History 1976-1978; The Apple Inc., Wozniak and Jobs form the Apple Computer Company on April Fool's Day. Wozniak and Jobs finish work on a preassembled computer circuit board. It has no keyboard, case, sound or graphics. They call it the Apple . The Apple I board is released for sale to hobbyists and electronics enthusiasts at the price of $666.66. Apple's first formal business plan sets a goal for sales to grow to $500 million in ten years. As it turns out, the company will pass that mark in half the time. Apple I computer boards are sold through 10 retail stores in the U.S. Apple moves from Jobs' garage to a building on Stevens Creek Boulevard in Cupertino, California. The new Apple II is unveiled at the first West Coast Computer Fair. It is the first personal computer able to generate color graphics and includes a keyboard, power supply and attractive case. The Apple logo as seen today is designed by Rob Janoff, art director for Regis McKenna Advertising. Regis McKenna Advertising launches its first ad campaign for Apple. Although advertising is initially aimed at electronics enthusiasts, Apple will soon become the first company to advertise personal computers in consumer magazines. Monthly orders reach a $1 million annual sales rate. Apple introduces various interface cards for connecting to most printers. Apple's Disk II is introduced at the Consumer Electronics Show. It is the easiest to use, lowest priced, and fastest mini-floppy disk drive ever offered by a computer manufacturer. It will make possible the development of serious software. Production at first is handled by just two employees, turning out 30 drives a day. In only its second year, Apple is one of the fastest growing companies in America. Sales have increased, and its dealer network has grown to over 300. History 1979-1981 Apple's first printer, the Silentype, is introduced. Apple opens a manufacturing plant in Carrollton, TX. Apple facilities now occupy more than half a million square feet of floor space in the U.S. and Europe. Apple goes public. Morgan Stanley and Co. and Hambrecht & Quist underwrite an initial public offering of 4.6 million shares of Apple common stock at a price of $22 per share. Every share is bought within minutes of the offering, making this the largest public offering since Ford went public in 1956. Apple's employee count breaks 1,000. History 1982-1985 Apple Dot Matrix printer introduced for $2,195. Apple becomes the first personal computer company to reach $1 billion annual sales rate. It throws a "Billion Dollar Party" for employees. Apple University founded to provide employee training programs. 3 Apple enters the Fortune 500 at number 411 in under five years. EVA (Employee Volunteer Action) is created to match the skills of Apple employees with community needs. Apple is elected to the Consumers Digest Hall of Fame for responsiveness to consumer needs. Apple II receives the 1984 Industrial Design Excellence Award (IDEA) sponsored by the Product Industrial Designers Society of America. Apple announces a computer training scholarship program for elementary and secondary school educators. Apple's distribution network is the largest in the industry-800 independent retailers in the U.S. and Canada, plus 1,000 outlets abroad. Apple's first mass storage system, the 5MB ProFile(tm) hard disk is introduced, priced at $3,499. Apple becomes a household name. Surveys show that public awareness rose from 10 percent to 80 percent in 1981. History 1986-1990 Apple announces plans to create an independent software company, to be known later as Claris. For the first time, Apple uses its HyperCard technology to distribute a 1987 HyperCard supplement on diskette for Macintosh personal computers. Apple files suit against Microsoft and Hewlett-Packard to protect its Macintosh audio visual display. The lawsuit is seen as having industry wide implications regarding copyright laws. Apple reports first billion dollar quarter in its history as net income rises 108 percent. Apple reports net sales of $4.07 billion and net income of $400.3 million for fiscal year 1988. Apple acquires Coral Software Corp., which markets programming languages and artificial intelligence tools for Macintosh computers. Apple introduces 32-Bit QuickDraw(tm) that allows Macintosh personal computers to process and display photo-quality documents, images and visualizations with exceptional color clarity. Apple donates $2 million in computers to 23 schools to help at-risk students. Fiscal 1990 revenues surpass $5.5 billion. History 1991-1995 Apple announces it will restructure the company over the next 12 months to reduce operating expenses. Apple's workforce is reduced approximately 10 percent. Apple and IBM sign a letter of intent to cooperate on major technology initiatives for the 1990s. Apple, IBM, and Motorola finalize milestone technology alliance. Apple announces a new Token Ring 4/16 NB Card, for the Macintosh product line. It is the first product to emerge from Apple and IBM alliance. Apple and Kodak announce that they are working together to integrate support for Photo CD images into future versions of QuickTime. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency officially releases the Energy Star emblem for display with energy-efficient computers and peripherals. Apple has more than 20 products that meet the EPA's the technical requirements. 4 Apple's Macintosh celebrates 10th birthday! Apple in 2005 As of January 2005 Apple has introduced the Mini Mac and the iPod Shuffle. Mission Apple is committed to bringing the best personal computing experience to students, educators, creative professionals and consumers around the world through its innovative hardware, software and Internet offerings. EFE Matrix

Key External Factors	Weight	Rating	Weighted Score
Opportunities
Increase in worms and virus on PCs.	0.15	4	0.60
Downloadable music and MP3 players are highly marketable.	0.6	3	0.18
Large population (Gen X & Y) which are extremely individualistic and name brand conscious.	0.15	4	0.60
Increase in sales of laptops by 20 percent.	0.04	3	0.12
Increasing sales of computers online by 25 percent.	0.05	3	0.15
Creating more ties withMicrosoft products.	0.10	4	0.40
Threats
Increasing competition with music downloads.	0.07	2	0.14
Intels future Pentium release.	0.03	3	0.09
Dell and HP are major competitors.	0.10	4	0.40
Dell does not invent but provides computers at a more cost effective rate for customers.	0.06	3	0.18
Recessionprice of Apple computers are higher.	0.04	2	0.08
Companies not seeing Apple as compatible with their software.	0.15	2	0.30
TOTAL	1.00	3.24

5 IFE matrix

Key Internal Factors	Weight	Rating	Weighted Score
Strengths
iTunes Music Store is a good source of revenue, especially with the iPod and the availability on Windows platform.	0.15	4	0.60
Apples niche audience provides the company with some insulation from the direct price competition.	0.10	3	0.30
Revamping desktop and notebook lines.	0.10	3	0.30
Low debtmore maneuverable.	0.06	4	0.24
Developing own software and hardware.	0.14	3	0.42
Good brand loyalty.	0.05	3	0.15
Web technology can be used to improve product awareness and sales.	0.10	4	0.40
Weaknesses
Dependency on new product launches.	0.06	1	0.06
Weak presence in business arena.	0.07	1	0.07
Slow turn around on high demand products.	0.03	2	0.06
Weak relationship with Intel and Microsoft.	0.10	1	0.10
Weak presence in marketsother than education and publishing.	0.04	2	0.08
Total	1.00	2.78

6 For developing BCG growth share matrix

Brands	Revenues	% of corporate competitors revenues	Relative	Industry
market share	Growth Rate
Iphone	91,279	53%	26%	+10
Ipad	31,980	18.70%	18.80%	+12
Ipod	4,411	2.60%	20%	-10
iTunes	16,051	9%	22%	+05
Mac.	21,483	13%	26.50%	+15

How would you implement the selected strategy? What management issues will you consider while implementing the strategy? Furthermore, what would be the role of different departments like finance, Marketing, and R&D in implementing the strategy?

How would you evaluate the selected strategy both quantitatively and qualitatively ? Further, draw and explain the evaluation framework.