Apple Business Environment Analysis

Unit 1- Business and Business Environment
Prepared By: Malik Amin

Assessment 2

1. Impacts of Macro-Environment:
The external environment can have lasting negative and positive effects on the performance of Apple Inc. Since it is a global company, the external environment varies from one market to another ( ). For instance, the deregulated third world markets can have negative impact on performance of Apple since most of its devices are sold in the black market or through dealers that are not directly authorized by the company. On the other hand, the regulated and stringently monitored markets in developed countries pose an opportunity to the company for increased profits and market share. The various negative and positive impacts of external

Firstly, there are the favorable government regulations for tech industry in order to increase its production, target market or reduction in taxes paid directly to the government. Secondly, protection by U.S. government with regards to patent rights allows the company to prevent replication of Apple products by its competitors, which can be seen from the company’s long legal battle with Samsung over design infringement of Galaxy S1. Furthermore, availability of low-cost labor in Taiwan and China has provided the company with an opportunity, which it has taken with both hands through partnership with Foxconn; a third party company, which carries out the entire production and assembling of Apple products.
b) Negative Impacts:
Although external environment poses considerable opportunities to Apple yet it can also act as a source of discomfort for the company. In this regard, the external environment can affect operations of Apple since quality standards and certifications are quite different from one country to another ( ). Apple products may be acceptable to one market whereas there may be severe deficiencies in the same product from another market. Thus, the external environment is quite tricky for tech industry and major players such as Apple and

This is roughly 66% of the company’s overall sales, which makes the company vulnerable in the presence of Samsung and other competitors (Forbes, 2017). Moreover, the distribution channels of Apple in developing countries such as India are quite weak. Apple relies heavily on effective distribution channels, which can be seen from the fact that 26% out of 74% total Apple sales in 2014 was because of distribution channels (IDC, 2014). Finally, the incompatibility with other existing operating systems and difficulty in using ITunes as the sole source of media transfer to its devices make alternatives such as Samsung look quite