The MacBook series was started by Apple in the year 2006 and was the first notebook series that was introduced by the company. The company started this series when it tried to merge the PowerBook and iBook during its transitional phase with Intel products. The physical characteristics of the product is that it is made of aluminum and has a whitish-gray hue. It is sleek and light weight and comes in two sizes, the thirteen-inch screen and the fifteen-inch screen respectively. It has a set of seventy-eight keys and a backlight that adjusts according to the surrounding conditions (Wee, 2016).
The product operates on OS X and has a dual-core processor that is manufactured by Intel and offers Turbo boost technology that helps in increasing the performance of the notebook. The processing speed of the product is 1.7 to 2.9 GHz, depending on the two products that the customers will choose from (Andre et al., 2015). The product also houses a built-in Intel HD graphics 4000 that helps in handling the video and has stereo speakers along with a port for headphone and a microphone for the purpose of recording. It also has a wireless technology that is based on Bluetooth 4.0 technology, which helps in playing audio and a Face Time Camera that has a resolution of 720 pixels. The storage capacity of MacBook Pro is that it has a hard drive of 500 and 750 GB respectively. It also has a provision of Super Drive 8x slot for playing the DVDs and CDs (Akana et al., 2016).
The product offers a high-resolution widescreen display that has a glossy backlight and a resolution of 1440 by 900 pixels. It also has a retina display option that helps in increasing tne resolution to 2880 by 1800 pixels. The battery of the product is a lithium polymer product and has a MagSafe 2 power adapter (Akana et al., 2017)
The organizational structure of the company is one of the reasons for the successful innovation of the technologies and the opportunities for the growth in business. The organizational structure even imposes certain limitations on the firm that hinders its growth and development. The organizational structure of Apple is that it follows traditional hierarchy, which is linked with innovation and was under the leadership of Steve Jobs. Under the leadership of the new Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Tim Cook, the company has made some changes in the structure, which has helped them in meeting the demands of the customers (Ashkenas et al., 2015).
It helps the company to innovate their products continuously and the characteristics of the organizational structure that the firm follows are:
Spoke-and-wheel hierarchy has been implemented, which has provided the vice presidents autonomy to large extent, as it has helped them in making changes to the decisions that was earlier followed under Jobs. Under Jobs, the company was stiff and he made all the major decisions that he found to be best for the company (Dess, Lumpkin & Eisner 2014).
The function-based grouping helps the company to function properly with the employees so that they can achieve a better productivity. The senior management has a report of the business function, which helps them in maintaining a smooth operation within the company. The leaders help in taking the final decisions of the company after discussing the necessary changes with the employees (Cornelissen & Cornelissen 2017).
Product-based grouping is applicable in the lower tier of the company as it is derived from the divisional type of the structure in the organization. The managers of the company help in looking after the products so that it can be made as per the norms of the company. This helps the company to maintain its products and the associated components of it so that the brand image of the company can be positive in front of the customers (Piao & Kleiner, 2015).
Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak met each other through a common friend Bill Fernandez, who was one of the first employees for the company. The two people had a special bond of friendship as they shared interest that was technology. They worked hard together and built a technology that was known as blue box, which helped in making long distance calls free of cost. While Jobs used to work for Atari, Wozniak used to work for HP when Jobs asked his help to reduce the requirement of logic chips in the company (Farahani et al., 2014).
They attended the Homebrew Computer Club, which was a mass gathering of computer enthusiast in 1975, which was held at Menlo Park in California. This meeting helped them in creating the first computer that was with the help of a typewriter and was connected to a television screen. This prototype was known as Apple I, which was the archetype of the modern computers that we are using today. When Jobs saw the computer, he understood the talent that was hidden in Wozniak and decided to sell his VW microbus so that he could fund the progress of the computer. Wozniak on the other hand sold his calculator and tried to innovate his product more. They eventually founded the Apple Computer Inc on 1st April 1976 and roped in Ronald Wayne as one of its employees (Khan, ALam & Alam, 2015).
The MacBook Pro was a long-awaited product of the company, which was not up to the hopes of the customers. The product that the company sold in the market was more of a transitional gap that helped in bridging the gap between the future and the present technology. The laptop was to be used wireless or with USB-C communications, which was not possible by many of the consumers. The alternatives that were available in the market, which served the same purpose as Apple, were Dell XPS 13, which served as a direct alternative for the Apple product Macbook Pro. The laptop has a thirteen-inch screen and a good display along with a sleek and attractive design. The battery life of the laptop, which is made by Dell and can work for ten hours at a continuous basis. The seventh-generation processor of Intel has been used, which makes it much ahead from the latest products of Apple (Arocha, 2017).
