Apple Computer Group paper Economic Environment Students:Chris van de Berg Martijn Moonen Michiel Pannekoek Annemieke Verwoert Group:17 Lecturer:Dr. H.A. Ebbers Date:February 20, 2004 Signatures: Table of contents 1.Introduction4 2.External economic analysis5 2.1Business cycle5 2.2Exchange rate5 2.3Interest development6 3.Specific circumstances8 4.External non-economic analysis9 4.1 Technological development9 4.2 Differences between Apple Computers and PCs 10 4.3 Trends10 4.3.1 Educatioal trends10 4.3.2 Demorgraphic trends10 4.4 The role of the government 11 5.Competitiveness and competitive analysis12 5.1Apple personal computer industry12 5.1.1 General computer industry12 5.1.2 General info …showed first 75 words of 6912 total…

…showed last 75 words of 6912 total…day. 6.New direct sales strategy by websites and retail stores Direct sales and retail shops doesn't say that much about the product. This is not totally true as customers can "build" their own computer. It's a way of market penetration, trying to achieve a bigger market share by offering customers more possibilities. But as it seemed it was also a way of market development as Apple claimed that 40% of customers in store were new customers.