INTRODUCTION
APPLE
Apple Inc. is an
American multinational corporation headquartered in Cupertino, California, that
designs, develops, and sells consumer electronics, computer software, and
personal computers. Its best-known hardware products are the Mac line of
computers, the iPod media player, the iPhone smartphone, and the iPad tablet
computer. Its consumer software includes the OS X and iOS operating systems,
the iTunes media browser, the Safari web browser, and the iLife and iWork
creativity and productivity suites.
Apple was founded by
Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak, and Ronald Wayne on April 1, 1976, to develop and
sell personal computers. It was incorporated as Apple Computer, Inc. on January
3, 1977, and was renamed as Apple Inc. on January 9, 2007, to reflect its shifted
focus towards consumer electronics.
Apple is the world's
second-largest information technology company by revenue after Samsung Electronics
and the world's third-largest mobile phone maker after Samsung and Nokia.
Fortune magazine named Apple the most admired company in the United States in
2008, and in the world from 2008 to 2012. On September 30, 2013, Apple
surpassed Coca-Cola to become the world's most valuable brand in the Omnicom
Group's "Best Global Brands" report. However, the company has
received criticism for its contractors' labor practices, as well as for its own
environmental and business practices.
As of May 2013, Apple
maintains 408 retail stores in fourteen countries, as well as the online Apple
Store and iTunes Store, the latter of which is the world's largest music
retailer. Apple is the largest publicly traded corporation in the world by
market capitalization, with an estimated market capitalization of $446 billion
by January, 2014. As of September 29, 2012, the company had 72,800 permanent
full-time employees and 3,300 temporary full-time employees worldwide. Its
worldwide annual revenue in 2013 totalled $170 billion. As of Q1 2014, Apple's
five-year growth average is 39% for top line growth and 45% for bottom line
growth. In May 2013, Apple entered the top ten of the Fortune 500 list of
companies for the first time, rising 11 places above its 2012 ranking to take
the sixth position.
GOOGLE
Google is an American
multinational corporation specializing in Internet-related services and
products. These include online advertising technologies, search, cloud
computing, and software. Most of its profits are derived from AdWords.
Google was founded by
Larry Page and Sergey Brin while they were Ph.D. students at Stanford
University. Together they own about 14 percent of its shares but control 56 of
the stockholder voting power through super voting stock. They incorporated
Google as a privately held company on September 4, 1998. An initial public
offering followed on August 19, 2004. Its mission statement from the outset was
"to organize the world's information and make it universally accessible
and useful", and its unofficial slogan was "Don't be evil". In
2006 Google moved to headquarters in Mountain View, California, nicknamed the
Googleplex.
Rapid growth since
incorporation has triggered a chain of products, acquisitions and partnerships
beyond Google's core search engine. It offers online productivity software
including email (Gmail), an office suite (Google Drive), and social networking
(Google+). Desktop products include applications for web browsing, organizing
and editing photos, and instant messaging. The company leads the development of
the Android mobile operating system and the browser-only Chrome OS for a
netbook known as a Chromebook. Google has moved increasingly into
communications hardware: it partners with major electronics manufacturers in
production of its high-end Nexus devices and acquired Motorola Mobility in May
2012. In 2012, a fiber-optic infrastructure was installed in Kansas City to
facilitate a Google Fiber broadband service.
The corporation has
been estimated to run more than one million servers in data centers around the
world (as of 2007) and to process over one billion search requests and about 24
petabytes of user-generated data each day (as of 2009). In December 2013 Alexa
listed google.com as the most visited website in the world. Numerous Google
sites in other languages figure in the top one hundred, as do several other
Google-owned sites such as YouTube and Blogger. Its market dominance has led to
prominent media coverage, including criticism of the company over issues such
as copyright, censorship, and privacy.
MICROSOFT
Microsoft Corporation
is an American multinational corporation headquartered in Redmond, Washington,
that develops, manufactures, licenses, supports and sells computer software,
consumer electronics and personal computers and services. Its best known software
products are the Microsoft Windows line of operating systems, Microsoft Office
office suite, and Internet Explorer web browser. Its flagship hardware products
are Xbox game console and the Microsoft Surface series of tablets. It is the
world's largest software maker measured by revenues. It is also one of the
world's most valuable companies.
