The United Arab Emirates A Global Hub For Business And...

The United Arab Emirates is a global hub for business and investment. Although the UAE is the world’s seventh largest producer of oil and natural gas, it has managed to shift its economic focus away from its deep wells. Today, the country derives 71 percent of its GDP from construction, healthcare, aviation, tourism and other non-oil sectors. With the Heritage Foundation giving the country an impressive 79.6 percent business freedom score, you have every reason to set up a company in the UAE and start trading. Here are 13 questions to ask before making the move: 1. What are the benefits of starting a company in the UAE? Although some Middle Eastern countries such as Iraq and Yemen are known for their unending wars, the UAE enjoys a peaceful and politically tranquil environment that enables businesses to thrive. Besides, the country is home to top banking institutions such as HSBC, Standard Chartered and First Gulf Bank, so you won’t have to look elsewhere for banking solutions and financial assistance. Roads, ports, railways, telecommunication lines and other pieces of infrastructure are extremely advanced, making it ideal for diverse businesses. 2. What is the UAE tax policy? The UAE has favorable taxation policies for both foreign and domestic businesses. But how favorable is it? The federal government doesn’t levy any tax on the income of individuals and companies. However, businesses in the oil and gas industry are subject to a 50-55 percent tax rate, while banks withShow MoreRelatedThe Role Of Aviation Industry : A Developing Country Based On Agriculture And Oil Reserves3368 Words   |  14 PagesColombia and United Arab Emirates. Colombia is a developing country based on agriculture and oil reserves. In the past, they had many internal problems with guerillas, and cocaine smuggling. But, now Colombia is safer and has diversified there industries, and is mainly focusing on tourism and aviation. UAE on the other hand, is a fast developing nation with the second largest economy in the Middle East. They have major airlines like Emirates and Etihad that support a big part of their investment and tourismRead MoreJamaica and Its New Experience663 Wo rds   |  3 Pagesthat it hopes to gain major foreign investment and create many jobs through the development of a ‘logistics hub’. The government believes that Jamaica’s geographical position will allow it to become an important part of the global value chain by serving at least some of the estimated 12,500 ships that will be passing through the Panama Canal as of 2015. According to information published on the government’s official website: With major investments and global partnerships, Jamaica will become: Read MoreEmirates Airlines Case Study1535 Words   |  7 Pages On October 25, 1985, Emirates Airline was established with help from the Dubai government. Since its inception, the company has successfully expanded to 140 destinations over 6 continents and added 150 new aircraft. Indeed the purchase of 150 aircraft was costly but this move increased the capacity of planes into the routes. As a result, Emirates became one of the top five largest leading airline companies globally. Emirates are indeed a global success story in an industry where lucrative companiesRead MoreConstructing The Burj Khalifa Skyscraper Essay828 Words   |  4 PagesSheikh Mohammed gave the green light to his project managers to construct the Burj Khalifa, a Dubai skyscraper 40 percent taller than the world tallest building, it became fairly apparent that the Sheikh had some big global ambitions for his oil rich bit of turf, the United Arab Emirates (UAE). While the Burj may be reaching for the Arabian stars another manmade construction was already well underway in the UAE, a fiscal paradise. Indeed, the Dubai International Free Zone (DIFC), which has managedRead MoreEconomy And Market Analysis Of The United Arab Emirates893 Words   |  4 PagesMarket Analysis- United Arab Emirates Located in Western Asia at the South-East end of Arabian Peninsula on the Persian Gulf is the oil-rich economy viz. United Arab Emirates (UAE). The demographic of the economy consists of 11.6% Emiratis, as much as 59.4% South Asian (including 38.2% Indian) and 29.1% others (2015 est.). The economy constitutes young population with majority of the population between 25-54 years of age (61.27%) and about 96% are aged below 54 years of age. Dubai, Abu Dhabi andRead MoreEconomic and Political Environment of Dubai3947 Words   |  16 Pages Dubai â€Æ' INTRODUCTION In recent years, Dubai, a city within the United Arab Emirates, or emirates (UAE), has seen significant growth and is continuing to be viewed as a great place to do business. With a population of over 2 million, not only is Dubai booming, but it is a free trade zone, offering 100% foreign ownership and zero taxes for potential investors (CIA Factbook 2012). While the Dubai economy was once almost exclusively about oil, today, Dubai is onlyRead MoreEmirates Airlines4429 Words   |  18 PagesHub of the World Emirates is one of the fastest-growing and most profitable airlines in the world. Yet the secret of its success is largely unknown outside the Arab world. Donald N. Sull, Sumantra Ghoshal and Felipe Monteiro unveil some of the mystery that shrouds a national carrier that enjoys no state handouts – and treats its employees as a giant family. The ess than two decades after its foundation, Emirates placed the biggest order in civil aviation history, for $19 billion worth ofRead MoreUnited Arab Emirates, Country Risk Report Essay1780 Words   |  8 Pages United Arab Emirates is situated in the Middle East bordering Saudi Arabia and Oman. The country consists of seven emirates(cities) with Abu Dhabi as capital and Dubai, the financial capital of the country. The population of United Arab Emirates is 9.3 million as of 2013; however, the nationals of South Asian countries (Workers from Pakistan, India, Nepal, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka) comprise around 50% of UAE ´s total population. Furthermore, Ethnic composition can be classified as: Emirati (19%)Read MoreEmirates Airline s Strategic Management1595 Words   |  7 