Welcome back! I hope you all enjoyed your break.
This week, we begin looking into individual companies to understand some of the marketing and financial variables that contribute to a company’s economic success. Our first pick, Apple Inc.
Over the last decade, Apple has provided investors/owners with over a 700% return on their original investment. During the same time period, the Dow Jones Industrial Average reported 0% growth. (The Dow is an average used to measure the performance of 30 large US companies representing industries that determine economic performance in the United States). However, you needed to wait until 2005 to see the stock outperform the Dow and explode into a high growth stock. An amazing story and a great investment!
Let’s look into some of the factors that have contributed to Apple’s stock recent success. If you are in my Marketing class, find Apple’s target market and the bases and descriptors used to segment its market(s). Remember that it is possible for a company to market the same or different products to multiple segments.
If you are in my Intro to Business class, look into Apple’s Income Statement. Look for revenue and profit growth over the last ten years. Can you find any trends? Look into Apple’s Owner’s Equity account, how is the company financed? (Hint: Debt vs. Equity). Note: we will be covering “Understanding Financial Information and Accounting” in class over the next two weeks; therefore, don’t attempt to answer this blog post until March 30th.
Don’t forget to do research and cite your sources. Good luck!
Apples target market is aimed at the high income and middle income people because they have more to offer than every other computer or music store and people that have good money will spend good money on high quality things. Also, apple has many different ipods that all do different things and have a wide veriety of prices. All of the many different ipods and computers they have make it so everyone can find something they like at an affordable price, but the more you spend the more you get. Apple looks to sell their products to all people, all over the united states, of all ages since everyone loves music and computers are like a necessity durring this day in age.
According to Fortune 500 Magazine, Apple does not really target a particular market. Apple’s consumers are kids to parents from every age, gender, and geographic location. Apple seems to appeal to everyone. It is the second largest music-retailer in the US behind Walmart. Also, according to Fortune 500 magazine, it is the #1 most admired company. It ranks No. 1 among Fortune 500 companies for total return to shareholders. Their stock does not stay down for long. Apple appeals to everyone. I think they have something for every age group from computer games to iphones and computers. People buy Apple products for work and leisure. I think their products are of high quality. From a personal experience, if you have a problem with one of their products that was purchased from their store, they are very helpful in trying to fix the problem or replacing the damaged one. I think consumers like the fact that Apple stands behind their products and Apple has state-of-the-art products.
According an article on cnn money by Betsy Morris, “Almost everything Apple makes transcends gender, geography, age, and race”. This mean that Apple truly does not beleive in the need for a target market. They beleive that the products they make turn them as a company on. In the article Stepehen Jobs is quoted saying “One of the keys to Apple is that we build products that really turn us on”. He also states, “You can’t ask people what they want if it’s around the next corner”. It is clear that apple is a company that provides to all varitety of people. They are primarily a company that is looking to never stop perfecting there products, and looking to always come up with something new and exciting.
Apple has been able to segment markets and sell to multiple bases.
For example Apple products sell world wide which covers the geography bases, their products are bought by both genders and all age groups with a wide range of incomes covers the demograhics bases, and their products are marketed by appealing to lifestlyes and motives cover the psychographics bases. Some examples of the geodemogrphics bases are shown with the large # of apps on the new iPad of which their are 150,000 according to Hiawatha Bray a writer for the Boston Globe. In her article of Wednesday March 31,2010 she wrote about developers for apps and software to be used by the iPad such as “Abhav LLC building softwear for reading newspapers for free in America”, and “targeting a unique market: the citzens of Tamil Nadu, a state in India, where citzens celebrate the New Year in mid-April.” An example of the benfit bases is shown in the same article with an “app called Ignition that can control a user’s personal computer from a remote location”.
Apple has been very succesful in segmenting the market place and appeals to all bases commonly used.
Apple has had a lot of success over many years because they don’t just target one particular demographic . They make their products appeal to many different generations worldwide. One of the target groups is the “Y” Generation. Apple had the right idea introducing the I-POD to Generation “Y” in 2001. According to an article from Business Week “In a number of years Apple had gone from the maker of computers used in schools to the designer of computers that make you cool”. Apple is aligned with the wants of the teenager. It seems to be that Apple knows just how to advertise to make the teenager want the product which has resulted in their success.
