Apple’s Product Improvement

Abstract

Apple has annual product launches for its products. In September 2014, it released the iPhone 6. This paper analyses the production process of the company with special attention to the iPhone 6. The research paper has been prepared by the research of past materials that relate to the iPhone company including research papers, news articles and the company’s website. It follows the iPhone 6 from its earliest stages when the company considered improving the iPhone 5C/S to the time of launching the product into the market.

Apple’s Product Improvement

Apple Inc. is in the habit of launching its products periodically. This helps to increase the sales of the company without having to increase the customer share of the company. For product launches to be successful, companies must have a strategic approach for the entire production. Specifically, Apple Inc performs a constant product improvement (Mallin & Finkle, 2011). This paper analyzes how the production process is managed to ensure a successful launch. Special attention will be given to the recently released iPhone 6.

The iPhone 6

As is to be expected, iPhone 6 is an improvement of earlier models of the iPhone. One area that has been improved is the screen size. iPhone 6 is slightly bigger than earlier models of iPhone (McCormack & Plus, 2014). iPhone is also faster. The iPhone has been recreated to offer speed and reliability. Third, the iPhone is also more sustainable. It uses less power die to its possession of two accelerometers. Finally, iPhone 6 is stronger. It contains a better camera that is invaluable when taking videos and photos.

Research

Research at Apple is a continuous process. To be able to keep improving it products all along, Apple has a method of ensuring that its employees are always research on new improvements for the iPhone. This way, the company is always able to offer a little improvement at a time (Mallin & Finkle, 2011; O’Grady, 2008). The company is also wise not to hurry improvements. If an improvement will not be met without causing inconveniences, then the company does not insist on using this improvement until on the next launch before which time the company completes the research process

The company rewards innovation. It is the culture of Apple to ensure that innovative employees are highly rewarded. The company also keeps spaces available for new employees if they can offer innovation to the company. This culture prompts employees who are involved in software development to stay awake for days while they polish the ultimate products.

Teamwork is encouraged. Throughout the research process, the entire team is aware of the need to stay intact. They also stay on the ready in case someone needed to call a consultative meeting (Mallin & Finkle, 2011). With self driven individuals, it is very easy for employees to call others to a meeting. This way, if an employee discovers something that is likely to make an impact on the next launch, the employee may contact others for consultation.

Finally, studies show that employees are selected on a passion to work for apple basis. Those who are selected are all individuals who would want to contribute to the next product. For the recently released iPhone 6, for example, employees may all have worked very hard towards the improvement of the former devices (Finkle & Mallin, 2010). While all employees may not be in a place make an improvement, they understand it is their role to make differences on the old product by identifying weaknesses and ways to get of them.

Once employees discover something that can be used to the advantage of the company, they introduce this concept to their team. The team then furthers the research on the concept and probably identifies ways that this concept can be improved (Mallin & Finkle, 2011). They then work together as a team towards the improvement of that idea until they are sure that this is the best option for the company. The team then communicates this information to the management of the team. This is now presented to the company in the form of a report and request for funding.

The request for funding is often taken positively within Apple. While the company understands that not all research projects will end up with something of value, the company allocates each department with funds for research. This concept allows the company to take advantage of the capabilities of its employees maximally (Han & Park, 2010). As these employees study, they come up with ideas that may be used to improve the products. Again, the ideas of the research are communicated to the rest of the company through a report. The rest of the company by request form the management look into the report and either recommend or oppose the content of the report.

Integration of the iPhone 6

The iPhone 6 as mentioned earlier is an improvement of the earlier version of the iPhone. Once the various ideas are obtained assessed and accepted, models are formed with available materials. Materials that are unavailable at the moment are also outsourced (Han & Park, 2010). This having been done, the company tests the models created and determines which areas need to be improved. If there are areas that need to be improved, the company goes ahead and makes the improvements that are needed (Rogers, 2014). Since the releases are annual, the company is sometimes in a position to make improvements to these models until a decision is reached at.

Outsourcing

Once the final version of the model is completed, Apple starts to outsource the components and the services of the new product. Apple outsources for various reasons. The most recognized reason for outsourcing is to reduce costs. Most of the outsourcing is done in the East. In those countries it is possible to obtain cheaper labor (Eadicicco, 2014). Apple also outsources to get more expert services. It is generally accepted that those countries are also better in the production of electronics.

For Apple speed is everything. The launched products are usually in high demand and a slow production process implies that demand will not be met. According to reports it is much faster to do production in the East (Heracleous, 2013). In some cases, Apple may opt to outsource to get access to resources that are otherwise not available to it. The unavailability could be as a result of restrictions by governments as is the in China.