Pages0 Introduction In the year 1985, Emirates airline flew its first routes out of Dubai with only two aircraft. The main goal of the company was the quality of their services not the quantity of their fleet. As the years passed, Emirates has evolved into a worldwide powerful travel and tourism conglomerates, where the airline is known for its commitment to the highest standard of quality in every part of the aviation business. Part of that, Emirates airline is wholly owned by the government of DubaiRead MoreStrategy Assignment Essay3409 Words   |  14 PagesHarvard Business School – Case Study Pradeep Bhat Strategy Assignment MIP – Politecnico di Milano 1. In an industry where profitable firms are scarce, Emirates has delivered solid growth and solid financial performance for years. Why? What is behind Emirates’ success? á ¹Å"ecently, on May 20th 2014, the Air French – KLM announced their results showing record losses. The strategy of alliance between two struggling airlines is yet to prove its success. Meanwhile, in a complete contrast, The Emirates Airlines

Is there life after death Free Essay Example, 1500 words

Assumptions in dualism prove that there is no life after death. Secondly, the philosophical believes of materialism is not a strong enough support in life after death. In materialism, persons are assumed to rejuvenate and receive the same type of body after death. The lives lived by the resurrected persons compares with their early life on earth in many ways. They live in a perfect world where they do all they want: good food, walk on bright paths, do not become ill, do not sin, and they have ample possessions. The major concern that arises is how the older person compares to the new person. Can we still prove it is the same person? According to Barnes as quoted in seven oaks philosophical website, â€Å"we cannot imagine ourselves living in heaven or paradise and still being ourselves: if our flaws are corrected, our disabilities removed, our needs and wants satisfied, are we still in any meaningful sense the same person? † (Flew web) Assumptions in materialistic approach of resurrection fail to meet the criterion of identity. The transformation of the persons who die to the new heavenly body without flaws, disabilities, or needs means that the two bodies are two entities altogether. We will write a custom essay sample on Is there life after death or any topic specifically for you Only $17.96 $11.86/pageorder now To me, the process of life after death is an impossibility through resurrection. Consider a human being who is a cannibal. After death, will God resurrect the persons he ate together with himself or only him? William in philosophy now magazine suggests that god will restore us again from other atoms. These new bodies will only meet our design and replication of us and not us al all. This is the same position with resurrection. The replica version of resurrection cannot secure survival after death (William web). Christians and Abraham religions who believe in resurrection also believe that the transformation comes on the final judgement day that comes so many years after the death of the person. This brings about a problem in continuity and proves that there is no life after death. According to Plato in his theory of opposites, physical world consists of opposites such as big and small, light and dark. In his argument, there must be a reverse to life , which is dead. For one to speak of dead and living as opposites then, the deceased must have a soul. Reincarnation is supported in this idea that suggests that mental growth continues after one, and the dead continues another earthly being with excellent grades of consciousness. Plato believes in a circle of death, life, death, life, and so forth (Taylor 244).

Apple Case Study 1 Free Essays

Apple Table of Contents: I. Introduction II. Opening Case III. We will write a custom essay sample on Apple Case Study 1 or any similar topic only for you Order Now Competitor Analysis IV. Sales Analysis V. Profitability Analysis VI. Cross Elasticity of Demand: Competitors v/s iPhone VII. Demand, Cost and Pricing VIII. Pure competition, Monopolistic Competition Oligopoly IX. Conclusion X. References I. Introduction Apple Inc. (Apple) designs, manufactures and markets a range of personal computers, mobile communication and media devices, and portable digital music players, and sells a range of related software, services, peripherals, networking solutions, and third-party digital content and applications. It’s products and services include Macintosh (Mac) computers, iPhone, iPad, iPod, Apple TV, Xserve, a portfolio of consumer and professional software applications, the Mac OS X and iOS operating systems, third-party digital content and applications through the iTunes Store, and a range of accessory, service and support offerings. The Company sells its products globally through its retail stores, online stores, and direct sales force and third-party cellular network carriers, wholesalers, retailers, and value-added resellers. As of September 25, 2010, the Company had opened a total of 317 retail stores, including 233 stores in the United States and 84 stores internationally. II. Opening Case: Apple reveals the iPhone MACWORLD SAN FRANCISCO—January 9, 2007—Apple ® today introduced iPhone, combining three products—a revolutionary mobile phone, a widescreen iPod ® with touch controls, and a breakthrough Internet communications device with desktop-class email, web browsing, searching and maps—into one small and lightweight handheld device. Phone introduces an entirely new user interface based on a large multi-touch display and pioneering new software, letting users control iPhone with just their fingers. iPhone also ushers in an era of software power and sophistication never before seen in a mobile device, which completely redefines what users can do on their mobile phones. â€Å"iPhone is a revolutionary and magical product that is literally five years ahead of any other mobi le phone,† said Steve Jobs, Apple’s CEO. We are all born with the ultimate pointing device—our fingers—and iPhone uses them to create the most revolutionary user interface since the mouse. † iPhone is a