I believe Apple does not have a specific target market. Apple has many different gadgets that will capture numerous of peoples hearts. Wether it is an iphone for Y generation or a hot pink ipod for the tweens. Apple makes only the best devices that people will strive to get regardless of there age or income. Apple is able to stay so stable through this ressession because of their planning technique. They understand the way the economy rises and falls and came up with an idea to release new products when they believe a hard time is approaching. They are a very successful and smart company that i believe will continue to strive for many years to come.
Apple’s income according to Forbes Nasdaq was 8,163,000 in revenue for the end of the current fourth quarter.8,337,000 for the third,9,870,000 for the second and 15,683,000 for the end of the first, showing a steady decline in revenue growth.In 2003 it was 69 million in revenue and 2004 it was 106 million,up 37% from a year ago.So it seems as if apple has seen its share of inclines and declines in their revenue growth, and as I’m learning this is normal and healthy for a company’s long term sucess.The main stock holders for apple according to Apple Inc. are FMR LLc holding currently 45,173,3334 shares,State Street Co.holding 31,980,670, and Vangaurd Group holding 31,216,671 shares,and the list goes on,but these are the top three current holders.
Apple does not have a specific target market. Apple appeals to many people of different ages, gender, geographic locations,and races. Apple has many different products that capture the attention of everyone. They have the iphone geared for people that always want to stay connected to the bright colored ipod minis that appear to more of the tween generation. Apple products are high quality and people no matter their age, gender, race, or income are willing to pay for Apple products. Apple has a wide variety of products and a wide variety of prices that appeal to many different groups of people. They are very good at calculating when to introduce a new product into the market place which has helped them outperform the dow and expand into a high growth stock.
APPLE, INC has been standing strong for a long time. For the most part of apple that make them so much better and more success, because of their products and ipod. The way they marketing themselves is very stand up and one of a kind from other retail. The way they market the name of Apple or MAC is just for themselves, so if other retail store have their product it would not make a difference between price. Their marketing is so strong and world recognize. if we go into their stock, is has been growing for the last 10 years. from 5000 shares a day up to today 7 million shares or more. for last then $1 until now $237 per share. and if we go look at their financial state. We saw that their equity and cash flow vs stock, we understand how they make apple or mac become strong and smart shareholder.
No matter what people believe Apple’s target market is, i don’t believe that they have a specific one necessarily, because there are a wide range of people who purchase apple’s products. This is so, because they release new products all the time that tons of people just buy for the sake of the name, because they love all of their products, so they assume that they will love this one too. For example an Ipod could be targeted at everybody, because most people of all ages know how to use a computer and they make it easy enough to put music on it, so most people would be able to do so. Also, everybody loves music, which is another reason that a wide range of people of all ages all around the world would love one of these apple products.
Comparing the financial growth of Apple to it’s released products, you can tell that there definitely was some kind of trend and relationship between the both. Since Apple took a great risk in acquiring as much assets as possible ( by creating their own hardware, programs, and operating systems that are exclusive for their own products not like a PC where u had Microsoft, Dell, and Sony products on one desktop that was compatible with many programs), they had to find a way to attract consumers to their products even though they had adapted to other systems. Just like how they had to transition people from a CD player to an IPod. Apple wasn’t really successful the first three years of the release of the “dull” IPod but then came 2004 where they released the IPod Mini with a selection of 5 different colors. This boosted up the IPod sales 22% from the fiscal year of 2003 to 2004 and tripled in share value from $11/ share to $34/share. As girls saw the ipod mini as being cute and the boys saw them as being cool, the IPods soured in sales as people were matching the colored IPod with their purses, shoes, clothes, and even their car’s rims! Apple made the IPods user friendly and easily accessible to music through their program ITunes. As the economy went on a downslope, Apple’s IPod sales were inclining significantly as they began to introduce newer and better products like when they added a color screen to an IPod in mid-2005 (just over 20 million Ipods sold in 2005 alone). You see just how well Apple operates and how much confidence people have in this company because 75% of their equity is retained earnings while the rest is from the common stock(according to Google finance). I wish i could have had more knowledge on the stocks in 2003 so i could have invested in Apple and bought myself a mercedes.