Microsoft was founded
by Bill Gates and Paul Allen on April 4, 1975 to develop and sell BASIC
interpreters for Altair 8800. It rose to dominate the personal computer
operating system market with MS-DOS in the mid-1980s, followed by the Microsoft
Windows. The company's 1986 initial public offering, and subsequent rise in its
share price, created an estimated three billionaires and 12,000 millionaires
from Microsoft employees. Since the 1990s, it has increasingly diversified from
the operating system market and has made a number of corporate acquisitions. In
May 2011, Microsoft acquired Skype Technologies for $8.5 billion in its largest
acquisition to date.
As of 2013, Microsoft
is market dominant in both the IBM PC-compatible operating system and office
software suite markets (the latter with Microsoft Office). The company also
produces a wide range of other software for desktops and servers, and is active
in areas including Internet search (with Bing), the video game industry (with
the Xbox, Xbox 360 and Xbox One consoles), the digital services market (through
MSN), and mobile phones (via the Windows Phone OS). In June 2012, Microsoft
entered the personal computer production market for the first time, with the
launch of the Microsoft Surface, a line of tablet computers.
With the acquisition
of Nokia's devices and services division to form Microsoft Mobile Oy, the
company will re-enter the smart-phone hardware market, after its previous
attempt, Microsoft Kin, which resulted from their acquisition of Danger Inc. Microsoft
Corporation is a software company based in Redmond, Washington. Microsoft's
flagship product, the Windows operating system, is the single most popular
operating system for home desktop use. Its other desktop products, namely
Microsoft Office, Internet Explorer, and Windows Media Player, are either
bundled directly with the Windows operating system, or are often sold together
with Windows as preinstalled software on new computer systems. Additionally,
the company manufactures and sells computer hardware such as keyboards and
mice, and owns or possesses interest in several content-distribution channels
such as MSNBC, the MSN Internet portal, and the Microsoft Encarta electronic
encyclopedia.
The Microsoft Windows operating system started life as an optional
addition to the MS-DOS operating system. The idea of a graphical user interface
was pioneered by Apple Computer's Apple II and Macintosh. However, due to prior
work with IBM, Microsoft successfully convinced the hardware giant to ship
Microsoft Windows preinstalled on IBM personal computers. This monumental step
had piggybacked Windows to be one of the most recognized software titles in
history. The Microsoft Office suite of applications (Word, Excel, Powerpoint,
and Access) began life as Microsoft Works, an Apple Macintosh application that
provided the functions of a word processor, spreadsheet, and database all in
one. Microsoft's popular Internet Explorer web browser was originally a
rebranded version of Spyglass Mosaic.
Microsoft products
have traditionally been plagued with security problems, leading to an entire
malicious software industry today. Although all major operating systems and computer
programs have been subject to attack at one time or another, Microsoft's
latency at resolving issues, and the simple number of them, has tarnished the
company's image. Microsoft has a policy of releasing patches to its software on
the second Tuesday of every month via Microsoft Update, with no more than 10
major changes to its products at those times. Thus, exploits that are
discovered around mid-month are not corrected for at least four weeks, and in
many cases eight or twelve weeks can go by before a patch is released for a
security issue. Microsoft Corporation has promised that its new Windows Vista
operating system will be more secure than previous offerings such as Windows
XP, however the ten patches a month policy has not been changed.
APPLE
Strengths
·
Customer
loyalty combined with expanding closed ecosystem. While at first Apple’s closed
ecosystem was a weakness for the business, this has now changed. First, Apple
now has a full range of apps, software and products that are interlinked and
support each other. Second, new products and supplements will be released soon
(iTV), hence expanding the ecosystem. Third, Apple has a strong customer
loyalty, which increases due to Apple’s closed ecosystem, which, in turn, is supported
by customer loyalty. So the combination of Apple’s expanding closed ecosystem
and customers’ loyalty increases firm’s competitive advantage.
·
Apple is a
leading innovator in mobile device technology. Apple has been chosen as the
most innovative business in the world for the 3rd time in 2012. Company’s core
competency of producing innovative products is the strength the company builds
upon and is able to bring the most innovative products to the market.
