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Owning the consumer - getting to the core of the Apple business model
journal contribution
posted on 2023-06-08, 23:35 authored by Johnna Montgomorie, Samuel RoscoeThis paper uses a business model framework to analyze the main limitations of Apple Inc. post-2003, a significant turning point in the company's history. As such, we move beyond an exclusive focus on what makes Apple unique or different by evaluating the mundane and out-dated elements of its business model. To do so, we examine the end-to-end supply chain, from source to store, to present a more holistic evaluation of the Apple business model. Drawing on the existing literature, we argue that the quintessential element of the Apple business model is its ability to ‘own the consumer’. In short, the Apple business model is designed to drive consumers into its ecosystem and then hold them there, which has been hugely successful to date and has allowed Apple to wield enormous power in the end-to-end supply chain. We demonstrate this through a detailed evaluation of Apple's physical and content supply chains and its retailing strategy. Moreover, we find that the very business processes that enable unparalleled corporate control bring with them new problems that Apple has thus far been unable, or unwilling, to adequately address.
History
Publication status
- Published
File Version
- Published version
Journal
Accounting ForumISSN
0155-9982Publisher
ElsevierExternal DOI
Issue
4Volume
37Page range
290-299Department affiliated with
- Business and Management Publications
Full text available
- Yes
Peer reviewed?
- Yes
Legacy Posted Date
2015-12-01First Open Access (FOA) Date
2015-12-01First Compliant Deposit (FCD) Date
2015-12-01Usage metrics
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