Revolutionary Mobile Phone iPhone is a revolutionary new mobile phone that allows users to make calls by simply pointing at a name or number. iPhone syncs all of your contacts from your PC, Mac ® or Internet service such as Yahoo! , so that you always have your full list of up-to-date contacts with you. In addition, you can easily construct a favorites list for your most frequently made calls, and easily merge calls together to create conference calls. iPhone’s pioneering Visual Voicemail, an industry first, lets users look at a listing of their voicemails, decide which messages to listen to, then go directly to those messages without listening to the prior messages. Just like email, iPhone’s Visual Voicemail enables users to immediately randomly access those messages that interest them most. Phone includes an SMS application with a full QWERTY soft keyboard to easily send and receive SMS messages in multiple sessions. When users need to type, iPhone presents them with an elegant touch keyboard which is predictive to prevent and correct mistakes, making it much easier and more efficient to use than the small plastic keyboards on many smartphones. iPhone also includes a calendar application that allows calendars to be automatically synced with your PC or Mac. iPhone fea tures a 2 megapixel camera and a photo management application that is far beyond anything on a phone today. Users can browse their photo library, which can be easily synced from their PC or Mac, with just a flick of a finger and easily choose a photo for their wallpaper or to include in an email. iPhone is a quad-band GSM phone which also features EDGE and Wi-Fi wireless technologies for data networking. Apple has chosen Cingular, the best and most popular carrier in the US with over 58 million subscribers, to be Apple’s exclusive carrier partner for iPhone in the US. iPhone is a Widescreen iPod Phone is a widescreen iPod with touch controls that lets music lovers â€Å"touch† their music by easily scrolling through entire lists of songs, artists, albums and playlists with just a flick of a finger. Album artwork is stunningly presented on iPhone’s large and vibrant display. iPhone also features Cover Flow, Apple’s amazing way to browse your music library by album cover artwork, for the first time on an iPod. When navigating your music library on iPhone, you are automatically switched into Cover Flow by simply rotating iPhone into its landscape position. Phone’s stunning 3. 5-inch widescreen display offers the ultimate way to watch TV shows and movies on a pocketable device, with touch controls for play-pause, chapter forward-backward and volume. iPhone plays the same videos purchased from the online iTunes ® Store that users enjoy watching on their computers and iPods, and will soon enjoy watching on their widescreen televisions using the new Apple TVâ„ ¢. The iTunes Store now offers over 350 television shows, over 250 feature films and over 5,000 music videos. Phone lets users enjoy all their iPod content, including music, audiobooks, audio podcasts, video podcasts, music videos, television shows and movies. iPhone syncs content from a user’s iTunes library on their PC or Mac, and can play any music or video content they have purchased from the online iTunes store. iPhone is a Breakthrough Internet Communications Device iPhone features a rich HTML email client which fetches your email in the background from most POP3 or IMAP mail services and displays photos and graphics right along with the text. Phone is fully multi-tasking, so you can be reading a web page while downloading your email in the background. Yahoo! Mail, the world’s largest email service with over 250 million users, is offering a new free â€Å"push† IMAP email service to all iPhone users that automatically pushes new email to a user’s iPhone, and can be set up by simply entering your Yahoo! name and password. iPhone will also work with most industry standard IMAP and POP based email services, such as Microsoft Exchange, Apple . Mac Mail, AOL Mail, Google Gmail and most ISP mail services. iPhone also features the most advanced and fun-to-use web browser on a portable device with a version of its award-winning Safariâ„ ¢ web browser for iPhone. Users can see any web page the way it was designed to be seen, and then easily zoom in to expand any section by simply tapping on iPhone’s multi-touch display with their finger. Users can surf the web from just about anywhere over Wi-Fi or EDGE, and can automatically sync their bookmarks from their PC or Mac. Phone’s Safari web browser also includes built-in Google Search and Yahoo! Search so users can instantly search for information on their iPhone just like they do on their computer. iPhone also includes Google Maps, featuring Google’s groundbreaking maps service and iPhone’s amazing maps application, offering the best maps experience by far on any pocket device. Users can view maps, satellite images, traffic information and get direct ions, all from iPhone’s remarkable and easy-to-use touch interface. iPhone’s Advanced Sensors Phone employs advanced built-in sensors—an accelerometer, a proximity sensor and an ambient light sensor—that automatically enhance the user experience and extend battery life. iPhone’s built-in accelerometer detects when the user has rotated the device from portrait to landscape, then automatically changes the contents of the display accordingly, with users immediately seeing the entire width of a web page, or a photo in its proper landscape aspect ratio. iPhone’s built-in proximity sensor detects when you lift iPhone to your ear and immediately turns off the display to save power and prevent inadvertent touches until iPhone is moved away. Phone’s built-in ambient light sensor automatically adjusts the display’s brightness to the appropriate level for the current ambient light, thereby enhancing the user experience and saving power at the same time. Pricing ; Availability iPhone will be available in the US in June 2007, Europe in late 2007, and Asia in 2008, in a 4GB model for $499 (US) and an 8GB model for $599 (US), and will work with either a PC or Mac. iPhone will be sold in the US through Apple’s retail and online stores, and through Cingular’s retail and online stores. Several iPhone accessories will also be available in June, including Apple’s new remarkably compact Bluetooth headset. iPhone includes support for quad-band GSM, EDGE, 802. 