·
Strong
financial performance ($10,000,000,000 cash, gross profit margin 43.9% and no
debt). Apple’s financial performance is one of the best among many companies.
Company currently (end of 2012) holds about $10,000,000,000 in cash, which can
be used for acquisitions, buying back company shares and other matters. It also
has higher gross profit margin than its main competitors, which is equal to
43.9%. Company has no debt and is not directly affected by interest rates or
credit markets.
·
Brand
reputation. Apple has a reputation of highly innovative, well designed, and
well-functioning products and sound business performance. Apple brand is valued
at $76.5 billion and was the second most valuable brand in the world in 2012.
·
Retail stores.
Apple’s retail stores ensure high quality customer experience; provide direct
contact with knowledgeable staff and increases brand awareness. Besides,
Apple’s stores are one of the most profitable in terms of sales/ft2.
·
Strong
marketing and advertising teams. Marketing is one of the strongest functional
areas Apple has. It can sell pricier products, build superior stores (they are
more or less built to achieve marketing goals) and advertise their products in
a compelling manner.
Weaknesses
·
High price.
Apple’s products cost much more than its competitors devices. Some critics
argue that the price is not justified. When there’s such a fierce competition,
Apple products price becomes a weakness because consumers can easily opt for
similar quality but lower price products.
·
Incompatibility
with different OS. The iOS and OS X are quite different from other OS and uses
software that is unlike the software used in Microsoft OS. Due to such
differences, both in software and hardware, users often choose to stay with
their accustomed software and hardware (Microsoft OS and Intel hardware).
· Decreasing
market share. The less market share Apple has, the less it can influence its
potential customers and persuades them to jump into using Apple’s closed
ecosystem products.
·
Patent
infringements. The firm is often accused of infringing other companies’ patents
and has even lost some trials. This damages Apple brand and its financial
situation.
·
Further changes
in management. Apple has lost Steve Jobs in 2012 and Tim Cook became the new
CEO. Scott Forstall and John Browett (chief of retail) left the company too and
this will have an impact on company’s management, which, as many think, will be
negative.
· Defects of new
products. This is not current Apple weakness but one that jumps out time to
time. Some of Apple’s iPod and iPhone releases had clear faults and thus
disturbed sales of the products and firm’s reputation of superior product
performance.
·
Long-term gross
margin decline. Current Apple’s gross margin is one of the highest in the tech
industry but analysts fear that due to increasing component prices and
competition current margins will not be sustained. Hence, glooming firm’s
future financial performance.
Opportunities
·
High demand of
iPad mini and iPhone 5. iPad mini sales will increase Apple’s market share in
the tablet market and, will strengthen firm’s competitive advantage.
·
iTV launch. iTV
launch will support Apple TV sales and the products’ ecosystem.
·
Emergence of
the new provider of application processors. Samsung, the main Apple’s
competitor, is also the only provider of application processors for Apple’s
products. Apple has to find a new source for the component but could not find a
suitable one yet. Nonetheless, new manufacturers with superior engineering
capabilities are arising and it’s just a matter of time, when Apple will seize
upon the opportunity of being less dependent on its direct competitors.
·
Growth of
tablet and smartphone markets. Growth of tablet and smartphone markets is a
good opportunity to expand firm’s share in these markets.
·
Obtaining
patents through acquisitions. Apple lacks of some patents to sustain its growth
and the best way to acquire those patents is to acquire the firms holding them.
In addition, Apple could develop new skills and competencies.
·
Damages from
patent infringements. Apple patents are often infringed by its competitors.
Thus, collecting the damages from the companies that do so is a viable
opportunity to not only increase the cash reserves but to damage the
competitor’s reputation and sales as well.
·
Strong growth
of mobile advertising market. Apple has developed iAd advertising platform,
which allows advertising on Apple iPhone, iPad and iPod touch. The growth of
mobile advertising market is an opportunity which could be further seized upon.
·
Increasing
demand for cloud based services. Apple could expand its range of iCloud
services and software as the demand for cloud-based services is expanding.