Apple itself produces some of the elements that will be required for the manufacture of the product. These include:

• The A8 chip which is the brain of the iPhone 6
• Software(first party applications and iOS 8)
• Music applications

Other elements are outsourced from different producers from USA and abroad. In the US the company obtains the following elements:

• Radio frequency which is obtained from OR-based Triquint Semi Contactor ,Inc
• Audio chip obtained from a Texas based company known as Cirrus logic
• Controller chips obtained from Broadcom Corp from California and PMC sierra
• Gorilla 2 glass manufactured by a company based in Kentucky
• Marketing campaigns provided by TBWA

Apple also outsources from China and Inner Mongolia. These two Countries have an advantage of owning over 90% of rare earth minerals (Eadicicco, 2014). Most of the components that require rare earth minerals are outsourced from these two countries. They include:

• A vibration unit
• Speakers
• Glass polishing
• Color screens
• Phone circuitry

 Korea and Taiwan are also major outsourcing destination for Apple. The World’s largest chip makers are Samsung electronics SK Hynix. While Samsung remains the largest competitor to Apple, the company still outsources from them (Heracleous, 2013). For the iPhone 6, Apple has outsourced over 40% of its computer chips from Samsung. Samsung also produces the batteries that are used in iPhones. Other elements that are outsourced from these two countries include:

• DRAM,
• LCD panels and
• flash memory
• Fingerprint sensor chip and assembly by ASE, Xintec and TMSC

In Italy, Apple Inc. outsources a gyroscope from STMicroelectronics. This is the mechanism that allows an iPhone user to rotate their iPhone vertically and horizontally.

China obtains the lines share of the production process. Foxconn is Apple’s largest manufacturer and produces over 85 % of all of Apple’s iPhones. Foxconn has multiple lines of production. Each line is capable of producing over 72000 factory workers. Foxconn also produces for other companies like Nokia, HP, Nintendo, Motorola and Sony. It produces over 40 % of the world’s electronics. During peak periods, one Foxconn factory can employ over 230,000 (Heracleous, 2013).

Advertising

Before the launch date, the company runs advertisements to ensure that their customers are set for the new products. Complemented by the consumerism of Apple’s customers, the release dates are looked forward to. Apple has often changed the focus of its advertisements. Initially, Apple focused on the music aspects of its iPhones. iPhones are superior as far as the quality of music is concerned (Bergen, 2014). This along with the music download service of iTunes made the music aspect of iPhones a reason to advertise.

Recently, however, Apple has moved from its former idea to a completely new aspect. Today, just before the release date, they advertise the new features of the iPhones. The recently released iPhone 6 saw to the advertisement of features such as sharing through swapping, the superior 3D camera, the slim architecture and the wider screen size. As always, the features advertised mean a lot to the consumers (Diaz & Morrison, 2014). On top of the consumerism that advertisement has brought about, the features could mean something to the clients.

Apple uses a variety of ways to advertise. The first method is the use of an advertising agent to advertise for the company. The advertising agency is known as TBWA. The company offers all the advertising needs of the company, including advertising creating adverts for the company and placing them on the right platform (Diaz & Morrison, 2014).

The second method is the use of network operators to advertise its product (Hinds et al., 2010). Apple creates a set of requirements for the adverts that are to be placed by the various network operators. As these companies advertise for Apple, they gain a customer share simply because of selling the Apple’s product.

The last method that Apple has used to advertise is through the word of mouth. Apple has always hard a lower supply than the demand of its products. This has resulted to some form of conflict between those who possess iPhone and those who do not (Hinds et al., 2010). The conflict can be seen on various platforms for example internet forums. As these two groups conflict, they attract the interest of those who had no interest in the beginning. This way the company ends up creating a new market for its products.

Conclusion

In conclusion Apple has developed a clear path on the way it creates, improves and launches its products. This has been made possible by the fact that the company has laid down a mechanism for making most of the company processes flawless (Hinds et al., 2010). Organization culture within Apple is an important ingredient in the development of products that surpass the expectations of the products. The company employs selectively only those people who want and are able o make an impact in the company’s processes. These individuals are further improved by training that shapes them with regard to the needs of the company.

Once the employees are picked, they join a highly innovative group of individuals. Employees have a culture of being self driven to the extent being able to call meetings once individuals discover something that may be important for the company (McCormack & Plus, 2014). Employees are also highly encouraged to work within their teams. This enables employees to consult and have access to a wider amount of human resource to their exposure. With this it is possible for the company to annually make improvements to its products.

Improvement of products goes through a thorough process that is intended to produce a flawless product. Moreover, the products produced by Apple are supposed to be of superior quality. Apple sells its products at higher prices and its products must therefore be of high quality that its competitors’ (Miller, Vandome & McBrewster, 2009). It is therefore very careful when doing its research as to identify as many errors as possible before the product moves to the product line. The company therefore chooses to employ all the tactics at its disposal to ensure its success.

The company outsources most of its services rather than creating them internally. While the company employs the services of various companies, it also ensures that no one single company is able to produce the products. The main reason why Apple outsources is to save time. It uses the services of those companies that are able to meet its high demand early enough. One such company is Foxconn. Apple outsources the manufacturing services of this company due to its vast capabilities. This company has hundreds of factories to create the products. Furthermore, the company is also is able to employ over 230,000 employees to work in the company. With such vast numbers, the Apple’s productivity cannot be limited.

References

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