Apple Case Study Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3500 words

Apple Case Study - Coursework Example The paper tells that it would appear that Apple segments its business into business units on a geographic, rather than product bases, in addition to the four geographic business units, the company treats the retail business as a separate business unit. Each business unit reports sales and profitability from all product and operational categories within the region, with the exclusion of retail operations which fall under a separate SBU. In analysing Apple’s strategy, subsequent sections of the report will refer to the European SBU where appropriate. The financial performance of Apple’s European SBU would seem to be quite impressive in light of the economic events taking place during the period. Europe represents Apple’s second largest market by sales volume as the Americas division. Sale have risen from $9,233m in 2008 to $18,692 in 2010, a rate of growth of over 102%. Profit during the period has similarly increased from $3,022m in 2008 to $7,524m in 2010, an inc rease of 149% suggesting that profitability is increasing at a greater rate in proportion to sales. As such, this suggests that Apple’s European SBU has effectively kept expenses under control and is beginning to benefit from various economies of scale as sales increase . An interesting aspect of Apple’s capital structure is that the company reported to have no long term debt financing in the period 2006 to 2010. As such the company is wholly financed through equity. ... Key Ratios Ratio Apple Sony Samsung GP Margin 33.17% -2.95% 26.00% NP Margin 14.22% -1.28% 7.40% EPS 4.04 -98.95 29.98 Current Ratio 2.01 0.95 1.52 Acid Test 1.96 0.74 1.23 Debt to Equity 0.57 1.68 0.09 ROCE 14.09% -1.21% 12.28% 1.2 Marketing Analysis The following analysis of Apple’s marketing has been conducted using the standard 4p’s approach to the analysis of the marketing mix4: Price – Traditionally Apple has followed a premium pricing strategy often attempting to appeal to the early adopters in the field of interest. This has been especially true in the computer product segment. Product – While Apple has consistently brought new and innovative products to the market, the main features and benefits sold to computer is that Apple products are simple and easy to use, a marketing strategy which has helped Apple to a appeal to a wide audience. Place – Apple products are distributed through a wide range of retailers in the European SBU including hi gh street electronics retailers, major supermarkets and online sources such as Amazon. A key strategy however has also been the setting up of Apple’s own retail SBU which operates a number of stores within the European market dedicated to Apple products. Promotion – Apple makes use of a standard array of mass media advertising techniques including television advertising, targeted print media advertising as well as viral and other online advertising techniques. Overall, the marketing activities of Apple in the European SBU may be seen as aimed to create a product mix which is aimed at the mass luxury market. The product is appealing to those with higher levels of disposable income yet not so high as to be