Threats
·
Rapid
technological change. One of the most severe threats Apple and the other tech
companies are facing is rapid technological change. Companies are under the
pressure to release new products faster and faster. The one that cannot keep up
with the competition soon fails. This is especially hard when a business wants
to introduce something new, innovative and successful. Apple was able to bring
very innovative products to the market so far but for the moment, even Apple
hasn’t unveiled any plans for the new products (except iTV) and may lack new
introductions to keep up with competition.
·
2013 tax
increases. Tax increases in USA in 2013 will negatively affect Apple.
·
Rising pay
levels for Foxconn workers. Pay levels for Foxconn’s workers already rose 3
times from 2010 to 2012. Foxconn is the main manufacturer of Apple products and
the rising pay level for Foxconn’s workers will likely raise the prices for
Apple products.
·
Breached IP
rights. The companies that breach Apple patents might not be discovered soon and
may benefit from it, while weakening Apple at the same time.
·
Price pressure
from Samsung over key components. Samsung has already asked Apple to pay higher
price for its application processors. Due to intense competition and no viable
substitutes, Apple may be asked to pay even more.
·
Strong dollar.
Apple earned more than half of its revenues from outside US. Dollar
appreciation against other currencies reduces potential profits from those
countries.
·
Android OS
growth. Android OS is the main competitor for iOS in mobile device market. The
domination of Android decreases iOS power over influencing consumers to join
Apple.
·
Competitors’
moves in online music market. Apple faces threat from online music stores, such
as Amazon, Wal-Mart and online music subscription companies, such as Spotify.
GOOGLE
Strengths
·
Open source
products and services. As the company states:” Google’s mission is to organize
the world’s information and make it universally accessible and useful.” The
same is with almost any of Google products. Let it be Google maps, calendars,
drive, OS or the advices how to rank better in a search index. Google’s
products can also be used with any OS or mobile device without a charge. Google
openness is the key why Google is the number one in many products and services.
·
Quality and
customer experience are the primary objects. Everything that Google offers is
of premium quality. The products are aimed at solving customer needs and
problems by providing excellent customer experience.
·
Financial situation.
Google is one of the most profitable companies in the world with earnings
nearly $50 billion and $11 billion profits (22%). The company also holds $48
billion in cash and just $7 billion of debt. Few other companies are so strong
financially to compete with Google.
·
Access to the
largest group of internet users worldwide. Google has an access to 79% of the
world desktop search market users and 89% of the world mobile search market
users. Combined, these internet users represent an extremely large market that
Google can use to promote and sell its products and services.
·
Strong patents
portfolio. In 2012, Google added 1,151 patents and was the 21st business
worldwide in terms of number of patents. Intellectual property is the key in
competing against competitors and Google with Motorola’s acquisition gained a
strong advantage over its competitors.
·
Product
integration. Nearly all Google products are integrated with each other forming
an ecosystem that enriches customers experience and encourages using more of
company’s products and services. Besides, Google products can be used on any OS
or any device without a trouble or can be integrated with other companies’
applications. No other major tech organization offers the same level of
integration.
·
Culture of
innovation. Many unique products are offered by Google every year, with so many
in development stages. According to Boston Consulting Group (BCG) Google is the
2nd most innovative business in the world. The company was also the second
patent creator in the worle in 2012. Google emphasizes its innovative work
culture as one of its main competitive advantages.
Weaknesses
·
Relies on one
source of income. More than 90% of Google’s revenue comes from online
advertising. Online advertising is expected to grow in double digits in 2013
and will grow Google’s income in the short term. But in the long run, Google
may experience slow income growth or even the decline due to a few reasons.
First, the market for personal computers is growing slowly and the Google experiences
the overall decline in its desktop search engine market. If Google won’t push
the competition back it will lose not only the market share but the main source
of its income as well.
Second, Google as many other firms, find it hard to
monetize mobile device users, who will represent the highest growing group in
online advertising. Third, online advertising growth is driven by emerging
economies where an average price for an advertisement is considerably lower
than in the developed economies, so the growth of online advertising will only
grow the income of companies insignificantly.
·
Unprofitable
products. Google has many products and services that add little value for the
business and make only losses, thus decreasing firm’s profits.
