Apple Computer and Long-Term Success

In the 1970s, technologies such as video cassette recorders and personal computers were revolutionizing the industry. Co-founders, Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak, were drawn to this technology revolution and in 1976 started Apple Computers (Abdelsamad et al., 2008). The combination of their charisma and intellect enabled them to design the Apple I computer. Today, Apple is one of the leading technology companies in the world. However, internal factors such as Apple’s unclear marketing plan, employee work life negligence, and financial-legal issues have negatively affected their performance and sullied their corporate reputation. Apple worked to correct the issues that were detracting from their performance and has had great success in recent years. However, Apple must learn to continually monitor these areas in order to achieve long-term success and retain a competitive advantage.

Since Apple’s inception, there have been three significant internal factors that have been detrimental to the company’s performance. One of the factors affecting Apple’s performance was their inability to distinguish themselves in their industry. In addition to the fact that Apple would not allow outside computer manufacturers to use their Mac operating system, their products were easily imitable (Abdelsamad et al., 2008).The combination of these two factors allowed their rivals, Windows and Intel, to dominate the personal computer (PC) market. It was necessary for the company to focus on a particular marketing mix to gain an advantage over their competitors (Wheelen & Hunger, 2012). Another detrimental factor that was affecting Apple’s performance was the negative attention the company received when a trade union was formed at a Chinese factory that ...

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