1. Which of Porter’s four competitive strategies (from Chapter 3) does Apple engage in? Explain.
2. What do you think are the three most important factors in Apple’s past success? Justify your answer.
3. Steve Jobs passed away in October 2011.Until his death, he had been the heart and soul of Apple’s innovation. Today, 35,000 Apple employees continue onward in his absence. A huge question for many investors is whether the company can be successful without him. What is your opinion? What role did he play? How can Apple respond to his loss? Would you be willing to invest in Apple without his leadership? Why or why not?
4. Microsoft took an early lead in the development of tablet devices (like the iPad), and it had the world’s leading operating system and applications for more than20 years. Provide five reasons why Microsoft was not able to achieve the same success that Apple has. Most industry analysts would agree that the skills and abilities of Microsoft’s 88,000 employees are as good, on average, as Apple’s.
5. Considering your answers to the four questions above, as well as the current stock price, if you had a spare $5,000 in your portfolio and wanted to buy an equity stock with it, would you buy AAPL (Apple)?Why or why not?