Following Steve Jobs death, there has been a lot of concerns regarding Apple, including loss of customer loyalty, loss of innovation in new products, leading to speculation in its stock prices. As highlighted in Evangeline’s blog, analysts worry that without the creative marketing genius of Steve Jobs, the company will degenerate in the long term.
However, I think apple has already successfully established it’s brand image in the heart of consumers. It is considered fashionable, user friendly and very original. As discussed in class it’s branding is extremely successful as it has already created a first in the smart product market. It is the first to provide products that combine all the above attributes. It’s innovation has made it’s products one after another desirable by consumers. It is extremely successful in implementing the differentiation strategy according to Porter’s generic strategies.
Also, in the later years of Steve jobs life, he had minimal involvement in apple, and had set up a organizational structure for apple’s smooth operation.
In conclusion, Apple has very high customer loyalty, not just to Steve Jobs but to apple as a brand. With its organizational structure, it will be able to continue running smoothly.