Apple has 700% of returns on their original investment. According to yahoo finance their net income in 2007 is 3,496millions, in 2008 is 4,834 millions and 2009 is 5,704 millions. All this numbers show a lot of increase in the past previously years and the are obviously doing something to have this much of sales. They are coming with innovations that attracts all kinds of teenagers,adolescence,and adults. I think they already have the target market to get everyone’s attentions and sell their products. Right now they are offering a lot of new products to consumers that they are buying it. I was really amaze to see how much the stocks grew.
According to New York ( Fortune), Almost everything Apple makes transcends gender, geography, age and race. An Apple store is a demographic melting pot, with computer games for Kids and a Laptop or Iphone for parents and so much cool stuff to touch that it’s a magnet for teens.
Apple has positioned itself to a certain type of customer, wealthy people, innovators, people with good jobs, good lifestyle,etc. Everybody associates automatically Apple with innovation, design, quality, being different,etc. Innovation and quality are related with high price, the high price guarantees the customer that they are buying an excellent product, this is psychologically as well as from the business side, a typical business model. The human psychology says that the higher the price they paid, the better the product and otherwise. Its amazing how fast Apple is growing…
2004 was where Apple saw most of their success when the Ipod mini came out, boosting sales up 22%. Before 2004 when the Ipod was first introduced, sales were down. Over the years Apple has come up with newer and more advanced Ipods which has increased sales significantly even while the economy is hurting. While sales were going up, so was the value of the stock which went from $11 a share to close to $34 a share according to Yahoo Finance. According to Google a large percentage of their equity is through income and the rest is through stock.
I fould that apple’s products are of high quality and very user friendly as they are also very versitale . They have a product for everyone from a child/student to music listener and for a graphic desighner. They do very minimal marketing and promotions . Most of there product sales are from consumer loyality and trust. There stock from apple.com for today 04/01 ended at $235.97 which is very high for stock for the market conditions today. For the investor who purchased there stock had a generous return on their investment and are most likey users of there products. This is a succesful and inovative company that is constantley adapting to todays ever changing market. I personaly use apple products and fould them to work quite well.
According to Steve Jobs, Apple’s CEO and cofounder, apple “scoffs at the notion of a target market. You can’t ask people what they want if it’s around the next corner.” Jobs says that the idea of apple is that “if you make something really great, then everybody will want to use it.” I think Apple targets a market whether they mean to or not. Apple products are for people who can afford them, usually middle or high income people. Apple products are also for people who need the technology, or maybe just want it. I think the people who use the extra features and technology the most are graphic designers and students. I, myself, bought a pc over an Apple computer because I do not need the extra technology. I would not really use the extra features that Apple computers offers over PCS, such as illustrator and picture editing programs.
I believe Apple’s target markets depends on the specific product on their line. While the Ipod and Iphone target a large majority of the consumer market , products such as the Mac computers and the Ipad wouldn’t. People who buy Mac computers tend to be in a creative industry such as art and design where the computer is more of a necessity. Also , Apple targets a younger generation of people who enjoy the ease of use of a Mac without worrying about the high costs which can be well over $3000. This may seem like a small target market but with products such as the Iphone more and more mainstream consumers are hopping on the Apple bandwagon.
Over the last 10 years, Apple’s stock has seen steady growth, until
the last few years when it’s stock price has skyrocketed. It has had
increased revenue from year to year and its profit percentage, which
is calculated by dividing net income by gross margin, have also seen
growth. Apple is financed by selling stock. The probable reason they
chose to raise capital by selling stock instead of being privatly
funded is because they need huge amount of capital to research,
develop, and test new poducts. There stock has never split but there
has been speculation about it, especilly since it is at a high of
238.78. The revenue growth and profit growth trends that I see happen
come with the release of the ipod, ipod touch, iphone, and iphone 3g.
There has been some talk that apples stock has peaked before the
release of the ipad, opposed to after the release, which was the case with all of the previously mentioned devices. Information
there is not only specific target market for Apple. since Apple has many different types of products their market is huge. Apple wants those people that are upper and middle class. those people are willing to pay more money for a better computer or other things like that. Apple wants people that are like electonic devices, who like to have fun with technology, and those professionals. overall, i would say the base for Apple is Demographic Segmentation.
Over the last 10 years, Apple’s stock has seen steady growth, until
the last few years when it’s stock price has skyrocketed. It has had
increased revenue from year to year and its profit percentage, which
is calculated by dividing net income by gross margin, have also seen
growth. Apple is financed by selling stock. The probable reason they
chose to raise capital by selling stock instead of being privatly
funded is because they need huge amount of capital to research,
develop, and test new poducts. There stock has never split but there
has been speculation about it, especilly since it is at a high of
238.78. The revenue growth and profit growth trends that I see happen
come with the release of the ipod, ipod touch, iphone, and iphone 3g.
