MKT 574 Wk 1 – Practice: Apple’s Mobile Expansion into India and The Triple Bottom Line

Apple’s Mobile Expansion into India

Apple’s growth has slowed in the U.S. and other mature markets. India is the third-largest mobile phone market in the world, behind China and the U.S. In 2013, the Indian mobile phone market had 12% growth, with the smartphone component of the market experiencing enormous growth of 229%. Recently, Apple announced its plans to increase its focus on the Indian market.

This activity is important because marketing managers need to understand how different macro-level external environmental factors can influence the marketing decisions under consideration.

The goal of this exercise is to demonstrate an understanding of the factors that affect a company’s strategy within an international market as well as the potential ethical issues that may arise.

A company has to develop a comprehensive global marketing strategy in order to compete in global markets. International expansion requires a reassessment of existing marketing strategies. Companies often mistakenly believe they can adapt existing market strategies to new international markets. Unfortunately, successful market tactics in the company’s home market often fail to translate well into foreign markets. In addition, different kinds of ethical issues may arise when a company enters a new market or seeks to increase their presence within that market. Some of these issues may be especially murky because they may relate to practices that are perceived as acceptable within a specific country that a company is seeking to expand their presence within, but unethical within other countries that the company currently operates within. Others may be much more clear-cut for the company.