Apple Computer Case: A & B

The Tandy Corp. was, in the late-1970s, the largest producer of microcomputers participating in the American microcomputer industry. There were, however, several sub-segments within the microcomputer segment of the computer market in the late-1970. These sub-segments were (1) the hobby market, (2) the education market, (3) the home market, (4) the professional market, and (5) the business market. In late-1978, the largest of these sub-segment markets was the business market, which was followed closely by the professional market. Industry projections in late-1978 indicated that the greatest growth would occur in the professional market, the business market, and the home market.

Apple Computer, third in overall microcomputer sales in the late-1970s, was targeting the home, hobby, and education markets, while Tandy and Commodore were targeting both the business market and the professional market. IBM, which at that time was a bit-player in the microcomputer market (the company emphasized minicomputers and mainframe computers in the late-1970s) also targeted both the business market and the professional market.

Apple Computer's initial strategy was to target specific sub-segments of the market that the company's management believed could be best

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ld have opened the Apple Computer product line to close developers, an action that would have led to more competitive pricing for Apple system computers and to greater software selection. Each of these outcomes would ultimately have proved to be highly beneficial to Apple Computer. While it is true that clone manufacturer's would have made a dent in the hardware market share of Apple Computer, the growth in the overall Apple system share of the market would have strengthened the position of Apple Computer as an operating system developer and marketer and as a technological innovator. The third element of the strategy that would have been recommended to Sculley in 1983 would have been to embark on the development of an advanced operating system that would be able to outperform PC-DOS in business and other higher-level applications. In fact, Apple Computer did implement this facet of strategy. Strategy Implementation To implement the recommended strategy, Sculley should first have ended the proprietary policy toward clone manufacturers. This action would have been the single most important step taken by the company in 1983. Second, Sculley should have accelerated work on a new operating system to secure market leadership f
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Approximate Word count = 2876
Approximate Pages = 12 (250 words per page)

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