11b/g Wi-Fi and Bluetooth 2. 0 EDR wireless technologies. iPhone requires a Mac with a USB 2. 0 port, Mac OS ® X v10. 4. 8 or later and iTunes 7; or a Windows PC with a USB 2. 0 port and Windows 2000 (Service Pack 4), Windows XP Home or Professional (Service Pack 2). Internet access is required and a broadband connection is recommended. Apple and Cingular will announce service plans for iPhone before it begins shipping in June. III. Competitor Analysis Market Share by OS Nokia still has a third of the overall mobile phone market. The average selling price of a Nokia Smartphone fell by 21% from 2009. Nokia is selling plenty of devices, but they are at the cheap end of the market. They lost what some in the industry refer to as â€Å"mindshare† to Apple’s iPhone and the Google Android mobile software platform. Nokia wants to sell services – music, maps, and applications – as well as hardware but high-end phone users are looking elsewhere. The company says a new family of Smartphone’s, led by the N8 released in 2010, will revive its fortunes at the top end of the market. Nokia chief executive Stephen Elop was forced to abandon the mobile phone giant’s in September 2010. The news that the Finnish firm might only break even in the second quarter of this year slashed 25 per cent off its value in 24 hours. Mobile phone manufacturer Nokia has announced it will shed 7,000 jobs from next year as part of a plan to refocus the company on Smartphone. The Finnish firm is moving from Symbian to Microsoft’s Smartphone technology. The firm recently confirmed the deal with Microsoft last week to jointly develop Smartphone technology, which will cut costs by about 1bn Euros a year. Under the terms of that deal, Nokia agreed to start using the Microsoft’s operating system on its Smartphone instead of its own Symbian platform. Nokia’s response to the Smartphone threat from competitors such as Apple’s iPhone and phones using Google’s Android system has been long been a key investor concern. Prior to the iPhone, Nokia was the king of mobile handsets. Now its share of the Smartphone market has plunged from 47 per cent to 27 per cent. It has also lost its ranking as the largest handset maker in terms of revenue to Apple. Android When Google decided to get into the Smartphone business it decided that Android devices would be everything that the iPhone was not. Apple one or two handsets, Google on the other hand was laying out a great number of handsets. Manufacturers such as HTC, LG and Motorola could use the new operating system for free. It enabled Google to have phones for every section of the market – high powered and pricey, cheap and practical. Android’s real selling point would be the apps. Here too, the policy was one of openness. Apple controlled its App store controlling every submission and rejecting those that contravened its rules. For Android anyone who had written an app could upload it. At first, users and app developers welcomed the free-and-easy approach. However, some have begun to question if Google’s policy for the apps is the best way to manage the Market. Three years after its launch, hardware sales are booming. Yet sales of Android apps remain relatively poor. Estimates of Apple’s App store in 2010 were ? 1. billion. Android Market managed just ? 62 million. The figure was lower than both Blackberry App World (? 100m) and Nokia’s Ovi store (? 64m). Research predicts massive improvements for Android by this time 2012 but it is still expected to lag far behind iOS. Finally Android’s market share grew to surpass the Symbian platform used by Nokia making it the most sold Smartphone Microsoft Microsoft market share is declining in the Smartphone platform market. Windows Phone 7 lacks a number of features despite the innovation of its user interface. Microsoft hopes to gain market share once Nokia Windows Phones and its wide-ranging â€Å"Mango† software update get released later in 2011. Microsoft has unveiled the first major update to its Windows Phone 7 operating system it launched in 2010. The update, codenamed Mango, intdoduces more than 500 changes. Microsoft’s attempts to break into the Smartphone race have been mediocre at best. Currently, the company controls less than 4% of the market. Despite this, Microsoft’s Windows Phone 7 platform is forecasted to beat Android in 2013. Microsoft introduced Pocket PC in 2000, followed by Windows Mobile in 2003, prior to Apple and Android’s release. However it still failed to compete in the market, or rival Symbian who controlled nearly 90% of the market share. Microsoft lacked the features and compatibility that Symbian was featuring at the time, and as a result, consumers refused to recognize its product or give Microsoft the opportunity to be a contender in the Smartphone industry. The platform was notoriously sluggish and the most difficult of any platform to use. Microsoft tried to solve some of these issues with minor tweaks and software updates over the years to little or no avail. As Windows Mobile market shares continued to decline, Microsoft had no other option than to overhaul the Microsoft platform and launch Windows Phone 7 in 2010. Windows Phone 7 was much improved. But Microsoft still failed to take control of the market, or garner any real significant attention from consumers. RIM Research In Motion has given up more ground to Apple and Google in the hypercompetitive Smartphone market, a report shows, while two brokerages cut their price targets for the BlackBerry maker on concerns it can no longer keep pace. The latest figures dropped RIM from second to third place. The Canadian company’s struggle to compete is unlikely to get any easier, with Apple’s upcoming iCloud service expected to hurt RIM. IV. Sales Analysis Apple  produced some stellar results: revenues up 48% year-on-year to $13. 