Case - APPLE Inc. PERFORMANCE IN A ZERO-SUM WORLD ECONOMY

CASE ABSTRACT
Apple, the first company to mass-market a personal computer, had been the darling of Wall Street in the 1980s, but by the mid-1990s, the company was in serious difficulty. After being expelled from the company in 1985, Steve Jobs returned as CEO in 1997 to re-energize the firm. The introduction of the iPod in 2001 catapulted Apple back into the spotlight.

Apple continued to introduce "post pc" products, in addition to the iPad, Apple introduced the iPhone in 1997, and the iPad in 2010. All of their "post pc" products have been huge successes.

QUESTIONS

1. What are the strengths and weakness of Apple?

2. What are the opportunities and threats facing Apple?

3. What are the strategic factors facing Apple?

4. Does Apple have any core competencies? If yes, what are they?

5. Does Apple have a distinctive competency? If yes, what is it?

6. What are the keys to success in Apple?

7. What products does Apple offer?

8. What was the impact of the iPhone and iPad on Apple's revenue and profits?

9. What role did iTune play in Apple's corporate strategies?
    Will customers get music from all internet music companies, or be restricted to source based on their equipment?

10. What is Steve Jobs' leadership style at Apple?
      Does it differ from his leadership style at Pixar?

11. What does it mean to the Apple company to have Steve Jobs on Walt Disney's Board of Directors?

12. How would you evaluate Steve Jobs performance since returning to Apple?

13. Can Apple Computer survive if Steve Jobs does not return?

14. What impact did Apple's management decision in the early 1980s, to keep its software proprietary, have on the present situation?

15. What does it mean that the PC is concerned commodity?

16. What does convergence of Technology mean to Apple?
      What does it mean to the customers?