· Patent
litigations. Google is often involved in litigations over the breached patents
and other intellectual property. These litigations are costly and time
consuming and distract the company from innovating rather than litigating.
Opportunities
·
Growing number
of mobile internet users. Google has an opportunity to create a platform that
could be used to better display ads for mobile device users and increase firm’s
income.
·
Obtaining
patents through acquisitions. For Google to grow and to compete successfully,
it has to obtain more new patents. One way of doing that is to acquire
companies that have strong patents portfolio. Google has acquired Motorola in
2012, obtaining more than 17,000 patents from the business.
·
Driverless
electronic cars. Google has introduced and successfully tested driverless cars
in Nevada, U.S. The technology of these cars could easily be installed in any
future model and would be a huge technological step. Although, Google has no
intentions of manufacturing such cars itself, the company could sell licenses
for car manufactures for using their technology and IP.
·
Growing into
electronics industry. Google has already launched a few new models of
notebooks, tablets and smartphones into the market but these were only
introduction models. Google could strengthen its entry into electronic devices
industry by introducing more products for more customer groups and cut out its
market share. This would result in tighter integration of its software products
and diversified income.
·
Google fiber
cables. Google is currently testing their new fiber cables that can deliver
internet content at astonishing 100 times as fast as current providers. It is
wise for Google to invest in such infrastructure that virtually would have no
competition and would integrate the company vertically.
Threats
·
Growing number
of mobile internet users. Google finds it hard to monetize mobile internet
users as there is less space to place ads on a mobile device and the ads costs
less than usual. The growing number of mobile users means fewer searches made
on the personal computers and lower income growth or even decline for Google.
·
Unprofitable
products. Google has introduced many products and services but few of them earn
profits for the business. Most of the services are the burden for Google and
only makes losses. If Google continues to introduce new products that add
little value and only make losses, the company’s profits will fall.
·
EU antitrust
laws. Google is currently accused by EU of using its dominating position in
internet search engine market to display its own services higher than
competitors’ in search results. If proved guilty, Google would have to pay
fines that would significantly lower firm’s profits.
·
Competition
from Microsoft. Microsoft is gaining a market share in internet searches and is
playing an important role against Google. The company has also introduced
Windows 8, the OS aimed for mobile devices, to carve out its market share in
mobile OS market. In both fronts, internet search and mobile OS, Microsoft is
challenging Google and is taking away the potential revenues.
MICROSOFT
Strengths
·
Brand loyalty.
Over the years, Microsoft has been the leading OS and software provider, which
resulted in more than 90% market share for PC OS. Most of us grew up using its
easy to use OS, are familiar with it and will keep using it. Few other brands
are capable to compete with Microsoft for this reason. Even open source OS,
which are completely free and well suited to use for common user, find it hard
to attract users.
·
Brand
reputation. According to Interbrand, Microsoft’s brand is the 5th most valuable
brand in the world, valued at $ 57.8 billion. Forbes listed the corporate as
the 7th most reputable business in the world. Brand reputation leads to higher
sales and greater market share.
·
Easy to use
software. Windows OS and Office software products are so popular not just
because Microsoft has great monopolistic power, strong distribution channels
and good brand reputation but also because its products are of great quality
and really easy to use.
·
Strong
distribution channels. The company works with all the major computer hardware
producers such as Lenovo, Dell, Toshiba and Samsung and major computer
retailers to make sure computers would be sold with already pre-installed
Windows software. The company also invested in Dell and Nokia to tighten its
relationships with these companies.
·
Robust
financial performance. Microsoft grew its revenues by 20% from 2008 to 2012 and
holds more than $63 billion of cash and cash equivalents that can be used for
acquisitions and substantial investments into R&D.
·
Acquisition of
Skype. With nearly 300 million users, Skype is a significant boost to
Microsoft’s online presence and have a lot of potential in generating income
from online advertising.
Weaknesses
·
Poor
acquisitions and investments. Few of Microsoft’s acquisitions were successful
and brought not just revenues and products but new skills and competencies to
the company. Massive, LinkExchange, WebTV, Danger are just few examples of
multimillion acquisitions made by Microsoft but soon shut down or divested.
