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History of Client
Background
We see ICT everywhere; in education, health care, communication research, transport and many more. The initials ICT stand for Information, Communication and Technology. From humble beginnings the ICT industry has evolved to become one of the most influential and dynamic industries around the world. Apple is one of the best performing clients in this industry. Apple is a multinational firm that manufactures personal electronics such as phones, computers, and commercial servers. The firm was founded in 1976 by Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak (Reference for Business). For about three decades, the company specialized in manufacturing personalized computers although it encountered numerous difficulties through the 90s. The return of Steve Jobs, who had been ousted as CEO marked a new beginning for the firm. Jobs brought a new look and corporate philosophy emphasizing simple designs and recognizable products. The company has since enjoyed phenomenal success especially after the introduction of the iPod in 2001. The company has established itself as a market leader in the ICT industry following the introduction of iPhone iPod and the iPad (Reference for Business).
Nature of Business Service
The electronic products provided by the Apple firm have evolved since its inception (Reference for Business). At first, the two Steves created video terminals that could be used to log into minicomputers. They added microchips to the terminals to create complete computes, Apple 1 computers. Though their machine was slow, it was faster than other machines used during this time. Latter, they developed Apple 11 series, which was an improvement to their initial machine. It had simple text display, color and graphics. The case and the key board were also improved. This was followed by introduction of other Apple 11 series which included Apple 11e and Apple 11GS. Apple 11 series was replaced by Apple 111, which was designed for the business environment. It was however not as successful as Apple 11 series due to its lack of a fan, which always resulted in overheating. The overheating often interfered with the computer functioning and most of its pieces were recalled. Next was Apple Lisa, the first GUI Computer. It had a WIMP interface and a floppy disk for external storage and transportation of data.
Macintosh computers, designed in 1985, had two unique features; MacPaint and MacWrite. Mac revolved around GUI and many people rejected is as a toy. Despite the resistance it faced at its introduction, Mac enjoyed a lot of success. The success was further enhanced through the introduction of desk top publishing, adobe page makers, and laser printers. It became a basic asset for many advertising firms, movie industries, music, arts and publishing firms. The Mac family had a range of computes such as Mac Plus, Mac SE, Mac Classic, Mac LC, PowerBook and others.
In recent time, the firm developed iMac, Power Mac G4 and iBook. These were developed after the return of Steve Jobs to the company. iMac consisted a CRT and the CPU enclosed in a single translucent case. The Power Mac G4 was created using Motorola technology AltiVec, while the iBook, which supports Wireless LAN was the first customer oriented laptop.
The firm also developed Mac OS X, an operating system develop by combining FreeBSD kernel and NeXTstep. The operating system has been improving continually and its current version is OS9.
More recent it created iPod, iPhone and iPad. The iPod is a portable music devise developed in 2001. It changed the way people listened to music. The iPhone market the entry of Apple into the telephone industry while the iPad introduce the firm in the tablet market.
Business operation
The firm conducts its sales in a unique way compared to other players in the industry. Its products are sold through Apple stores. In these stores customer can try products under the help of friendly store attendants. The firm also operates iTunes, a store through which it sell music designed for the iPod and App store through which it provides thousand of applications designed for the iPhone (Reference for Business).
Publics
The firm’s publics include lenders, apple employee, manufacturers and their employees, software developers, customers, music industries, shareholder and government (Kossovsky).
Internal external
Most Influential Shareholders Software developers
Customers
Government
Lenders
Least influential Employees Music Industries
Community
The business serves a range of customers. These customers include private computer users who use Macs and Macbooks, tablet users who use iPads, telephone users who use iPhones and iPhone applications and music lovers who use iPods. It also serves commercial entities such as businesses.
Apple Inc receivers a range services from various service providers. These providers include software developers, components manufactures and their employees who manufacture various components used by the firm, music industries and other suppliers.
The success of the business is a product of laying emphasis on what works for it. The company lays emphasis on unique designs that stand out in the industry. The company also makes its produce unique through unique features and a highly efficient marketing approach.
The company’s publics’ needs are varied. Shareholders who invest heavily in the firm expect sustainable and handsome profits. Customers expect continued innovation, amazing and affordable products, while suppliers expect sustainable or long-term business.
The community on the other hand expects good relations and a good CSR strategy, while the government expects adherence to regulation such as environmental regulations and employment laws.
Finally, employees desire the best working conditions possible. They desire to have satisfying careers, job satisfaction and satisfactory compensation.
Tough times
Despite the great success, the running of the firm has not been always smooth. In the early 90s the firm faced a long streak of bad luck and limited success that brought the company to its knees. It was only after the firm restored its former CEO Steve Jobs that its fortunes turned around. Jobs had been dismissed from the firm as a result of infighting that leads the firm’s board to sideline him. The return of Jobs marked a beginning of a new era for the firm and high emphasis on superior outstanding designs saw Apple return to industry domination and profit making ways.
Campaigns
Since its inception, Apple Inc has had several advertisement campaigns aimed at informing customers about its new products or promoting existing products (The Huffington Post). Moat of apple campaigns have been creative, captivating and entertaining. Initial campaigns contained the slogan “A” is for Apple and picture of a man holding an Apple computer. The first most captivating campaign was the super bowl commercial that introduce the Macintosh personal computer to the market in January 1984 (The Huffington Post). This was followed by lemmings commercial during the 1985 super bowl and tilted pencil test commercial which showcased Macintosh 11 in 1988. In the early 90s, the firm feature celebrities in commercials known as “What is on your Powerbook? Campaign.” Between 1995 and 2000 the farm created numerous commercial with the slogan “Think Different,” which were used extensively in marketing the iPod and the iMac. The commercial featured both on televisions and in print media. In 2002, the firm came up with the “Switch” Campaign introducing the term “Switcher” to refer to a person who switches to using a Mac platform from a Microsoft platform. Both print and television medium were used. There was also a website to dispel myths against Macs.
The other notable campaign is the get a Mac campaign of 2006. It had a collection of 24 “I am a Mac, I am a PC” commercials. The commercials were aired in many countries across the world between 2006 and 2010.
Conclusion
Apple Inc has performed impressively since its inception. Despite almost collapsing, the firm managed to stay abreast and find its unique winning ways. It has kept the industry guessing through inventions and innovations that have seen new interesting products with unique designs created for technology lovers. The company has also kept customer entertained and informed through interesting commercials.
Work Cited
Kossovsky, Nir . “What Apple Stakeholders Want.” Web. February 13, 2012. <http://www.iafinance.org/_blog/MISSION_INTANGIBLE/post/Apple_What_stakeholders_want/>
Reference for Business. “Apple Computer, Inc. – Company Profile, Information, Business Description, History, Background Information on Apple Computer, Inc.” Web. February 13, 2012 <http://www.referenceforbusiness.com/history2/31/Apple-Computer-Inc.html>
The Huffington Post. “Apple’s Greatest Ads: The First Thirty Five Years.” June 6, 2011. Web. February 13, 2012 <http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/10/06/steve-jobs-apples-best-ad-campaigns_n_998129.html#s393548&title=A_Is_For>
