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Discussion board # 1

Part II: Recall "MiniCase 1: Apple: What’s Next?" on page 471.
Think about the strategic business models in the laptop industry and how they are different from Apple. Put yourself in the role of any company within the laptop industry, and explain a strategic business move that you would recommend. Why would you recommend this move?
When making your recommendation, let's vary the competitors in order to diversify our discussion forum.

Reading:

Apple: What’s Next? MiniCase 1

APPLE IS THE first company whose stock market valua-tion crossed the $1 trillion threshold (in 2018). Some 20 years earlier, however, Apple would likely have gone bankrupt if archrival Microsoft (which enjoyed a valua-tion of $615 billion in December 1999)1 had not in-vested $150 million in Apple. Under investigation by the Department of Justice at the time for alleged abuse of monopoly power, Microsoft was eager to not have another competitor go out of business.

The Apple Ecosystem Apple achieved its success over two decades by imple-menting a potent competitive strategy. That strategy, conceptualized by co-founder Steve Jobs, combined in-novation in products, services, and business models. In 1997, Apple was near bankruptcy. But in 2001, its revi-talization took off with the introduction of the iPod, a portable digital music player; this was the same year Apple opened its first retail stores (see Exhibit MC1.1). Today, Apple’s stores earn some of the highest sales per square foot of any retail outlets, including Tiffany & Co., a luxury jeweler, and LVMH, a purveyor of fine handbags and other high-end goods. In 2003, Apple soared even higher when it

launched its digital store iTunes. And it didn’t stop there. In 2007, the California tech company revolu-tionized the smartphone market with the introduction of the iPhone. Just three years later, Apple re-created the tablet segment by introducing the iPad. For each of its iPod, iPhone, and iPad lines of businesses, Ap-ple followed up with incremental product innovations that extended each product category. In 2017, Apple launched the 10th anniversary edition of the iPhone 10 and in 2018 it introduced the iPhone XS Max. Globally, Apple has also sold more than 1 billion

A Good Strategy Why was Apple so successful? Why did Apple’s com-petitors, such as Sony, Dell, Hewlett-Packard (HP), Nokia, and BlackBerry, struggle or go out of business? The short answer is: Apple had a better strategy. But this raises the question: What is a good strategy? A good strategy is more than a mere goal or a company slogan. A good strategy defines the competitive chal-lenges facing an organization through a critical and

Discussion board # 2

Utilizing the PESTEL analysis discussed in the unit lesson, briefly analyze a firm's external environment. This can be any firm (your employer or a favorite company). In the interest of discussion forum diversity, do not analyze a firm that a fellow classmate has brought forward. How do you think the use of this tool would assist in strategic planning?