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MIS 201
Apple, Google and Microsoft: The Never Ending Battle For Dominance
Dana Ibrahim 48965
Dima al Mafarjah - 47192
Jamal al Shanableh 47781
Khalid Samara 48648

Table of Contents
Apple Background:....................................................................................................................3
Microsoft Background...............................................................................................................3
Google Background...................................................................................................................5
Customer Analysis.....................................................................................................................6
Information Systems and Information Technology....................................................................8
Implications and Conclusions:.................................................................................................11
References:...............................................................................................................................14

Appendices:..............................................................................................................................15

Apple Background
Microsoft, Apple, and Google are one of the world's largest technology companies in
terms of revenue. Apple is a multinational corporation that has made a huge well-known name
for itself, and gained a strong customer base. It designs and sells computer software, online
services and electronics including Macintosh computers, iPhones, iPods and iPads. On April 1,
1997, apple was founded by Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak, and Ronald Wayne. It started off by
selling computers, as it was called Apple computers Inc. Since then Apple has worked its way
up by expanding its company with introducing unique, and distinctive products in to the market.
They study their customer's demands and wishes well, and give them something that exceeds
their expectations. Gartner analyst Mike McGuire said "They don't build things people want or
need, they build things people desire." (Bulik, 2008) It focuses mainly now on the marketing of
iPhones, MacBooks, iPods, and iPads. However, they always aim to update their brands and
introduce different unique designs. They also have a strong relationship with their suppliers in
order to meet and exceed their customer base's standards. On one of their website's pages, an
article about Apple and Procurement said, We are proud of the strong relationships we have
built with our suppliers, many of whom have been working with us for years. And we are always

looking to expand our supplier base to accommodate our rapidly growing customer base Also,
Apple's market cap surpassed that of Microsoft and google (Hughes, 2012).
Microsoft Background
Microsoft is a multinational corporation that manufactures and sells personal computers ,
consumer electronics and computer software including Microsoft office, operating systems and
world's well-known online browser, internet explorer. Microsoft was founded on April 4, 1975,
by Bill Gates and Paul Allen. Their most success was in their windows operating systems and
Microsoft office programs. Microsoft tries to make sure their customers are always pleased with
their products. In one of Microsoft's official website's pages, customer and partner experience ,
it mentions , Microsoft is focused on ensuring a high level of satisfaction among our customers
and partners. It is a core component of our business. Our vision is to provide experiences for our
customers and partners, across all of their interactions with Microsoft, that they value and
recognize, and enable them to realize their full potential. Their main mission is to have a good
relationship with their customers, fulfill their needs, understand what their customers need, and
make sure they deliver a high quality service and product to them. Microsoft is now taking over
Nokia's devices and services. On one of Microsoft's webpages, it mentions, Microsoft will
continue to deliver new value and opportunity, and work closely with a wide range of hardware
partners, developers, operators, distributors and retailers, providing platforms, tools, applications
and services that enable them to make exceptional devices. One of its productions are Lumia
phones. Microsoft has recently bought all of Nokias rights as well as patents. This has proved to
be a very strategic move in terms of cost-efficiency. Although Nokia was previously a mobile
hardware giant a decade ago, it encountered several economic downfalls after 2008. In fact,
Nokia eventually filed for bankruptcy and had to abandon its headquarters in Espoo. As such,

Microsoft found the opportunity to buy Nokias stake and utilize the Lumia brand as well as
several other software. Recently, Microsoft took a further step and removed the Nokia brand
completely, relatively marking the end of Nokia. Nokia always possessed a very popular GPS
application that offered free voice-by-voice navigation software. Microsoft has utilized this
software and released it across several platforms such as Android and iOS free of charge.
Although recently introduced, it is already proving to be a worth competitor when compared to
Google Maps.

Google Background
Google is a multinational corporation that deals with online advertising technologies,
search,cloud computing and software. It was founded by Larry Page and Sergery Bren on
September 4,1998 and it is most well-known for it's search engine. Based on comScore, Google's
search engine dominated the US market in November 2009 with 65.6 percent of a search
conducted on the five major engines that included google, yahoo, Microsoft, Ask network, and
AOL network (2009). Google aims to provide all the information a person would want or need
rapidly and easily. They also want their user's satisfaction such as their main goal is Focus on
the user and all else will follow(About google). In one of Googles website's pages, it mentions
that Since the beginning, weve focused on providing the best user experience possible.
Whether were designing a new Internet browser or a new tweak to the look of the homepage, we
take great care to ensure that they will ultimately serve you, rather than our own internal goal or
bottom line. Moreover, Google had many acquisitions with over 170 companies, but its largest
acquisition was Motorola mobiles. Google and Motorola combined, made an agreement to
expand in the innovation of mobile computing. As mentioned on Googles website, Motorola