There has been some talk that apples stock has peaked before the
release of the ipad, opposed to after the release, which was the case with all of the previously mentioned devices. Information from forbes.com
Apple is so successful because there products appeal to so many demographic segments. According to The New York Times Apple dose not have one particular target market. Apples products sell them selfs because of the benifits that the customer them. But it dose not matter your age or lifecycle, it appeals to anyone that likes technology, which now a days is everyone. I do belive that Apple dose use psychografic advertisment. There commersials get you in a good mood and it almost seems when you buy an ipod you get the “good” feeling with the purchase. Apple stays on top, and they always come out with new products that pepole enjoy. One of the The New York Times articles did say that Apple dose target google for advertisment, which makes sence considering the amount of differnt type of pepole that go onto google.
From 2000-2005 Apple had a slight growth in it’s stocks. From 06-07 they’re stocks has a very dramatic increase and had a slight decrease between 08-09 just to shoot up again. Back in May of 2000 Apple’s market cap was at $17 billion at the same time when Microsoft was at $356 billion, today Apple sits at $182 billion and Microsoft is at $261 billion. This says to me that Apple is closing the gap between them and Microsoft, and it’s just a matter of time before Apple surpasses Microsoft.
From looking at Yahoo Finances for the last ten years of Apple’s stocks, it seems to me that the growth has been steadily increasing. From 2000-2004 there wasn’t very much growth. From then on, with the new technology Apple has created and offered to the consumers, their profits and revenue have increased tremendously. The trends I have found are the profits and revenue increase as Apple introduces more products. Apple is financed by their many assets and top share holders, like State Street Corp. and Vanguard Group Inc. In conclusion, if I were to invest in a company, I would confidently invest in Apple.
It seems the apple company is holding strong even in these tough economic times. yahoo fianance shows that the revenue produced by this company was 46.71 billion. There net income was 9.36 billion, this company has zero debt and has a very non volitale stock making it a safe and profitable investement.
Apple was certainly a miss earlier in the years when it’s computers where nothing revolutionary, now that the Ipod hit the shelves, the Iphone, and soon to be Ipad, their a company that is gaining massive momentum due to them being a unique company that set themselves apart from other computer or phone companies. I personally feel as long as apple is introducing new products into the market, theres going to be no decline in the near future thats for sure.
The trends that are seen with Apple have done nothing but grow over the last ten years, exculding the years 2001, and 2002. This is when they lost money in earnings per share, which was -0.05(MSNmoney.com) However they only declinded slightly. After these years, the company continued to sykrocket with its revenue. Apple is fincanced by the issuance of common stock that the public buys. When Apple issues more stock each year they are able to generate more money for developing new and better products. When this happens, Apple’s stock price rises which directly increases stockholder’s wealth.
In the past ten years Apple have had a noticeble increse in revenue and profits. In the first four to five years the growth wasn’t much but after 2005 the increase went very high.Acoording to Yahoo Finance Apple had a net income of 5.7 millions in 2009, which compare to its net income in 2007 of 3.4 millions the difference is really big. These increases show the success Apple has had in the industry and the 700% return in original investment to their inverstors/owners.
Apple doesnt really have a set target market. They go after all types of people making them one of the richest market out there. All the products they come out with can be used easily and effectively by anyone. For example there ipods everyone wants one because you can save thousands of songs in one ipod and take it everywhere. Apple just has excellent products that everyone wants.
According to Forbes Magazine, Apple does not target any particular market. Apple’s products appeal to such a wide variety of people. Some bases would be age, life style, life cycle, income, occupation, education level and interests. Some descriptors include middle and upper class citizens, music enthusiasts/fans aged 12-35, professionals in media and design, people who are willing to pay a little more for a better experience and anyone who enjoys playing with technology. Apple appeals to different people in many different ways.
After looking over Apples Income Statements and Balance Sheets for the past 10 years on Yahoo Financial, it is clear that Apple is just another one of those success stories! From 2000-2005 there was a slow but steady increase in Apples profits and price pershare, nothing amazing but it was in growth. However since 2005 Apples profits, revenues and price per share has absolutley skyrocketed. Reasons for this include the release of the iPhone and the huge success with the iPod. Apple is financed by the issuing of common stock to the public and also by bonds, however the huge cash flow that they have been receiving over the last few years allows them to rely mainly on their cash reserves for financing. Apple is definatley a winner!
