Please revise the answer bellow.

Q1. What historically have been Apple’s competitiveadvantages?

There have been many competitive advantages that have allowedApple to be a consistent leader in the PC market. One competitiveadvantage has been their innovative spirit. This was shown with theinitial release of the Apple 2. Steve Job’s mission of Apple was tobring an easy-to-use computer to the market, and this is what heaccomplished with the release of the Apple 2. The Apple 2 was arevolutionary product that changed the PC world forever. The Apple2 was launched in 1978 and it lead the PC industry to $1 billion inannual sales in less than three years. Another competitiveadvantage for Apple is that they have total control over all of thesoftware, hardware, and operations related to Apple products. Theapple software is horizontally and vertically integrated, meaningit relies on its own designs and does not license software to thirdparties. Apple released the Mac in 1984, which featured aninterface that was easy-to-use, a great industrial design, andtechnical proficiency. The superior software allowed Apple to enterthe Mac into new markets, desktop publishing and education. Ineducation, Apple grabbed almost half of the market and by 1990,Apple had $1 billion in cash and was the most profitable PC Companyin the world. Furthermore, Apple hired Tim Cook to streamline theApple supply chain, and also Apple launched a website to set updirect sales. This has allowed Apple to be successful by creating acomprehensive, unified culture with all aspects of the company.Their most important competitive advantage was Steve Jobs. Beingthe co-founder, Steve Jobs had the long-term vision of Apple andworked every day to live out the vision. Steve Jobs was forced outof 1985, but returned as the interim CEO in 1997 when the companywas near bankruptcy. Jobs refocused Apple to only having 4 productcategories, rather than 15 it had previously. Through Steve Job’sleadership, Apple created the iMac in 1998, which allowed Apple’ssales to outpace the industry average for the first time in manyyears. Steve Jobs made strategic decisions to make Apple productsthe most competitive by bringing a new culture to Apple, andpositively changing the image and brand of Apple.

Q2. Analyze the personal computer industry. Why did Applestruggle historically in PCs?

It is true that Apple was the company who pioneered the personalcomputing devices, but IBM was the company the mainstream PC’s.This was the biggest competitor to the early success of Apple. TheIBM PC operated on an “open” system that allowed producers to cloneit. Another reason why Apple struggled with PCs was the price.Macintosh did have a loyal customer base which allowed them to sellit at a premium price. IBM- compatible prices started to drop, andthe high Macintosh’s looked unfeasible and too expensive. Anotherreason for the struggle of Apple PCs was the rise of “Wintel”.“Wintel” was the combination of Windows OS and Intel Processor, andit dominated the industry. Thousands of manufacturers built PCsaround building blocks from Microsoft and Intel. Nearly 90 % of allPCs in the world were ran on some version of Microsoft’s operatingsystem by the end of 2014. This made it difficult for Apple todifferentiate the Macintosh in the PC industry due to the intensecompetition coming from other PC manufacturers. The three top PCmanufacturers were Lenovo, Hewlett-Packard, and Dell, whichaccounted for 51% combined.

Q3. Evaluate Apple’s strategy for the Apple Watch. Has Tim Cooktaken the right approach? Would you suggest any coursecorrections?

During the three years after the death of Steve Job, Apple seenexcellent revenue growth, by iPhone and iPad sales. Tim Cook, thecurrent Apple CEO wanted to focus on the innovativeness that Applewas started with. This was something that Apple attempted with theApple Watch. In September 2014, Tim Cook announced the launch ofthe Apple Watch. From the frame of the case, I think this was theright approach as, the wearable technology market is an emergingone. I think Tim Cook is keeping the focus on the core products andusing the Apple Watch as a new way to drive profits. This issimilar to Steve Job’s “Digital Hub” strategy. I think for thefirst generation, the Apple Watch has many great features that areappealing to consumers, such as the fitness tracker and the abilityto receive notifications from the iPhone straight to the wrist. Ithink there are some negatives to the Apple as well. The AppleWatch had to be charged each day and it only worked with neweriPhones. The watch was also expensive as well: prices start at $349for the basic model and ranged as high as $17,000 for the 18-karatgold model. Also, there are many competitors that have alreadyreleased their own versions of smartwatches, making the marketrather crowded. I think one correction would be to make the watchcompatible for all generations of iPhone. This will broaden thescope of customers that would be willing to buy the watch.