5bn, and profits up. The process is confused because  Apple has begun restating its year-ago earnings, to take into account the fact that it now recognizes income and revenue from subscription-based products such as the  iPhone(which may be sold on an 18-month contract) as soon as it gets it, rather than deferring it over the life of the device/contract as it used to. It began doing that in the most recent quarter, covering Christmas, which – confusingly – is the first quarter of its financial year. So previously, the second-quarter revenues were $8. 16bn, not the newly-restated $9. 08bn; the profits were $1. 21bn, not the now-given figure of $1. 62bn. The numbers also don’t include the iPad, because the quarter ended on March 31 – the iPad was launched three days later. According to MacJournals, which chewed over the numbers, â€Å"At $5. 445 billion, iPhone sales accounted for 40% of Apple’s revenue. All Mac sales were 28%, all  iPod/Music sales were 24%. Mac sales are 2. 943m units, generating revenue of $3. 76bn – which Apple says was 33% year-on-year growth, compared to market growth of 24%. The company’s market share of mobile subscribers has also taken a deep plunge. Market research firm comScore says that between October and January, Microsoft’s share of the market fell from 19. 7% to 15. 7%. RIM, the maker of the BlackBerry, remained the leader, growing from 41. 3% to 43%. Apple ‘s iPhone increased slightly, from 24. 8% to 25. 1%, and Google’s Android grew by more than 250%, going from 2. 8% to 7. An interesting analysis comes from Tomi Ahonen, a former Nokia executive. â€Å"I am writing the first history of the once-iconic iPhone, written now in early April 2010, before Apple has released its first quarter earnings for 2010. This is literally the peak of the short reign that Apple’s iPhone had as the most emulated Smartphone. [†¦] And mark my words, the numbers are now very clear, Apple’s market share peak among smartphones, and among all handsets, on an annual basis, is being witnessed now. † V. Profitability Analysis Apple reported in the second quarter of 2011 that net income rose 95 percent, to $5. 9 billion, or $6. 40 a share, from $3. 07 billion, or $3. 33 a share, in 2010. Revenue climbed 83 percent, to $24. 67 billion, from $13. 5 billion. The profit margin in 2011 is 22. 36% of the sales which is an improvement over the level the company achieved in 2010. The company’s return of equity is 38. 78% while in 2010 it was 26. 2% which means that there is a 12. 58% increase on the return of equity. The gross margin is 39. 07% which is slightly better than the company achieved in 2010. VI. Cross Elasticity of Demand: Competitors V/s iPhone When the iphone 3GS was released on July 11, 2008 it cost $199 with the AT;T two year contract. In January 2011 Apple cut the iphone 3GS price to $50. cross-price elasticity of demand = % ? in demand for product A% ? in price for product B %? in price for iphone: Price of Iphone 3GS, 2010 + Price of Iphone 3GS, 2011? Price of Iphone = 199 + 5050-199 = -1. 671% With the Market share OS table above we can compute the % ? I demand for prodct competing with the iphone. %? in demand for Symbian = Symbian market share of Q1 2011 – Symbian market share of 2010 = 27. 4% – 37. 6% = -8. % Symbian-iphone cross-price elasticity of demand = % ? in demand for Symbian% ? in price for Iphone = -8. 6%-1. 671% = 5. 146 %? in demand for Android = Android market share of Q1 2011 – Android market share of 2010 = 36% – 22. 7% = 13. 3% Android -iphone cross-price elasticity of demand = % ? in demand for Android% ? in price for Iphone = 13. 3%-1. 671% = -7. 959 %? in demand for R IM = RIM market share of Q1 2011 – RIM market share of 2010 = 12. 9% – 16. 0% = -3. 1% RIM -iphone cross-price elasticity of demand = % ? in demand for RIM% ? in price for Iphone = -3. 1%-1. 671% = 1. 855 ? in demand for Microsoft = Microsoft market share of Q1 2011 – Microsoft market share of 2010 = 3. 6% – 4. 2% = -0. 6% Microsoft -iphone cross-price elasticity of demand = % ? in demand for Microsoft % ? in price for Iphone = -0. 6%-1. 671% = 0. 359 The price elasticity of demand is the responsiveness of quantity demanded by a change of 1 percent in price. It is calculated by dividing the percentage change in the demanded quantity by the corresponding percentage change in price. The iPhone was launched in the US roughly at the beginning of the second Quarter 2008, at a price of $599. In mid September Apple reduced the price for the iPhone by 33% from $599 to $434. According to the quarterly reports, Apple sold 270 000 iPhones in the second quarter and 1,119 000 iPhones in the third quarter. If calculated according to the equation for price elasticity of demand, the iPhone would have a price elasticity of 4. 7, which means that Apple would lose almost 4. 7 percent of iPhone sales for each corresponding 1 percent increase in price. Since elasticity is greater than 1 the price is inelastic so the iPhone is a luxury commodity. Many consumers wait until increased competition forces Apple to decrease prices. VII. Demand, Cost ; Pricing Demand Apple’s iPhone Supply and Demand Concept of Supply and Demand There is a general rule in economics that if the price of a certain good or service rises, then the demand for such good or service declines. If the price decreases, then potential demand also increases (inverse relationship). On the supply side, if the price of a good or service increases, then firms will be willing to supply the market with higher volume of such good or service. If the price decreases, then firms will cut their supply of the good or service (positive relationship. The market then adjusts the price of the good or service in order to satisfy both the consumers and the suppliers. This is called market equilibrium. Apple iPhone Demand Last July, Apple iPhone was able to outsell all smart phones in the United States. It almost equaled the sales of the most popular feature phone (LG chocolate), giving it a relatively stable position in the market. New Apple handset models accounted for almost 1 . of all phone handset sales in the US for about a month. It was estimated that the demand for Apple iPhone was rising at7 . 