As I was Searching online Apple’s target market is evrybody but for different products. Apple Ipods are for everybody from the old generation to the age of seven. Iphones and their Mac laptops are also for eveybody. There is only one place that apple differentiate is when is come to the income level. As the prices are really high for their product, people with low income can’t really afford to pay that much amount for the macbook because it starts from 1000 dollars. As far as the iphone is concerned, people can buy the iphone with contract for 99.99-199.99, but the data plan on its makes a big deal because you have to $30 every month. The Ipad they are currently launching is made for to read books, but there are lots of other things you can do on it, but it is especailly for the people who likes to read lots of books. Apple doesn’t have any target market other then pricing, but lots of people are still buying even they can afford or not.
I believe that apple’s buyers market is from ages 12 all the way up to the age of 70. They have an array of products ranging from computers to ipods to phones even to tv’s. Over the past 10 years Apple’s stock has grown over 8 times its opening value. Apples stock is a common stock which means anyone in the public can buy their stock. Their stock has only declined once which was from 2001 to 2002. Even though the prices for Apple are what most people call “outrageous” but they have products that appeal to everyone. Once you are an Apple customer, you are considered a customer for life because they focus their business on customer service and their customer service is ranked among the best of any company.
Apple appeals to everyone because they make products that are of the highest quality and are also very well designed and appealing to the eye. Apple wasn’t always on this upward surge. What made them skyrocket was the introduction of the Ipod and Itunes. Itunes revolutionized the music industry and how record company sell records and how box offices sell movies. It changed our culture the Ipod basically eradicated audio CD and tapes. Then apple introduced the Iphone which was another revolutionary product that changed the way we access media and interact with it. Apple changed American culture in some ways you basically have to have an Ipod and itunes to be able to enjoy media these days. Consumers liked the idea of having vast amounts of portable media at there fingertips. Itunes lets you have gigs upon gigs of organized media imagine trying to organize and store thousands of CD’s and DVD’s. Apple made a product that is convinient and makes every day life a little easier and more organized.
Base on the income statement, the last ten years of revenue and profit is get better base on the average volume for April 2010 they made 35,110,000 and on April 2001 and they made 21,901,600. Base on the balance sheet Apple Inc. total cash flow is 24.80 Billion. Their revenue is 46.71 billion. Apple Inc. net incomes are 9.36 billion. I could conclude that Apple did very well especially during this economy.
” Apple scoffs at the notion of a target market”. This is what Betsy Morris wrote on an Article on the CNN money website. And From what I know about apple I believe this to be true. From the little that we have talked about it in marketing class we can tell that there is no specific target market for Apple. Apple supposedly markets in Mass marketing according to this same article. They target all ages, genders, races. From little kids to adults, whether it is for business or for entertainment, apple offers something for everyone. I also read on this article something about Ipod being essential to music. I think it’s true, I can’t remember when but ever since the Ipod came out and exploded into the market it has been the most talked about, and the most used for listening to music. Of course there are probably some other MP3 players out there but none exceed the Ipod. The Ipod is always evolving and adding something new to it’s uses and becoming more and more appealing. I can say from experience that every time that Apple come out with something new it appeals to me. Even if I don’t need it, for example who needs an IPAD? no one right, well I want one. The looks, the designs, it all appeals to the market. Once you go apple you never go back. Of course there are people who don’t find anything interesting in apple, and they stick to their blackberries and regular computers and products but those who do like apple tend to like everything apple.
While Apple does amazingly well with many bases and segments Apple’s key is and has always been that it avoids segmenting its market, Apple advertisements appear the nearly unchanged all over the world because they are company based on strong product orientation. Apple are the business of what we technophiles refer to as the “market making machines” business, which in short means that Apple creates a unique product that has no real comparable substitute, this formula truly took hold with the Apple II which was the first real family computer that could be used for both business and games easily, then the next market maker was the iMac it was flashy, hip, and had a simple OS interface, next came the famous ipod then iphone and now the ipad (which may or may not be a success). Nintendo is another good example of a company that creates market makers, from the original NES (NES came along like Hannibal over the Alps, cheap with good graphics and great user interface which saved the almost dead home video game system industry) to the Wii (no other system has the motion detecting mobile interface Wii has, they really did a good job expanding their market on the Wii). SUV’s are a huge example of market makers, when SUV’s were invented they had a ton of comparable vehicles (station wagons, trucks, minivans, vans, and jeeps etc.) while all could fit the same need and some much more efficient vehicles they combined enough features to sway consumers into spending paying more for a type of vehicle that generally costs more to own than its counterparts.