Mobilitys patent portfolio will help protect the Android ecosystem. Android, which is opensource software, is vital to competition in the mobile device space, ensuring hardware
manufacturers, mobile phone carriers, applications developers and consumers all have choice.
Google is great at software; Motorola Mobility is great at devices. The combination of the two
makes sense and will enable faster innovation. All in all, the three companies, are always
aiming to have competitive technological advances that would strike the market, and satisfy their
customers.
Customer Analysis
The main target for excelling organizations such as Apple, Google, and Microsoft is to
provide their customers with the best experience when using their products and services.
Moreover, the common strategy implemented by the three firms is to prevent the rising
competitor from succeeding by teaming up in twos against the third. For example, Apple and
Google aim to prevent Microsoft from expanding more in the PC industry; hence, they teamed
up to overcome Microsofts success. However, in the mobile phone industry, Google and Apple
are core competitors as they both provide similar competing products. Moreover, each company
strives differently to reach their targeted customers. For example, Google focuses more on
advertisements to attract customers. Whereas Apple, which was initially a computer and software
vendor, currently focuses on mobile hardware and software and is now a leader in mobile
software applications. By having a wide range of applications, Apple was able to interest a large
amount of mobile users. On the other hand, Microsoft being a world leader in the PC operating
systems had no enough experience to enter the mobile market and failed to do so.
Overall, Apple has a competitive advantage in the mobile industry for various reasons as it
provides its customers with a wide variation of product lines starting from the actual software to

the product itself. By adding new products and services to the production line which was beyond
the companys initial capabilities, apple was able to raise its revenues drastically. Adding to that,
Apple was able to enhance its software applications by constantly updating them when faced
with a threat or competition. This made apple stand out and position itself in the market among
its competitors with a list of differentiated products and services. As a result, apple gained
customer intimacy and loyalty. However, the innovation and power of rivals might threaten
apples current position due to the increased competition between the three world leaders of
technology. Providing free apps might cause Apple to enter a financial dilemma where no
revenue is achieved except through the attraction of new customers and loyalty of the existing
ones. Free apps are a form of advertisement used to compete with the existing companies. On the
other hand, Google purchased Motorola in order to maintain its place in the mobile industry. By
doing so, Google secured and benefitted the entire company in the short run as well as in the
long run as it will be able to increase its production of cellphones and tablets. This was a
comeback to Apples innovation and success which in turn raised the pressure on Apple and
increased competition. Taking into account the fact that Google is new to the mobile market, it
will be quiet difficult to maintain its position after the release of new updates and applications by
apple. Google was able to move from being a search engine to selling mobile phones and
electronic devices, which was surprising and risky at first. Eventually it succeeded and was able
to enter the market at a very fast rate due to its excelling innovation. Microsoft on the other hand,
tried to expand beyond its known domain and create a cloud and mobile presence. Microsoft then
tried to launch new software such as Surface tablet, SkyDrive and Windows 8. The lesson
learned from this case, is that the most important strategy a firms should follow in order to
enhance customer value and increase revenues is to differentiate its products and services based

on customers demand and interest. In addition to that, segmentation plays a major role in a firms
sales. As the company creates segments for its customers and positions its offerings in the market
at a relatively higher level than its competitors, based on quality and price, customers will be
willing to take the risk and buy the product without any hesitation.
Moreover, the three companies are in a very competitive market, one which has many
fluctuations due to various factors that influence it. Apple, Google and Microsoft must stay up to
the market standards in order to stay in it. In such markets, firms are expected to have a fast
growth in order to reach maturity and stability. Appendix 1 is a representation of Apples cycle
products within time, which interprets to the fact that with time the companys lifecycle
fluctuates due to strong market forces such as customer demand and rivalry. Producing similar
products places a threat on all three companies, since their target customers are relatively alike.
The only difference is the way these companies serve their customers and the segmentation
strategy implemented by each to accommodate to their customers needs. For example, Apple
was able to continuously update their phones and softwares making their customers satisfied.
Apple currently updates its software every few months for bug fixes, battery life and resolution
until it reached now to iOS 8. Also, the release of the iPhone 6 and 6 plus was a major hit for
Apple this year, where it was updated from the iPhone 5s. All these regular updates create more
customers and strengthen their trust in Apple. On top of that, Apple was able to segment its
market by releasing the iPod Shuffle which targets athletes, as it is a relatively small device that
can be efficient while running. On the other hand, the release of Windows 8 by Microsoft was
aimed to target individuals who require an efficient and fast operating system without lags and
bugs. Microsoft also updates its operating systems occasionally reaching up to windows 8, which
is a relatively exceling system in the current market. Google, however, targeted its customers in a