·
Dependence on
hardware manufacturers. Microsoft is a giant software corporation but it does
not produce its own hardware and depends on computer hardware manufacturers to
develop products that run Windows OS. If cheap and popular alternative OS would
appear, hardware manufacturers may simple choose the alternative and Microsoft
could do little to change the situation.
·
Criticism over
security flaws. Windows OS, the main Microsoft product has been heavily
criticized for being so weak against various viruses’ attacks. Compared to
other OS, Windows is the least protected against such attacks.
·
Mature PC
markets. Only recently has Microsoft entered the mobile technology sector and
still heavily depends on its OS and software sales for standalone and laptop
computers. The market for these products has matured and Microsoft will find it
harder to grow revenues in these sectors.
·
Slow to
innovate. Microsoft has huge R&D resources and great position to enter new
markets with innovative products but constantly failed to do so. It had an
opportunity to be the first player in online advertising but missed the
opportunity. It’s entrance to mobile OS was also too late, while Google and
Apple captured the market share.
Opportunities
·
Cloud based
services. Microsoft could expand its range of cloud services and software as
the demand for cloud-based services is expanding.
·
Mobile advertising.
Mobile advertising markets are expected to grow in double digits over the next
few years and Microsoft has a great opportunity to tap into these markets with
its mobile OS.
·
Mobile device
industry. Smart-phones and tablets markets will grow steadily over the next few
years and Microsoft could exploit this opportunity by introducing more of its
own tablets and a new company phone.
·
Growth through
acquisitions. With a huge reserve of cash Microsoft could start acquiring new
startups that would bring new technology, skills and competences to the
business.
Threats
·
Intense
competition in software products. Microsoft is more than ever on the pressure
to introduce successful OS both in PC and mobile markets as such competitors
like Google and Apple have already established positions.
·
Changing
consumer needs and habits. Customers shift from buying laptops and standalone
PCs to buying smart-phones and tablets, the markets, where Microsoft has only a
modest market share and may never establish itself.
·
Open source
projects. Many new open source projects are coming to the market and some of
them became quite successful, such as new Linux OS and Open Source Office. Open
source projects are free and so they can become an alternative to expensive
Microsoft’s products.
·
Potential
lawsuits. Microsoft has already been sued for many times and lost quite a few
large scale lawsuits. Lawsuits are expensive as they require time and money.
And as Microsoft continues to operate more or less the same way, there is high
probability for more expensive lawsuits to come.
Question 1 : Compare the business models and
areas of strength of Apple, Google, and Microsoft.
Apple:
It has the basis of creating a very strong hardware base for the
internet future and thus logically they play their role in this battle by
laying emphasis on the hardware that facilitates mobile computing. Apple has
gone into the stance that applications, one of the major earners for tablet and
phone manufacturers, should be device restricted. For example, one application
should be unique to the brand of the device and should be allowed to function
in another device from another separate brand. They even stopped Google in its
plans to allow Google applications to work on Apple products. Thus by doing
this Apple is trying to capitalize on their loyal customer base and create a
Apple weds Apple scenario. Its business model focuses on centralized control of
almost all aspects of its hardware and software. It believes smart-phones and
tablets should have proprietary standards and be tightly controlled. It only
allows apps from its App store that have been vetted by the company, to be
loaded to its products. Apple has a very loyal user base that has steadily
grown and most likely will stay with Apple products in the future.
Google:
Google is the believer in the concept that in the future the devices
used to run the applications and other internet options should be a fraction of
what they are being charged now and instead the revenues generated should be
from the in-app advertisements. Google even bought AdMob, an application
advertisements development company, to work on such a concept. This future,
Google and Microsoft have tried their hand at going hardware friendly but they
still do not put the same emphasis on the hardware as Apple. Its business model
has always focused on the Internet and the Web. It began as one of many search
engines. It quickly ran away from the pack with its copyrighted Page-Rank
search algorithm which returns superior search results for Web users. It also
has developed extensive online advertising services for businesses of all
sizes. Google provides value to the user by using an inexpensive, flexible
infrastructure to speed up Web searches and provide its users with a vast array
of Web-based services and software tools.