It could be said that Apple segments by age (they show young people dancing in some ads) income level (their devices tend to be fairly expensive) and geographic location (the generally show urban dwellers in their ads) but in most cultures youth and wealth are considered alluring qualities so they are a natural place to associate your product with. However Apple’s restrictive policies are hurting usability of its devices and poor customer support and worthless warranties coupled with its poor developer support will alienate developers and customers leaving apple in same position it was in 1990 except without the reputation for user interface and will lose market to open source platforms like android. Also Apple does very poorly in developing markets like India and china and is currently so inflexible that it is unlikely that they will gain a foothold any time soon, while Microsoft and the Bill Gates foundation have actually been doing things like supporting and distributing low cost free laptops preloaded with their software and actually giving away free software to companies in India and China and cultivating strong business relationships with these ever expanding markets.
In the beginning of the decade Apple Inc. really wasnt doing too good.From 2005 until now,Apple has been receiving extremely high revenues and profits. This is a result from the decline in CD use(therefore more people bought Ipod’s),a lot of people started purchasing revolutionary laptop’s(at affordable prices),more usage of Apple Operating systems and
etc. Apple Inc.’s technology has really been the best in recent years, compared to its rivals(Microsoft,Dell,etc.).Apple Inc. is mainly financed by stockholders.Apple’s products are becoming more demanding,and this has lead to an increase in it’s stock purchases.
after reviewing apples statements there does seem to be a a trend. they have been on a steady up rise in profits since 2000. there have been a couple of down times for the company but them they seem to break out in a big up rise in sales. this could be from them not releasing any new product for a period of time and the hype of there product is not there but then when they release a new product the stock shoots back up. apple is one of the highest technology companies for consumers in the market and the demand for their product will always be there.
According to their financial statements Apple Inc. is one of the most profitable companies in their industry, when comparing them to their three main competitors Dell, HP, and Microsoft. Their quarterly revenue growth is more than double that of the next closest competitor in Microsoft. With the second highest gross margins compared to the other three and more than double where the industry average is at. Add to the fact that they are sitting on twenty four billion dollars with no debt. An advantage none of their other competitors enjoy. Apple is also doing a good job with what it has, with a return on asset of 17.27% a number that only trails Microsoft by one percentage point. In the past five years revenue for Apple has increased around fifteen to twenty percent and an increase to gross operation profit of at least ten percent the past five years. Obviously all these numbers show trends of growth in Apple.
Apple is a company that targets middle/upper class consumers. Otherwise, Apple has been able to reach people of all age groups and locations. I have 42 cousins, aunts, uncles, and grandparents on my mom’s side; their ages range from 10 months all the way to 75 years old. They live anywhere from Chicago to Canada. Almost each one of them has an ipod. The products Apple makes come in all different styles, from smaller to bigger, different memory size, and fun features like a touch screen; It really helps to give a personal feel. Apple has been able to reach consumers everywhere with great products that are easy and fun to use.
According to Techgeeze.com, on January 25, 2010, Apple announced the financial results for their first fiscal quarter of which turned out to be the most profitable quarter in Apple’s history. “If you annualize our quarterly revenue, it’s surprising that Apple is now a $50+ billion company,” said Steve Jobs. In the past few years Apple has maintained to be successful in selling their products. As said by David Whatley of Critical Thought, “99.9% of businesses on the App Store make no money,” it’s much more likely that if something goes wrong during development, the money will drop down. It’s very easy to make money on the App Store, but the issue most developers have is that they let costs get away from them by having too big a team or by investing too much development time, and that comes straight out of their bottom line.” Although they’re successful globally, Apple’s downfall is that the company sometimes invests too much on a new item without knowing its success outcome. If the product is not successful, they will be fortunate for their income to breakeven.