Another model that has been giving stiff competition to Apple is the Razer Stealth Blade that has a 12.5-inch screen along with a aluminum body and keyboard backlighting that makes it the first ultra book of gaming enthusiasts. It comes with a Quad HD display along with all the necessary specifications that makes the product very easy and fast to access. The product does not match the battery life of MacBook Pro but it provides the opportunity to plug in Core box that the company provides, which helps in increasing the speed of the laptop while playing games (King, 2014).
The HP Spectre 360 is another rival to Apple, which offers a display that has an edge-to-edge technology. The hinge of the laptop can be rotated as well, which helps the customers in using the product from any perspective that they like. The product does not have provision for any external cards, which is the reason why the photographers tend to but the 15-inch display model, which provides the facility (Farahani et al., 2014).
Another product Microsoft Surface Book provides a longer battery life and and more power at a higher price. The laptop includes a touch screen and stylus along with an SD card slot that helps in storing other files in the laptop. The laptop is rumored to have a long life and can work for sixteen hours without being charged again. The weight of the product is not that much and it is the best option for the customers to choose from the different competitors that are available in the market (Al-Refaie & Bata, 2016).
The company targets all segments of consumers that are available in the market irrespective of their age. The target market of the company is based on the high end consumers who can afford to purchase the products, as the price range of the products are very high due to its innovative technology. The company places its products at the high price high quality segment where they target the consumers who has a reasonable income to spend on the products of Apple (Menzel, 2013).
The segmentation of the company is based on the geographic, demographic and the behavioral pattern of the customers. Based on the geographic location, the company targets the United States, as the headquarters of the company is located in that region along with the customers who are based internationally. The product is mainly purchased by the people who are living in the urban areas as they have a high level of disposable income, which they can afford to spend on Apple products. The demographic segment that gets attracted to the Apple products are the age group that is between 16-50, which comprises of the teenage and the adults. For the teens, the product appeals to them because they can use it for gaming purposes and for being available in the social networking sites. The students use the laptops as they can record the notes and the lectures that are given to them by the schools and the universities, which help them in studying in an easy manner. The business class people use the products as it helps them in keeping the documents in an arranged manner and also it allows them to show off their status, as they belong to the upper sections of the society. The product is aimed for both the genders that is males and females can use the products respectively. The product is commonly used by bachelors who have a disposable income that is high compared to others and by newly married couples who are interested in seeking the opportunity to use the products. The income group that the company targets consists of mainly the high earning groups consisting mostly of people who are professionals and executives of the company (Fine & Menictas, 2015).
The behavioral pattern that is targeted by the company is that it offers various benefit to the customers such as self-expression, the services of the products as it is very fast due to the advanced technology and the range of features that the laptop offers to the customers, which makes it easy to use. The customers who have a strong personality and are determined and ambitious in nature purchases this product as it helps them to explore their ideas on a broader scale. The loyalty factor of the customers is that they are very loyal to the Apple products as they have used it once and do not want to change it and another is the switchers who wants to explore the features that are offered by the company. The company targets the middle and the upper classes in the society as they aspire to become successful in life (Menzel, 2013).
These three levels help the company in taking a final decision on the product when it is analyzed and ready to be available for the customers in the market. The core product is the first level of the product, which helps in gaining the excellence that is required for marketing. It is generally intangible in nature and is associated with the benefits that the company provides for the product. For Apple, the core product would be the brand image that helps the customers to identify their products easily. The product is more of a status symbol due to its high price and the technologies that are provided by the company (MacKenzie, 2015).
The actual product is the product that is produced once the decision has been made for the core product. The actual product is tangible in nature. For Apple, the MacBook Pro is a ligh9t and sleek designed laptop, which helps the people to complete their work easily. It is convenient and can be handled easily by the customers, which is the status symbol of the company (Arocha, 2017).
The augmented product is the value or the services that is provided to the core and actual products. It is a complete product within itself and is usually associated with the actual product. The augmented product of MacBook Pro is the warranty that the customer gets for purchasing the product (King, 2014).
Reference List
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Akana, J., Bushnell, T. S., Hoenig, J., Shedletsky, A. K., & Zörkendörfer, R. (2016). U.S. Patent No. D762,565. Washington, DC: U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.
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