Microsoft:
Microsoft has laid its bet on the operating system on which the mobile
computing devices shall run. Microsoft also has announced plans to develop the
hardware for mobile computing, something it has not done so far, and thus has
entered into the field of both Google and Apple. By integrating the hardware
and software deal Microsoft has actually change the dynamics of the whole
market. And this can be problem some for Google and Apple as they shall have to
change their own perspective and outlook towards the level of competition that
they shall have to face in the coming years in mobile computing. : Its business
model originally focused on the desktop computer running the Windows operating
system and Office desktop productivity applications. The company and its
products are staples for businesses and consumers looking to improve their
productivity with computer-based tasks. While it is trying to expand its
presence on the Internet, it still must try to keep customers bound to the
desktop computer.
Question 2 : Why is mobile computing so
important to these three firms? Evaluate the mobile platform offerings of each
firm.
Mobile computing is basically doing the activities which involve
internet without being fixed to a particular place. The importance of mobile
computing for all the three mentioned firms which is Apple , Google and
Microsoft as it is the future of the internet technology and for these firms
to flourish and expand they need to be
very effective with mobile computing.
APPLE:
The mobile platform that Apple provides with its products is “iOS”
(Kevin K, 2012). This mobile platform is the closed platform that is it is
applicable for apple products and only apple apps could work on this. Some of
the remarkable features amongst them are:
• There is an option over
which you can reply later on the calls which you can’t take immediately.
• Integration with the
facebook over which you can share all you iphone activities
• There is a passbook app
through which you can use you iphone as a credit card.
• There is also an
up-gradation of the apple maps app which is very impressive.
GOOGLE:
The mobile platform that Google provides is “Android”. This mobile
platform is a universal platform or you can say it’s an open platform when
compared to the mobile platform offered by Apple. The latest version provided
by the Android software is the version 4.1 “jelly bean” (Android, 2012). Some
of the notable features of this version are:
• A simple screen swipe
would provide you with search results related to Google.
• The voice recognition
tool in this version would rub offline.
• Another of the new
feature is GOOGLE NOW in which the preferences are chosen based on the data
like the time location and personal history and over this the search results
are provided
MICROSOFT:
Microsoft is entering this market recently by launching the tablet named
“Surface tablet”. The mobile platform that Microsoft is offering is the Windows
Phone 8 (Kevin K, 2012). This operating system will be compatible with the
laptops and the desktops.
Some of the unique features of this operating system are:
• Support dual core chips
• Support multiple screen
resolution
• Provides advanced map
technology
• Offers Passbook wallet.
Question 3 : What is the significance of mobile application, app stores, and closed versus open app standards to the success or failure of mobile computing?
Any computer software that performs specific tasks is called
Applications (Bovee 2012, p 256). Apps greatly enrich the experience of using a
mobile device, and without them, the predictions for the future of mobile
Internet would not be nearly as bright. They can range from large business
computer programs such as “Sun Systems” for processing large accounting
problems to a simple program that can be used to order something as simple as a
pizza, in today’s world applications have become a part and parcel of the day
today.
Today’s mobile and tablet users are becoming more and more inclined
towards a product which has more number of application than the other product
option. Although it can be said that such a thing has happened because of the
fact that the devices today have become so specified that a certain range of
products shall have the same specs regardless of their make. This change can be
determined as a major shift in the consumer psyche and even the big three have
not underestimated this change.
The development of applications and software’s to match these
expectations is a task that all the companies in the fray to be the leader in
the mobile computing market, wither it be Apple, Google, Microsoft or any other
new player, shall have to look into great detail and precision.
The importance of mobile applications can be justified on this basis
itself that Google has based their future growth prediction on the very same.
Mobile applications have such a great scope of growth in the future that they
can one day eclipse the sales of the hardware part of mobile computing and form
a major market themselves here players like Google and apple shall have tough
competition even from small fray players if a common platform for application
usage is formed, the very same reason why Apple is resisting Google’s repeated
efforts for a common mobile platform.
