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Analyzing the Case of Apple Company

                Apple Inc. is one of the most successful IT companies across the globe. The firm has focused on the provision of robust technical products alongside an exceptional software services. The company was founded by Steve Jobs and has its headquarters in Cupertino in California. Apple Company has exhibited exponential growth in terms of products and services. One of the most successful products of the firm is the iPhone brand. According to the 2020 financial year, the company recorded $137 billion in sales of its iPhone products, representing approximately 50% of the general revenues derived by the firm (Gupta, 2021). This paper explores the case of Apple Inc. as an IT firm while discussing and presenting the technological innovation.

Innovation and Value Proposition

                Apple’s fundamental business activities entail designing and selling their products. Apple is well known for its efforts of software and hardware design of their commodities in the market. The business has invested a significant amount of quality control in guaranteeing that its products are desirable in meeting the required standards expected by the consumers in the market. Apple implements an incremental and radical form of innovation (Rayna & Striukova, 2016). Innovation has played a valuable role in Apple’s value proposition. For instance, through innovation, Apple has established a wide product range such as the iPad, iPhone, Macbook, Apple Watch and iMac. Innovation has also favored Apple’s value proposition by improving the processes of the firm making them more reliable and efficient. The outcome of this process is a significant reduction in the costs of the technological products, thus creating the expected value for the consumers in the market (Gupta, 2021).

Innovation and Competition

                Apple’s innovation has remained to be a primary factor which drives its competition. Through innovation, Apple has managed to establish a wide range of products for the consumers in the market. Providing the competitors with a wide range of products is regarded as an outcome of innovation which is desirable in achieving a competitive advantage. Through innovation, the firm has managed to provide consumers with a wide range of commodities at affordable costs despite the high quality. This has been effective in boosting the business performance by observing customer loyalty effective for building a competitive advantage (Bond & Bradshaw, 2017).

Research and Development Efforts and Innovation

                Research and development (R&D) plays a desirable role in the process of innovation. R&D is fundamentally an invention in technology as well as the future capabilities which are transformed into new processes, products and services. At Apple, the research and development efforts have positively benefited the firm’s innovation efforts through the delivery of prosperity in terms of performance for the business (Gallagher, 2014). Arguably, the firm’s innovation and research and development has assisted the firm in establishing a desirable shared vision, effective leadership founded on the will to innovate, a desirable organizational structure, and an effective team which is needed to achieve customer loyalty after the delivery of desirable products.

                Research and development efforts at Apple are also effective in promoting the innovative success of the firm by triggering a sustainable growth as well as job creation. Through the production of new knowledge, research plays a desirable role in the development of new and innovative products, services and process which are effective in the creation of a competitive advantage for the business as well as the ultimate prosperity (Gallagher, 2014).

Innovative Success at Apple

                Different factors contributed to Apple’s innovative success. Gallagher (2014) states that the intuitive user interfaces are the fundamental factors that contributed towards the success of the firm. Notably, Apple has invested a lot in the great user experience and convenience in its products to ensure that the firm meets the prevailing market demand through its products.  The innovative success at Apple was also experienced because the firm was able to break down the prevailing barriers within the customer segments.

                Apple’s innovative success is also driven by the fact that the company focuses on the on the creation of high quality technological products without considering if the people in the market really want to use them. It is a fact that the Engineers at Apple Company focus on making quality commodities that match their needs to ensure that the consumers in the market can live without the product (Rayna & Striukova, 2016). Apple’s innovative success is also driven by the fact that the business focuses on the establishment of commodities that are easy for the business to use. Evidently, when a product is difficult to use, the consumer will consider it as worthless. The ease of use of Apple’s products has driven the firm’s innovation as the engineers focus on the creation of commodities that have user-friendly designs, intuitive, and easy to understand (Rayna & Striukova, 2016). Apple’s innovative success is also maintained on the fact that the firm focuses on keeping its products simple. Through this, the firm has established simple products such as the iPhone which reduces the decision-making efforts for the consumers who opt to purchase the commodity.

                Apple relies on science-push innovation. Notably, the firm does not consider the needs of the consumers in the market before establishing new technological products but the technical aspects that makes the products simple and desirable for consumer use (Rayna & Striukova, 2016).

Apple’s Innovation Category

                Apple falls under the disruptive innovation category. This is a phase whereby an innovation which creates a new value network and market disrupts the prevailing market, thus disrupting the firms which were leading in the market in the production of commodities. This is a situation common in Apple’s case as the firm has managed to make small improvements to the existing product lines to ensure that it improves its competitiveness over the years. This is reflected in the case of commodities such as the iPhones suggesting an incremental change to the phone technology used over the long run. For example, the iPhone 11 series has exhibited an improvement in the battery duration, its camera, and a fancier screen display (Bond & Bradshaw, 2017). It is a fact that a disruptive means of innovation involves the application of new processes or technology into the current market environment. This is a form of innovation that Apple has relied on despite the fact that it is expensive.

Apple’s Technology S curve

                The S-Curve presents an insight into the early beginnings and slow progressions of technology or processes as it becomes developed. This is mainly features by three primary points such as the acceleration phase, the maturity stage, and later the stabilization point which is featured by a corresponding rise in the performance of the business or the firm using it. Apple is currently at the stabilization phase of the S curve. This is the point that the curve flattens suggesting the need for investing in a new technology for the business to jump to the next S curve before the current one hits a plateau (Fawzy & Olson, 2018). With the iPhone technology from Apple, it is evident that there is need for the business to consider investing in new technology as the current one has already hit the maturity phase and is almost hitting the plateau zone despite the different series of the iPhone.

The Success of Using Innovation to its Advantage

                Apple has been successful in making use of innovation to its advantage. For instance, through its innovative efforts, the firm has managed to be among the top players in the technological market by establishing new commodities such as the iPhone, thus intensifying its rates of competitiveness in the market. Innovation has also encouraged the business to come up with a wide range of products such as the iPad, iPhone, Macbook, and even Apple Watches. Innovation has also worked in favor of the company in that it has guaranteed the delivery of affordable products for the consumer in the market, improved processes, and ensured that the commodities remained more efficient.

Conclusion

                Conclusively, Apple is a technological firm which has achieved a competitive advantage in the market through the implementation of innovation. Evidently, innovation has resulted to cost reduction for the business’ products and the delivery of a wide range of commodities provided at a low cost. This drives consumer loyalty after changing the game in the mobile phone technology market.

Recommendation

                Apple should consider investing in a new technology. The proposed move will ensure that the firm jumps to a new S curve in that the current technology offered by the business is on a maturity phase and almost stagnating. The new technology will create an opportunity for the firm to generate more profits and still maintain the top position in the market.