long as Apple keeps on innovating and be one step ahead of competitors. Up till now Apple Macintosh computer gives wonderful user experience. Hardware is of top quality, product design is exceptional, OS and applications has right mix of software needed for everyday use, which other operating systems in market do not offer efficiently.

It is true that other competitors will catch up, for example Microsoft’s Windows 7 has improved a lot and the improvements is rumored to based on ideologies that are same as of OSX (Mac OS). But Apple will need to innovate continuously to differentiate in terms of quality, user experience and creativity. Given Apple’s history and Steve job’s leadership, Apple’s innovation is expected to continuous. For example, in 2011 Apple will offer Mac App Store [3], an application store similar to Appstore for iphone, ipod & ipad, which may change the way

PC industry do business.

How sustainable is Apple's competitive position in MP3 players? In smartphones? Apple’s competitive advantage in mp3 players and iPhone are its sleek design, simple intuitive interface, and technology (innovative touch interface). But the gadgets alone are not competitive advantage for Apple, but it is the successful ecosystem built around it that involves buying of music (itunes), accessorizing (personalize ipod), gaming (ipod touch & iPhone) and AppStore. Apple’s ecosystem operates at breakeven but it greatly influences the sales.

Sustainability of competitive advantage will come down to how innovative Apple’s next version of iPod and iPhone to appeal to loyal and growing customer base. Overall, the credit of Apple’s success goes to Steve Jobs who has constantly challenged the rules of the industry & market and delivered something new to consumers. Apple will need to innovate on their differentiation, focus heavily on being the best solution in the market for the problems they are trying to solve to maintain their competitive advantage.