Steve Wozniak's Competitive Advantage

I. Introduction

A. History and Background

Steven Paul Jobs, Steve Wozniak and Ronald Gerald Wayne founded the company on April 1, 1976. In the beginning, Steve Wozniak was 26 years old and Steve Jobs was 21. Both were recent college dropouts. Their partnership had begun several years earlier when Wozniak, a talented engineer who taught himself most skills, began building boxes that allowed him to make free long-distance phone calls. They eventually sold several hundred boxes. It was at Steve Jobs’ insistence that he and Wozniak collaborate on building computers. In 1977, they formed and incorporated what was to become the foundation of Apple Inc. In its initial venture, Steve Jobs owned 45% of the company, Steve Wozniak an additional 45%

Apple has been proactive in learning what works and what does not work to optimize the retail experience for its consumers. They have taken the brand position of not just selling products in its stores, but instead offering customers and visitors a retail experience that is both memorable and empowering. Apple allows and encourages people to touch everything and try anything in their stores (Apple, 2015). They have also invested in self-service devices within the stores that allow customers to purchase products online and from the store. Apple stores also make free technical support available with their “genius bar”, an area of the store manned by a technical specialist who is tasked with providing technical information or advice and nothing more. These store features offer a “reassuring feeling of control” (Apple, 2015). Apple’s brand positioning strategy is grounded in the company’s identity and creates a unique consumer experience that has yet to be duplicated. There are many ways to strengthen and expand a brand's positioning in a market and across multiple markets. The most commonly used method by retail companies is through brand extension. The introduction of new products under the umbrella of a parent brand is a popular retail sales tactic because new products can benefit from previously established brand loyalty. However, it may also have a negative effect on the parent brand’s reputation if the new product does not meet the expectations developed by the parent brand’s more established products. The introduction and subsequent popularity of the iPod was eventually extended to and resulted in the popularity of other Apple products, including the iPhone, iPad and Macintosh line of computers. The popularity of the iPod declined, but this can be