NOTE: Please pick EITHER Apple OR Zoom for this Discussion Thread. If you pick Apple, please choose EITHER Q$1-1($value chain$)$ OR Q$1-2($RBV$).$

Q$1.$ Apple has sustained a strong competitive advantage $($manifested in profitability$)$ over competitors in the global smartphone industry. As an illustration, in Q$22023$ Apple iPhone had a $17\%$ share of global smartphone shipments which translated to $45\%$ of the global smartphone revenue and $85\%$ of the global smartphone profit $($source Links to an external site.$).$ The chart below shows Apple's shares of global smartphone operating profit, revenue, and shipment in comparison with other smartphone companies from Q$22022$ to Q$22023.$

Please pick and respond to ONE of the following questions.

Q$1-1.$ Analyze the sources of Apple's superior profitability $($competitive advantage$)$ in the global smartphone industry using the value chain framework. Keep in mind that a firm can increase its profitability by lowering cost and$/$or increasing willingness to pay in each value activity.

Q$1-2.$ Analyze the sources of Apple's sustained competitive advantage in the global smartphone industry using the resource$-$based view of the firm. Identify several resources or capabilities of Apple and discuss whether any of them satisfy the VRIN criteria simultaneously. $[$VRIN $=$ valuable, rare, inimitable $($difficult to imitate$),$ and nonsubstitutable $($difficult to substitute$)].$

Remember to respond to another student's post after you have made your own.

Apple's smartphone revenue and operating profit Q$22023.$png

Q$2.$ Since the outbreak of the COVID$-19$ Pandemic, Zoom has grown exponentially. Zoom dominates $50\%$ of the video conferencing market in $2021($check out more statistics here$)$ and about $57\%$ in $2023($check out more statistics here$).$ Zoom has become the No$.1$ app for video conferencing and is well becoming the generic term for videoconferencing.

Is Zoom$$s competitive advantage sustainable? Answer this question by analyzing the imitability OR inimitability of Zoom$$s resources that have created its current competitive advantage over competitors $($Hint: Physical Uniqueness? Path Dependency? Causal Ambiguity? Social Complexity?$).$

Remember to respond to another student's post after you have made your own.

video$-$conferencing$-$statistics$-2021-4-2-1.$pngApple's Smartphone Revenue and Operating

Profit Hit June$-$Quarter Records in Q$22023$

Source: Counterpoint Research Market Monitor Preliminary Data, Q$22023$

Note: OPPO includes OnePlus