2 a month, equivalent to about 5 million units of quantity demanded. The market research firm iSuppli noted â€Å"This is a remarkable accomplishment for Apple, considering that July marked the first full month of sales for the iPhone. While iSuppli has not collected historical information on this topic, it’s likely that the s peed of the iPhone ‘s rise to competitive dominance in its segment is unprecedented in the history of the mobile-handset market (Marsal ,2007 . In short , almost unexpected rise in demand of Apple iPhone was unaccounted by many experts , including of which are some of its competitors . The same research firm also noted that survey revealed that almost 57 of iPhones (bought in July ) were purchased by US consumers . Most of the consumers are aged 17-35. Almost 52 of the consumers of this product are male, and about 48 are female, revealing an almost equal propensity to consume for the product among the sexes. Added to that, iSuppli noted that 62 of the consumers of the product are actually college graduates or those with graduate courses . Nonetheless , the same research firm noted that â€Å"some of the iPhone ‘s success in July can be attributed to pent-up demand following months of hype (stagnant demand). Real proof of success will come in the coming months as demand patterns stabilize (Marsal, 2007). This prediction was almost accurate when the demand for iPhone was almost rising at 8 per month (month of June). Cost Apple’s Iphone 4 smartphone, for which it’s charging at least $500 at retail, is built of parts that cost $187. 51, according to market research firm Isuppli. According to the tear-down the most expensive part of the Iphone 4 is the 3. 5-inch LCD screen which costs $28. 50. Isuppli thinks that the Iphone 4 screen must be identical to one made by LG. It seems that Apple has managed to keep its parts cost at about $170 to $180 per unit. Isuppli’s cost estimate doesn’t include labour, shipping, advertising, software development or patent licensing. The cost is based on a 16GB version of the Iphone 4 but the low costs of each componant are fairly staggering. The Apple A4 processor reportedly is made by Samsung Electronics for $10. 75 per chip. Isuppli thinks that Geneva-based STMicroelectronics supplied the gyroscope chip at an estimated cost of $2. 60, as well as an accelerometer chip used in previous Iphone versions, which has an estimated cost of 65 cents. Other component suppliers named by Isuppli include Skyworks, a wireless chipmaker and TriQuint Semiconductor. In 2009, Isuppli estimated that the components and materials used in the iPhone 3GS cost about $179. Since then Isuppli thinks that the materials costs for that model have fallen to $134. Thus the Iphone 4 costs a bit more to make than the earlier model. Of course this means that Apple’s gross margin on the hardware in Iphones is extremely high. The actual price margin gets obscured by the fact that ATT heavily subsidises the phone in the US for about what it costs to manufacture. However the real winner is Apple, which does not have to pay for the cost of manufacture and still takes home about three times Iphone 4 production costs, on average. Pricing Because the iPhone price is entirely set by Apple, it makes an interesting case study on how much the price of technology drops over time. The official price of the iPhone periodically drops, as shown in the table below. But, there are no sales and a new iPhone is never sold for less than the official price. (There are occasionally sales on the refurbished iPhones for example on black Friday the refurbished 3GS was sold for $50. 00 instead of the usual $150. 00. )   Finding historical street price data is harder than historical MSRP data. For the iPhone both prices are the same. The table showing the historical price is included below. 1st Gen 4GB| 1st Gen 8GB| 3G| 3GS 16GB| 3GS 32GB| 29 June 2007| $499. 0*| $599*| N/A| N/A| N/A| 5 Sept 2007| Discontinued| $399| N/A| N/A| N/A| June 2008| N/A| N/A| $199| N/A| N/A| June 2009| N/A| N/A| $99| $199| $299| VIII. Pure competition, Monopolistic Competition Oligopoly Apple Inc. planned to begin producing this year a new iPhone that could allow U. S. phone carriers other than ATT Inc. to sell the iconic gadget, said people briefed by the company. The new iPhone would work on a type of wireless network called CDMA, these people said. CDMA is used by Verizon Wireless, ATT’s main competitor, as well as Sprint Nextel Corp. nd a handful of cellular operators in countries including South Korea and Japan. The vast majority of carriers world-wide, including AT;T, use another technology called GSM. With Apple developing a phone with CDMA capability, its exclusive U. S. arrangement with AT;T dating to 2007 appears set to end. Verizon Wireless, owned by Verizon Communications Inc. and Vodafone Group PLC, declined to comment. An AT;T spokesman said: â€Å"There has been lots of incorrect speculation on CDMA iPhones for a long time. We haven’t seen one yet and only Apple knows when that might occur. † Apple declined to comment. For AT;T, the Apple relationship has been crucial, helping to make the carrier the U. S. leader in lucrative smart-phone market share. According to comScore Inc. , AT;T has over 43% of all U. S. smart-phone customers, compared with 23% for Verizon. These customers are especially attractive because they generally pay higher monthly rates for data plans. For several quarters, AT;T’s growth has come almost single-handedly from the iPhone. In the fourth quarter of 2009, the carrier said it activated 3. 