This represents a shift in corporate strategy. The company for most of its existence operated as a niche player, essentially utilizing a differentiated focus strategy. The current strategy, however, has been to downplay the exclusivity it long sought to cultivate and focus on a broad differentiation strategy instead (Burrows et al., 2007).

Apple has continued in recent years with this strategy. The company has continued to release different iPhone version and has introduced the iPad in order to revitalize the moribund tablet computer market. The company has continued to garner success in the mainstream, and that has translated into substantial gains in revenue, profit and stock price. In most products, this has also translated into market share, though conspicuously the company still holds a single digit share in the personal computer market.

The company still faces intense competition in most of its product lines, and competes against different firms in...
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