For the past ten years Apple has been up and down. From 2001 to 2004 they remained steady. But from 2005 to 2008 they went up then decreased, and then increased again all the way up till now. They are financed under equity. But as of right now APPL doesn’t have any debt or equity according to their key statistics.
apple doesn’t really have one specific target market. they appeal to many different people. one market is middle to older aged people because of their higher income and the high prices of apples products. Another target that I’ve noticed from their commercials is the “Y” market. The commercials include young people dancing around appearing to have a great time. Steve Jobs is so successful because he is an innovator he was one quoted “You can’t just ask customers what they want and then try to give that to them. By the time you get it built, they’ll want something new.” He knows the best way to sell a to any market is just to put out the best product possible and that applies to every target market.
Apple provides their target markets with a variety of items that satusfy each group. They target their markets up with certain generations, certain classes of income such as high income and middle class, specific common interests such as electronics and music. Their products provide customers with individuality, and customize their electronics if ordered online or through certain websites. Apple has a great marketing stradegy and their products seem to appeal to almost all categories of demographics.
Apple does not have one specific target market. This company has been a very good investment for all of its investors. We can say it sells world wide so it reaches many backrounds, also sells to both male and females.Also appeals to a variety of llifestyles, and motives. Apple has done well marketing its prdoduct, and we can tell this by its tremdous success.
It is clear from research that Apple is a leading competitor, if not the leading competitor in the technological market. A company that has been financed on equity since 2003, (Morningstar.com) Apple company continues to grow today. Their revenue in 2009 is nearly five times higher than it was in 2000 according to google finance and has increased every year. Also their gross profit is six times higher in 09 than it was in 2000, again, according to Morningstar, and like their revenue,their gross profit has also increased exponentially every year since 2000. Apple is a company that is set up for continued success, considering that they are not financed on debt and also are continuing to increase revenues and profits every year.
Apple has many trends that got it to where it is today and a big part of it is who they are targeting to buy their latest product or service. Apple targets people with very few characteristics, characteristics which are middle and upper income people, people who like to have fun with technology, music enthusiasts and professionals that are in media and design (Answers.com). In fact, I looked up the last few commercials that Apple aired within the last few months and it shows Apple targeting people in the evidence that I have found from Answers.com. After reviewing Apple’s income statement several times Apple doesn’t finance itself with debt it finances itself on equity. Apple’s history doesn’t show any trace that it has debt and it survives on its assets which means they have no liabilities, which in turn means that they have nothing to worry about. =MGMBoston=
After looking at the last 10 years of Apple’s income I found that their profits didn’t start to increase until 2005. Since then there has been a steady increase in profit. This is significantly better than the competitors (Dell and Microsoft). Most of the growth seems to have taken place after 2007. This is probably due to all of their unique products like the Ipod, Itunes, and the newly released Ipad. I reviewed their financial statements and found that Apple is financed by stocks, bonds, and cash and has no debt.
Apple Inc has been a succesful company for a long time now mostly because of the new products such as the iPod, they seem to be releasing every few months. They have a very strong market which allows them to be this succcessfull as well. In the last ten years, Apple’s stocks have grown tremendously with a significant growth in shares everyday. Their shares have increased form being just a few dollars to over $200 today. Their last fiscal quarter has been one of the most profitable ones in years.
According to NADAQ, “Apple Inc.. The Group’s principal activities are to design, manufacture and market personal computers, mobile communication devices, and portable digital music and video players and sell a variety of related software, services, peripherals, and networking solutions.” This means that the target market for all of these products is quite large. With all of the technology, Apple targets the teens mostly, and also the x-generation and the y-generation as well. All three of these target markets are into technology and each have their share of innovators to try out the new products that apple produces. Once word gets out from the innovators about their likes or dislikes of the products, the success rate may go down or up. There are different products that target the different markets. For example, the iPod is generally towards the younger generations such as the teens; for the Y generation there are the apple computers, and for the x-ers the iPad is generally geared towards them. Apple is doing a great job targeting their markets, and in my opinion, if they keep up the good work, success will continue to come to them.
Apple is a great company. Its immense market, gives wing to cover all ages, gender and taste. Apple offers a variety of product from a computer to an MP3. Their prices oscillate depending on the effectivity of the product, or better said what the product is capable of doing. Apple has designed their product to be appealing to the masses skyrocketing technological goods into successful products, because they understand peoples need and want. Apple has created a network in which no matter how old you are there is a gadget for you..