1 million new iPhones. In comparison, it counted only a net total of 2. million new subscribers as some customers moved from other phones to iPhones. Now that a new Verizon-compatible iPhone appears to be on the horizon, Digits looks at what Apple can do to win over mobile business users, particularly from RIMM’s BlackBerry market. The people briefed on the matter said the upgraded GSM iPhone is being made by Taiwanese contract manufacturer Hon Hai Precision Industry Co. , wh ich produced Apple’s previous iPhones. The CDMA iPhone model is being made by Pegatron Technology Corp. , the contract manufacturing subsidiary of Taiwan’s ASUSTeK Computer Inc. said these people. One person familiar with the situation said Pegatron is scheduled to start mass producing CDMA iPhones in September. Other people said, however, that the schedule could change and the phone may not be available to consumers immediately after production begins. Representatives of Pegatron and Hon Hai declined to comment. Verizon has publicly stated its interest in the iPhone, but people familiar with the situation said Apple originally decided against developing a phone for Verizon to keep its development process simple, since the technologies are incompatible. Verizon also is upgrading its network to a higher-speed technology, so Apple has said it believed CDMA was a short-term technology. Apple later changed its mind as it realized Verizon’s upgrade would take longer than expected, said people familiar with the situation. Making the iPhone available through Verizon, which has over 91 million customers, as well as potentially other CDMA carriers could open up a significant new market. In 2009, iPhone sales globally rose 83% to 25. million, far outpacing the 20% to 25% growth in smart phones sales overall, according to Bernstein. But since Apple already dominates smart-phone sales through existing partners, â€Å"sooner rather than later, Apple is going to have to look to find incremental distribution,† which implies a monopolistic competition between all smart phone sellers, said Bernstein analyst Toni Sacconaghi. He estimates Verizon could help Apple nearly double the number of iPhone users in the U. S. Some advantages that iPhone has comparing to other smart phones are: 1. Pod: iPhone is a not just a phone it is widescreen iPod with touch controls that lets you enjoy all your content — including music, audiobooks, videos, TV shows, and movies — on a beautiful 3. 5-inch widescreen display (Nokia N95 only has a 2. 6 inch screen). The N95 does have a good media player, however with all the iPod features and 4 GB / 8 GB space, it makes the iPhone the best music phone. 2. Advanced Safari browser: iPhone lets you see any web page the way it was designed to be seen, then easily zoom in by simply tapping on the multi-touch display with your finger which will change mobile browsing for the good. . OS X: All the power and sophistication of an advanced operating system that gives you access to true desktop-class applications and software, including rich HTML email, applications such as widgets, Safari, calendar, text messaging, Notes, and Address Book etc. iPhone is fully multi-tasking, so you can read a web page while downloading your email in the background. This software completely redefines what you can do with a mobile phone. 4. User Interface: iPhone features the most revolutionary user interface since the mouse. It’s an entirely new interface based on a large multi-touch display and innovative new software that lets you control everything using only your fingers. 5. Visual Voicemail: The iPhone lets you select and listen to voicemail messages in whatever order you want — just like email using a revolutionary new feature called the visual voicemail. IX. Conclusion Analyzing as managerial economics students, we can conclude that although the current methods and techniques are serving us well in analyzing the current market situation, there will be new techniques emerging in the future with global changes occurring at leaping speeds. What is essential is for us to grasp is that the theory is flexible with these changes and that it can be shaped or rounded to be applied to any market situation analysis. The content and subjects we learned in this course are nothing but the bedrock tools that any manager needs to know and use in his daily life in order to forecast revenues and demand, analyze current markets and evaluate his company’s stance regarding his competitors. X. References ttp://theblogpaper. co. uk/article/business/31may09/price-elasticity-demand-iphone http://news. cnet. com/8301-13506_3-20064223-17. html http://www. bbc. co. uk/news/business-10725887 http://www. bbc. co. uk/news/uk-13284156 http://m. ibtimes. com/microsoft-windows-phone7-google-android-apple-157595. html http://www. reuters. com/article/2011/06/03/us-rim-research-ubs-idUSTRE7523PP20110603 www. newyorktimes. com www. wallstreetjournal. com How to cite Apple Case Study 1, Free Case study samples

Act 4 Scene 1 is the dramatic climax to the play Essay Example For Students

Act 4 Scene 1 is the dramatic climax to the play Essay The Merchant of Venice is a comedy play written by William Shakespeare in Elizabethan times. Antonio who is a merchant of Venice agrees to lend his friend Bassanio money so he is able to go to Belmont to woo Portia. All Antonios ship where out at sea so he had to seek money elsewhere which is when he became bound to Shylock. Shylock is a Jewish usurer and made his money by lending it out and charging interest. When Antonio approaches Shylock for a loan, he makes him promise to forfeit a pound of flesh if he is unable to pay back the money within three months. Shylocks then finds out that his daughter, Jessica had eloped with Lorenzo who is a Christian. Which doesnt please Shylock as theres a dispute between Christians and Jew, for Jews were seen as evil in Elizabethan times.. Bassanio, accompanied by his friend Gratiano depart for Belmont, once they arrive Bassanio falls in love with Portia and chooses the right casket but their happiness is interrupted by the news of Antonios ship not arriving so the bond goes to court. We are first introduced to shylock in Act I Scene 3 where we learn of his usury and a lot about his character and intentions. He is considered an alien in Venice as he dresses differently, comes from a different back ground and culture. We also learn of Shylocks hatred towards Christians and Antonio, before he even says a word to Antonio he lets the audience now of his hatred towards Antonio. How like a fawning publican he looks! I hate him for he is a Christian. Shylock also shows an element of belligerence in his refusal to ever forgive the Christians. We also see how devious and cunning he is in the way he tells Antonio he wants to be friends with him and saying the bond is just a merry sport. By getting Antonio to agree he has made him indebt, no just with money but his life. Although Antonio is very naive in the way he accepts the bond, knowing that they arent exactly the best of friends