case+study+1


 * Article 1) Describe the unusual business model used in the ipod's fabrication as developed by Apple.**
 * __Ans:__**
 * ** Apple used an unusual business model when fabricating the iPod. For instance the design process was at the center of the iPods’ creation. Product design was done by Portelligent from the outside in; focusing first on the exterior feel before considering functionality and interface. Appearance and form factor were at the top of the agenda. **
 * ** Apple used different components made by different firms and designed them to work cooperatively with each other instead of having them design on a single slate. **
 * ** The value of the ipod emanates from the harmonious integration of the best power utilization, best audio performance and the best overall performance. Choosing a development platform allowed apple to focus on its strengths of form factors and user interfaces therefore making its business model innovative and robust. **


 * Article 2:** **Question: What distinguishes the work of the team of Jobs and Ive in relation to products designed by Apple? What new materials are enabling different design?**


 * __Ans a:__**
 * Steve jobs set the direction of which he wanted apple to pursue when he returned in 1997. He acknowledged Ive’s design skills and asked him to head the design team.
 * Job’s team worked on the vision and usability of the apple product’s interface while he let the physical design to his new design team lead Ives.


 * __Ans b:__**
 * Polymer advances have now enabled Apple to meet specific functionality requirements, enabling Apple to do things with plastic that were originally thought impossible.
 * Twin shooting materials like co-molding different plastics and molding plastic and metal together gives apple a range of functional opportunities that did not exist before.
 * Metal forming and, in particular, new methods of joining metals with advanced adhesives and laser welding is another advancement that has yielding fresh opportunities for apple.


 * __Ques 3:__** **Describe the importance of Apple's design team. Are other companies trying to compete with Apple by creating their own design teams?**


 * __Ans a:__**
 * ** Apples design team is at the center of their business model and success. They have been the difference between the failing IMAC in the nineties and the 1273% rise in shares experienced in the last 10 years. **
 * ** With and outstanding work ethic and an isolationist approach to work that shields their design secrets from espionage, apple’s average base salary for its design team is $200,000 annually(50% higher than industry standards) thus reiterating their importance. **
 * Apple’s design team is not only given privacy to safeguard apples design but it is one of the most unusual design squad that exist inside corporations; they are granted autonomous access to work closely and intensely with engineers and marketers. They intimate relationship from the product design, production, marketing and sales is unparalleled by most design teams in the world. For example the design team “was able to figure out how to put a layer of clear plastic over the white or black core of an iPod, giving it a tremendous depth of texture, and still be able to build each unit in just seconds.”


 * __Ans b:__**
 * Other companies have not followed suit with apples design centred plan due to its high marketability risk. Apple focuses on few products, relies on few individuals, it address so few markets. This by most competitors is viewed as highly risky.
 * Because of Apples few product lines other companies don’t see them as threat and don’t yet have the appetite to follow suit.