Most important facts
Apple has steadily grown to become the leading company that designs and integrates computer software and hardware. Initially, Sony dominated the computer software and hardware market in United States of America and the rest of the world. For the first time in history, Apple’s share prices reached $600 on March 2012 following the release of its new iPad into the market. The events led to tremendous increase of Apple’s market capitalization and annual sales in excess of $100 billion the same year. Apple thus became the most valuable company exceeding Sony by a factor of 25. Design and innovation is the most important factor in computer hardware and software industry. Apple’s products have gained significant following due to sleek, innovative, and simple design.
The key issues
The key issue that Apple faced was the design of its products. Having realized that design and innovation is the primary driving force behind their success, the company wanted products that would foster growth. The first issue the company faced is how to design computers that would promote and support individual work. They understood this wouldcreate emotional connections and people would fall in love with their products. Second, simplicity of the computer design and use was another key issue that Apple faced; they wanted to create simple designs that would motivate people and makethemfall in love with the product’s experience. Another issue was how to make their products more interactive and user-friendly.
Alternative course of action
Apple has the following alternative cause of actions:
- Focus on people’s needs and interests
- Follow the market trend and fashion
- Innovation and product development
- Iterative customer involvement
- Use platform strategy
Evaluation of each course of action
- Focus on people’s needs and interests
Apple needs to determine what the people need and want the product to look like and incorporate that in their design. They should also consider the features that the people want the product to have. They need to understand people’s needs and figure out how to achieve that technically.
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Follow the market trend and fashion
Another alternative is to follow the product design that is trending in the market. They need to determine the design that seems fashionable to the people and use it.
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Innovation and product development
The company could seek innovative product development strategies. This alternative course of action would ensure development of new products. The new products should not only be innovative but also creative in design.
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Iterative customer involvement
Apple could integrate its customer’s experience into the product design and development process. Customers will provide creative ideas for the company’s product designs and features.
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Use platform strategy
This alternative course of action allows the company to streamline its product design into the familiar product platforms.
The best course of action
The best course of action for Apple is to focus on people’s needs when designing their products. This is the best strategy because it will help Apple meet its goal of designing computers that would foster and support individual work. The company should focus on designs and features of the product that people need. This approach would create interactive computer designs. Using this approach, Apple needs to make sure they get customers needs right and think of how to translate tha