different way by the release of Google Maps. Its meant for tourists and anyone either stuck in
traffic or looking for directions to a specific location anywhere around the world.
Information Systems and Information Technology
In terms of magnitude mobile application count, Apple and Google are almost identical
greatly outweigh Microsoft. The Apple App store has always maintained a small advantage in the
past 4 years; however, the Google Play store managed to have more apps since the beginning of
2014.It must be mentioned that Microsoft offers an innovative cross-platform application store
that also caters to Windows 8 devices such as laptop and tablets. To highlight the differences in
appstores, refer to appendix (1).
Apples role in information technology has been noticed, over the years, to focus on one
niche. For a long time, Apple solely focused on being a hardware manufacturer of the desktop
and laptops. It was so specialized, that even the subcomponents as well as software were
developed by apple. In the beginning of the 21st century, apple entered the handheld music
industry with its line of iPods. This market was previously dominated by Sony, with their highly
acclaimed Walkman. However, the Walkman line was viewed obsolete with the introduction of
the iPod. This is because the iPod utilized digital MP3 (MPEG-Layer 3) format, as opposed to
Walkmans traditional cassette and CD players. This decision was closely linked to Apples
initial focus on its focus on music management software, iTunes. Through synergy of iTunes and
iPod players, apple was able to give consumers the ultimate music experience as they developed
iPods with latest technologies such as capacitive scrolling and spacious portable hard disk
storage.
The three companies have waged an interesting battle in the realm of internet browsers.
Microsofts internet explorer comes installed by default on any computer running a Windows

operating system. Therefore, a tremendous segment of the world already has Internet Explorer
installed. Internet Explorer, over the years, has been outshined by the Google Chrome browser in
terms of ease of access and loading speeds. Regardless, the Internet Explorer is currently the
mostly used internet browser. The reason behind this is not its functionality; rather, because light
and everyday users find it unnecessary to install another browser. However, this issue might
change eventually, as we can notice some personal computer vendors such as Lenovo, equipping
its laptops with Google Chrome alongside As for Apple, they equip all apple computers with the
Safari browser. In generally, it is well criticized and does not face major competition within its
own territory of MacBooks and iMacs.
E-commerce is utilized by Apple, Google, and Microsoft heavily in order to advertise and
sell their products. However, there is a significant difference that must be stressed between each
companys E-commerce. Google does not specifically sell hardware. It does, however, sell
premium applications through the Google play store. If one has to consider google as an Ecommerce, the various E-commerce specific websites that are owned by Google must be taken
into consideration. As for apple, it can be noticed that its website is heavily focused on the
advertising and selling of its products such as the iPhone, Macbook, and iPad. Microsoft has
updated its main website and transformed it into an eclectic library that offers various products.
Not only does it sell local products such as Microsoft surface tablets, operating systems, and
Xbox hardware, but also offers 3rd party personal computers from several companies such as
Lenovo, HP, and Dell. In general, all three companies are therefore considered B2B and B2C,
because they tend to sell to regular consumers as well as also to large firms and business in large
quantities. Moreover, each company website aims to provide customers with customization as
well as guarantee of trust before purchase. For example, Apple and Microsoft both offer

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consumers the option for detailed inquiry and reviews before purchase. Moreover, Microsoft, in
synchronization with computer manufacturing companies such as Dell and HP, give customers
the opportunity to custom pick almost every detail of their purchase of desktops. This strategy
follows the Make-To-Order principle. It may take longer time to process; however, it gains
customer satisfaction. Apple does not need to go through this process, as its products not as
variable.
In terms of Information systems, Google differs from Microsoft and Apple in that its
services are mostly online. Apart from its infamous internet search engine, Google actually offers
a document editing suite similar to Microsoft Office as well as a social network, Google Plus.
Using Googles online platform enables users to share and synchronize their documents whether
they may be Microsoft word documents or Excel workbooks. As for Google Plus, it can be noted
that it has not succeeded as much as Google hoped that it would. It was expected to compete
with Facebook and catapult Googles status. Today, only a selected minority uses
Implications and Conclusions
After a thorough examination of all three companies, we have concluded that in todays
market and industry, the most crucial survival aspect is deep knowledge of customer, suppliers,
competitors, and trend. Furthermore, the mobile market is an extremely important market
currently. It is essential for any company that seeks success to try to cater to the mobile market as
much as possible. Not only is this essential for current success, but it enables long term progress
and success. To sum up the features and characteristics of each company, we can note that
Google, Apple, and Microsoft all offer differentiated products that are unique in their own aspect
and contribute differently to each companys image. Google is notorious for its search engine
that has dominated the internet. Apple was preciously well known for its role in computing and

