Apple Inc. is a brand that anyone around the world would recognize. It designs, manufactures and markets multimedia and mobile communications devices, personal computers and portable digital music players (Apple, 2011). The company sells its products worldwide through branded retail and online stores, as well as through cellular network operators, wholesalers, and third-party resellers (Reisinger, 2008). Even with Apple's proven successes, one factor I think Apple should consider as the company develops a long-term growth strategy that is to work on reducing retail costs so it can offer its flagship products high to a wider audience. As featured in a Forbes article in February this year, Toni Sacconaghi of Bernstein Research predicted that "Apple could grow its mobile phone market by 6x in terms of unit volume and 2.5x in terms of revenue with the launch of a smaller, less expensive iPhone model" ( Hodgkins, 2011, paragraph 1). In the same article, Sacconaghi also stated that Apple loses 60% of the cell phone market using its current strategy because it limits its distribution to select carriers and sells its iPhone at a high price (Hodgkins, 2011). Based on current price comparisons, Android-based phones are selling for less than half the average selling price of Apple's iPhone. A second factor that Apple should consider as the company develops a long-term growth strategy is to work on a focused strategy to be able to meet the needs of a particular market segment. “A company pursuing a focused strategy is willing to serve isolated geographic areas; meet customer needs with special financing, inventory or service programs; or to adapt the product to the needs of the small and medium-sized customer (Pearc...... middle of paper...... Balanced Scorecard: translating strategy into action - Google Books. Retrieved from http:/ /www .google.com/search?hl=en&rlz=1T4SKPB_enUS343US344&biw=1440&bih=711&tbm=bks&q=inauthor:%22Robert+S.+Kaplan%22&sa=X&ei=aoxJTp3QI-KGsALGgrXZCA&ved=0CCcQ9AgPearce, J, & Robinson, R 1 ). Strategic management. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill Irwin, D. (2008, August 6). Apple needs to lower Mac prices. Retrieved from http://news.cnet.com/8301-. 13506_3-10008421-17.html#ixzz1V7Crlyk5Shiverick, B., Janelle, P. & Anichini, A. Cultivating employee commitment to achieve excellence My InnerView. my_innerview_employee_commitment_final.pdfStone, B. & Vance, A. (2009, June 22) Apple's obsession with secrecy grows stronger. Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/23/technology/23apple. html