Last Friday’s class we focused on the topic of Forecasting. “What is forecasting,” you ask? Well, it is the process of predicting a future event and is one of the most important tools when it comes to making a decision for a business! Forecasting can aid in fields such as inventory, personnel and of course production and is used in every department of a business.
One of the types of forecasting that we went over in class was demand forecasts. Demand forecasts aid in predicting sales of an existing product. In class we went over a few different numerical techniques to come up with some demand forecasts, but I have some personal experience from working retail that correlates directly to qualitative methods forecasting.
I worked for a high-end contemporary woman’s boutique for a extended period as a sales representative and it was my job to understand and be aware of what the trends were for the season, and because of this I paid heavy attention to blogs and magazines revolving around fashion to help me maximize my sales. There was one instance where I noticed we were shipped about 4 of a particular dress and the next day I had read that Kim Kardashian, a prominent celebrity, had just worn it. I expressed this to my manager and she went ahead and contacted the designer and ordered about 5 more of the dress. Sure enough, the first and second shipments of the dress sold out completely, and we were able to maximize our sales of the dress through understanding the trends and how it can affect forecasting.
Today, the Wall Street Journal published an article about how GM, and several other major companies are switching to Apple products over Windows PCs in their offices. What can we forecast about sales for Apple? Do we think this will start a trend among other companies still only using PCs?
Here’s a link to the article, however, you will need to subscribe in order to read it fully:
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970203721704577156704148493394.html?mod=WSJ_hp_MIDDLETopStories
I definitely believe this will start a trend for other companies. If a dress catches on just because Kim K was wearing it. Then I believe the apple brand will catch on because if a high end company like GM uses it then other companies will want to too. Also, many people think of apple as a fashion icon. Some people will buy an apple computer because of its status and not know anything about apples.
I fully believe a lot of companies will be changing to the Apple brand. From the company standpoint, I think they could benefit tremendously because of the fact that Apple computers do not have to worry about security or anti-virus software. This could be a huge money saver in the long run for the company even though Apple computers are a little bit more costly than most PC’s. With the anti-virus software you have to re-purchase it every year and it is just a hassle. With the iPhone and the Apple computers it is much easier to do business between the two since they are essentially the same basic software and information can easily be transferred between the two. It goes along with celebrities just like the Kardashian’s. The Kardashian’s are the Apple products of the electronics world. They are a huge money making family and anything they do pretty much catches on to the rest of the world. With the release of the iPad and new iPhones every few months I think it is safe to say that the forecast for Apple’s sales will definitely be increasing.
Big companies have recently started buying Apple products for their employees. Apple has reported big increases in the sales of iPads, Mac computers, and even iPhones, which jumped 21 percent from 2010. I think it’s only a matter of time before we see companies only using Apple products. For example, CME (Chicago Mercantile Exchange), has slowly began the transitions from PC to Apple as they recently just purchased iPhones instead of Blackberry’s this year for their employees.
Working in the corporate world for many years, PC’s are primary source for all the network data. However this past month my company introduced Apple I-Pads for all of the employees. The memo from the CEO states that Apple I-Pad’s are great way to take get the projects done on the go. Personally it’s great because with the busy tax season I’m forecasting lots of work will be done on the train and between school hours. As 1000+ employees got I-Pad at our company, Apple sales jumped a few points as well.
I believe the trend has already started; companies are consistently looking for ways to cut cost while improving their supply chain. If Apple has the capacity to provide similar or better services and or products at a comparable or competitive cost to what companies currently pay for these products/services, I do not see any reasons as to why companies wouldn’t switch. I work in the professional business world and would personally prefer to operate under an Apple platform versus that of a PC.
I don’t believe it is so much a trend that companies are switching from PC to Apple, but more of a productivity standpoint. If a company is becoming more productive by having Apple computers in their workplace then it is in their best interest to purchase them. If some companies are more productive with PC’s then it benefits them to keep the PC’s. I do agree that I have been seeing more and more Apple computers in the workforce. But is it because the company thinks it is a new trend or because they become more productive with them. I guess I will have to go and ask.
I think the Apple trend over PCs in companies depends on what the company is doing or does. I think the companies that need or can use the iPads for more mobile efficiency have already started the Apple trend. Many of my friends that are working full time in the business market have told me that their company has been switching to the iPads. An example of this is my friend who works for Marketing Works. He has said that the company has been slowly switching to iPads for everyone. However, for other companies such as firms that need the PCs that deal with dual monitors and that sort of deal will stick with PCs because of everyone’s familiarity with them.