According to experts (Kevin, Timothy et.al) mobile applications are even
today a big part of the on the go access market. Finish mobile giant Nokia too
has a say in the application future as it still has the lion’s share in the
applications that are used in its mobile phones, which in spite of the recent
drop are a very big number. Applications and app stores are also being viewed
as a source of major entertainment by many users of mobile computing devices,
with games like angry birds and temple run taking the market by storm it is very
evident that applications and app stores are a thing for the future.
Lastly it can be said that although all three firms have great
opportunity in the market which is still young and in its infancy, the first
mover shall have very definitive advantage to take control of this veritable
goldmine.
Question 4 : Which company and business model do you think will prevail in this epic struggle? Explain your answer.
Google:
The search engine giant has a lot of positives going for it rather than
the negatives. The clear positives that can make it a winner are:
A well-established name is something which not a lot of players can
boast of but Google is one of them, although Apple and Microsoft have chartered
territories of their own but Google can fight them out both as an equal if not
better.
The Company has entered into all the three basic markets of mobile
computing including hardware, operating system and the application stores.
Their hardware is something which a few competitors can best , however the
Android operating system has taken the market by storm and the app store which
comes with it is a mean bully in itself (Android 2012)
Google has also bet on of the most time relevant feature of the mobile
computing market, the App store, and this is the biggest advantage which the
Google business model gives it and makes it the prime contender for the number
one position. With hundreds of applications already online and hundreds more in
the development stage Google has started to take a sort of lead on the other
players in the race to be number one. And this may not be decisive right now
but with Google’s recent acquisition of application developers and their heavy
R&D expenditure on the same, it is just a matter of time before it will take
out companies like Apple and Microsoft. (Android 2012)
Although the Google bandwagon is on its way there are certain roadblocks
that it can face that can halt its march and some of them are:
The Google brand is big but it still lacks the appeal of an Apple
product and this many say is one of the most major difference between the two.
The Android system although perfected to a large extent still has a few
errors in the new versions that can hamper the growth of the operating system
and this where a competitor like Microsoft can prevail over the Company
Lastly it can be said that Google’s move towards a common mobile
application platform can itself backfire and could increase competition from
local app players which can affect the overall profitability from this step.
Thus it can be said that Google does have a lot of positives that can
help it in the market and if it can take care of the negatives and maybe tweak
the one platform stance, it can just pull ahead of Apple and Microsoft in this
battle of the behemoths.
Question 5 : What difference would it make to
a business or to an individual consumer if Apple, Google, or Microsoft
dominated the Internet experience? Explain your answer.
Consumers would be forced to buy only one product and use only one
service. They would create a monopoly and the positive would be they would
create a standard. This would affect quality; prices would be as high as
possible because they would have no competition.
No competition means nobody could
force a monopolist from the outside to improve products, diversify rang or
products and lower price. Right now it is too early to tell who would dominate
the internet experience but it is good to have competition than just one market
leader. Right now Apple leads Google in the number of apps available to users.
That gap is closing quickly thanks to Google’s improvements of the
Android operating system and its encouragement to app developers. Open,
non-proprietary systems historically have beat closed, proprietary systems
because developers and users have a wider range of choices. Business managers
must try to forecast which platform will provide the right choices for
employees. Consumers must choose which platform will best fulfil their personal
needs for the next two to three years. Switching costs play into both
scenarios, not just in terms of phone purchases but the price of apps. Once a
user purchases and adjusts to using a certain platform it’s difficult and
expensive to switch to a whole different system.
CONCLUSION
By the year 2000,
the Internet has already become a multibillion dollar industry with Apple,
Google and Microsoft being its major player. By this time, the direction of
Internet’s further development has also already been set. The internet was
showing signs of becoming the melting pot of media and entertainment, business
and workforce collaboration, telecommunication, knowledge and other market.
Apple, Google and Microsoft were the first most successful in taking action to integrate
massive service in their product worlds. In the year 2000, when stock price of
Internet showing down, they found themselves as strong survivors within a
deeply distressed industry. This situation offers a rich menu of opportunities.
The various IT firms were for sale or willing to cooperate under more
favourable conditions. By this opportunities, Apple, Google and Microsoft set
out to adjust positioning and capabilities in preparation of the inevitable
recovery of the Internet.
No comments:
Post a Comment