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portable music industry, and is now infamous for the iPhone and its applications. Microsoft has
been, and is currently, well known for its role in the personal computer industry as well as
operating system.
One may assume that each company sits in a comfortable position, given that each has an
upper advantage for specific products. However, the reality is far from so. Fierce competition
exists among all three companies as there have existed, and there exists today, several attempts
from each company to overlap in several markets and brands. Therefore, they have to complete
rigorously to survive. Moreover they must rely on statistical analysis and future predictions to
better make decisions and possibly change business models. This alone, will not guarantee
success. It is critical that they also study the environment, by conducting studies related to the
preferences and likings of their customers.
If we had to predict a possible threat, it could be a one of the Chinese companies such as
Huawei. Huawei manufactures a large segment of the worlds cellular chips used for 3G and 4G
connections, as such it closely workers with mobile carriers around the world. Moreover, it offers
an extensive list of smartphones that are powerful enough to compete with the iPhone and
Android phone, at a fraction of the selling and production price. Osawa (2014) commends
Huaweis rise in the mobile market and stresses that it is a major threat to the mobile, especially
for Samsung, since both companies utilize the Google Android OS. According to Osawa (2014,
para.4), In the second quarter, Huawei was the third-largest smartphone maker in the world, as
its market share rose to 6.9% from 4.3% a year earlier. In comparison, Samsung's market share
dropped to 25% from 32% a year earlier, while Apple's share fell slightly to 12% from 13%.
(Osawa, 2014, para.4) For further reference, we can examine appendix (2) which lists top mobile
vendors and their shares. All in all, we cannot pinpoint the fate of either 3 companies. The power

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of trend, advertising, and marketing make it very difficult to decide the outcome of either 3
companies. Moreover, it not unlikely that we see a 4th or maybe even 5th rival coming into place.
A major implication that is occurring right now is the various patent lawsuits that are
occurring among these 3 companies. Apple, in particular, was very critical of the authenticity of
its iPhone in 2007. It sought to submit several patents to ensure that other companies would not
steal their design and ideas. Samsung, in designing their phones, breached Apples patents and as
such fell victim to paying heavy amounts of money. Although both companies encountered
several court battles afterwards, they have both found it in their best interests to drop several
patents, under mutual beneficial agreement. According to Chowdry (2014),Now the two
companies have signed a pact that ends all patent lawsuits outside of the U.S. The lawsuits will
end in countries including Britain, France, Spain, Germany, Italy, South Korea, Japan, Australia
and the Netherlands.

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Reference List
About google. (n.d.) Retieved from : https://www.google.ae/intl/en/about/
Apple and procurement. (n.d.). Retrieved from: https://www.apple.com/procurement/

Bulik,B. (2008). With Design as Centerpiece, Apple Stands Out. Retrieved from:
http://adage.com/article/moy-2008/design-centerpiece-apple-stands/131744/

comScore Releases November 2009 U.S. Search Engine Rankings. (2009). Retrieved from:
http://www.comscore.com/Insights/Press-Releases/2009/12/comScore-ReleasesNovember-

2009-U.S.-Search-Engine-Rankings

Chowdry, A. (2014). Apple And Samsung Drop Patent Disputes Against Each Other
Outside Of The U.S.
Facts about Googles acquisition of Motorola. (n.d.) Retrieved from:
http://www.google.com/press/motorola/

Hughes N. (2012). Apple now worth more than Google and Microsoft combined. Retrieved from:
http://appleinsider.com/articles/12/02/09/apple_now_worth_more_than_google_and_microsoft_c
ombined.html

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Microsoft officially welcomes Nokia Devices and Services business. (n.d.).Retrieved from:
http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/nokia.aspx
Osawa,J.(2014).Huawei

Is

Shaking

Up

The

Smartphone

Market.

Retrieved

from:

http://www.wsj.com/articles/huawei-is-shaking-up-the-smartphone-market-1408908924

Appendices
Appendix 1

(Retrievedfrom:http://www.statista.com/statistics/276623/number-of-apps-available-inleading-app-stores/)

Appendix 2

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(retrieved from: http://www.idc.com/getdoc.jsp?containerId=prUS24645514)