A stakeholder is anyone with an interest in a business. Stakeholders are individuals, groups or
organisations that are affected by the activity of the business. Some external stakeholders are:
society, government, creditors, customers and competitors.
Technology
As technology changes forever, businesses
will have to adjust their technology to this
and develop new technology too.
'’Today's changes in technology, changes in the way we perform work, and where and how we
work are occurring at a rapid pace. Nowhere is the change more evident than in the use of
computers. This new technology has brought on new demands for information as well as
new and more sophisticated computing systems. Today, almost every one of us interacts
with computers on a daily basis to create new things and ideas.’’ (apple.com, 2015) Apple will
need to continue to improve their existing technology and come up with new findings and
ideas to keep their customers excited and in order to gain new customers.
Trends
Businesses need to look at what is ‘trendy’ at
the time and keep this in mind when developing
their products.
What do people like at the moment? What is ‘trendy’? What is new? Apple needs to
think of these questions to make sure their target groups will buy their products. The
products apple produces will all go through the product life cycle. In image 3 in the
appendix is the product life cycle of some Apple products shown.
Demographic
A company needs to keep in mind the demographic factor that
play a role for their target group when developing products. Some
demographic factors are: age, gender and education.
When Apple is coming up with new products or when they want to sell
existing products, they need to take these factors into consideration before
launching & promoting them.
Government policies
In every country there are certain laws and policies which restrict businesses.
‘’The government can influence business in a number of ways. A certain amount of
legislation is aimed at business in order to protect stakeholders. Health and safety
regulations are designed to protect employees in the workplace.’’ (Hall. D. et al,
2004, p22.) Other ways the government influences business are: environmental
legislation and economic policies such as interest rates and taxes.
As apple is located is many countries around the world, they have to deal with differentiating
laws and legislations.
Competition
Businesses who offer similar products could be a threat.
Apple’s main competitor is Samsung. To make sure they stay ahead of Samsung, Apple has to
make their products and services better than Samsung’s. An example of Apple trying to
stay ahead of Samsung was mentioned in an article on business-standard.com; ‘’As Apple
Computer prepares, with the forthcoming launch of the new iPhone 6s in India, to challenge
Samsung’s dominance of the Indian smartphone market, a recent ruling from an American
court adds a new dimension to the ongoing four-year battle for intellectual property rights
between the consumer electronics giants.’’ (business-standard.com, 2015)
Customers
'’Customers are not ‘members’ of businesses, but they are vital to their survival.
Customers buy the goods and services that businesses supply.'' (Hall. D. et al, 2004,
p21.)
Looking back at internal business factors again customers have certain needs and
wants which Apple needs to try to provide them from when it comes to the products
they sell.
Geographic
A company needs to keep in mind the geographic factors that play
a role for their target group, for example: the location, weather &
climate and culture.
Apple Inc. is located in a lot of countries around the world, but their products stay
the same. The factor that they change in their selling process is how they market it in
every country. So when Apple is coming up with new products or even when they
want to sell existing product, they do need to take the geographic of that country in
consideration before launching or promoting them.
Media
Media can affect the way in which customers view the
company by publishing about them, this could be either be in a
good or in a bad way.
An example of bad publishing which affected Apple Inc. are the articles and
videos about their Fox Con fabric in China. BBC's ''Apple 'failing to protect
Chinese factory workers''' article is one of these articles. (bbd.co.uk, 2014)
Social class
A person's spending behaviour depends on their social class; how well
educated they are and how much their income is. Businesses should
keep this mind when selling their products to make sure they are
targeting the right group of people.
Apple Inc. products are not cheap but since Apple Inc. produces varied versions of the same product (for example the
iPhone), there are products suitable for different social classes. An article from 'Businessinsider'
states that Apple has divided the world into two classes: Gold iPhone people and plastic iPhone people. (businessinsider.com,
2013)
Globalisation
Globalisation has a big impact on businesses in different ways. As a result of Apple Inc. being an international company, they face
more competition. Also the exchange of technology and knowledge between different countries and businesses is a factor that
affects Apple Inc.