Is Apple Heading the Right Direction?

A recent report from Kantar WorldPanel ComTech shows that the market share of iPhone has dropped in the U.S. while it has increased in almost every other countries in the world. According to the report, the market share of the iPhone has dropped 3.3% in September compared to last year in the U.S. An article from BGR which quoted the data from ComTech’s report says that Apple isn’t really concern about the market share in the U.S, or even the market share in the world. It is now focusing on providing the better product and experience to consumers.

Being the most valuable public company in the world, it is shocking for me to know that if Apple is actually not concerning its market share in the cell phone market. As a public company (or even a private company), act in share holders’ interests is arguably the priority task. It seems to me that Apple is now a little off balance in term of serving the interest of the share holders and its general customers. A article from Nikkei says that Apple is now considering to let Pegatron to join the production of iPhone 6/6Plus along with Foxconn to meet the demand around the globe.

Is Apple actually should not be concerned about the market share in the U.S. as long as the numbers in other countries look good? Should they set up another assembling line to meet the demand in other countries and provide the best product and experience to its users or should they be focusing on the U.S. more?

Sources:

Nikkei – Pegatron Beefs Up For Robust iPhone 6 Demand

BGR – Apple Actually Lost Market Share in Q3 Despite iPhone 6 Launch

When forecasting went wrong.

In our class discussion, we talked about how businesses rely on forecasting to formulate their strategies. We all know that forecasts are not perfect, they just give us an idea what the sales might be in the future. In most cases, companies would try to take all the outside factors into accounts while forecasting; however, what happens when you totally underestimated the impact of certain events?

It’s been more than three weeks since the Umbrella Revolution started in Hong Kong. The protesters occupied the financial district and some of the main shopping area in this small city. Countless retailers and restaurants have stood up and complained that how much loss they have during the protest.

This protest started just two days before the “Golden Week”, a week long holiday for mainland China to celebrate the National Day. The time when companies stock up and getting ready for the countless mainland shoppers. For small to midsize businesses, the owners complained that they are about to go out of businesses if the protest continues. These small/midsize rely largely on mainlanders and they are holding their inventories longer than they would like and since the Golden Week is now over, they are not optimistic about the inventories will be gone anytime soon.

This movement has been planing for more than one year and everyone in Hong Kong knows exactly when it was going to start. But it turns out most businesses have underestimated the impact of it. My questions are, how should a business forecast its sales under such events? What would you do about the forecasting for NEXT year?

Sources:

 

Hong Kong Retailers Experience Sharp Sales Declines Amid Protests

Goldman Slashes Hong Kong Growth Outlook