and being so confident in thinking that he will be able to pay him back on time. Perhaps Shylock feels justified in seeking revenge upon Antonio as he blames him for all his problems and is bitter about the way Antonio has treated him the past. As he has humiliated Shylock in public by spitting on him in public and calling him names such as dog and cutthroat jew. Shylock tells the audience how he hopes for revenge Antonio for his own humiliation and for the Jews who have suffered for a long time because of Christians. So through the bond he will be able to bring justice to himself and other jews. When Jessica runs away with a Christian this makes him more revengeful towards Antonio Ill plague him, Ill torture him, Im glad of it. In the scenes directly before the trial scene, Act 4 Scene 1 we really learn how revengeful Shylock is. In the way he repeats I will have my bond Showing how fixed on what he wants and how he is unwilling to show mercy. The trial scene takes place in Venice which has very much been portrayed as the mens world. Where businesses transactions have taken place and all the hatred have taken place. Where as Belmont is seen as the womens world full of love and peace. The main contrast between Venice and Belmont is that one is where money is made and the other is where money is spent. Another contrast is in the way Shakespeare interacts the cities by moving from one to the other in each scene. When we hear of Shylocks hatred and the bond the tension builds up. Then it moves to Belmont to a world of romance. A big contrast is in the courtroom scene and the opening of scene 5 which takes place on a romantic night in Belmont. Shylock and Antonio ended up in court as a result of Antonios ship not returning in time. Antonio is brought before the Duke to stand trial for failing to pay off his debt to Shylock so he now must give a pound of his flesh to Shylock like said in the bond. The Duke is biassed towards Antonio even though hes meant to be impartial, but cant find any legal way to realise him from the bond so he tries to persuade Shylock to change his mind by appealing to his better nature. Shylock replied that he has already sworn by his Sabbath that he would have his pound of flesh from Antonio. Shylock admits that he cant give a clear reason why he wants his bond Can I give no reason, nor I will not. Shylock is stubborn and bitter as he is unwilling to show mercy or accept money which means a lot to him. Bassanio offers his life over Antonios and Portias money but he refuses bother of these. In a way hes cornered like an animal as everyone is against him even though the law is on his side. Maybe hes legal right but morally perhaps not. Its an inhumane act. He argues if the refuse to give him his bound it would ruin the reputation of the Venice as a city of international trade. We see on set Shylock sharping his knife on the sole of his shoe which is very dramatic. It brings out a lot of different emotions in the audience: shock that hes about to do it, sympathy for Antonio, gladness that at Shylock is getting justice and the suspension in whether its going to be carried through. Romeo and Juliet' is a play written by Sir William Shakespeare EssayHe begins to leaves, shocked by what had just happened and tries to withdraw the case but Portia stops him by saying Tarry Jew her language that she speaks to Shylock has changed since she pronounced the flaw. Which is a subtle dramatic effect. Everyone in the courtroom talk to Shylock using Thee and Thou which is used when talking to some of lower status characters. Even the Duke whos suppose to be impartial uses this language towards Shylock but speaks to Antonio in You and Your. When Portia first enters shes the only one who speaks to Shylock with respect and uses You and Your which helped lure him in to a false sense of security. After she tells him about not shedding any blood her language changes and her words become more disrespectful Tarry Jew. She now begins to state how Venice had a law that if any foreigner tried to kill a Venetian directly or indirectly, the foreigner had to forfeit all that he/she owned. Half of their property would go to the victim they plotted against and the other half to the state. In addition the life of the foreigner would be at the mercy of the Duke. Again this would be another shock for the audience and maybe they would think Portia was carrying it out a bit far. As Shylock had suffered enough from the Christians and may feel it was a bit injustice but on the other hand he had shown no mercy towards Antonio. So all the time throughout this scene we are faced with two strongly justified arguments which give the audience mix emotions. The Duke pardoned Shylock before he begged for mercy but Shylock argued that since all his property would be taken away, he would rather die as his property is his life. Nay, take my life and all; pardon not that: You take my house, when you do take the prop That doth sustain my house; you take my life When you do take the means whereby I live Antonio then comes in Shylocks behalf and asks the Duke to allow Shylock to keep half of his wealth. He then asks to keep the half and keep it as a form of inheritance for Jessica and Lorenzo. However Antonio requests that Shylock should convert to a Christianity and all he owns goes to Jessica and Lorenzo once he dies. Shylock cant do anything but accept. Again the audience would have mixed emotions about how fairly Shylock was treated. Maybe he deserved to forfeit all that he had but have to become a Christian when Jews are very religious people is a bit over the top and unfair. As he could never be a true Christian as he doesnt believe in the faith. So there is an element of just desert and sympathy towards Shylock. To relax the mood Shakespeare and to get the interest of the audience back, the Duke ask Antonio and Bassanio to show their thanks to Portia. They offer Portia her own money which is ironic and amusing and tires to get Bassanio to give her the ring which she made him promise never to take off no matter as it is a symbol of there eternal love. He refuses to give her it and then she leaves without it, as she was testing his love for her to the utter most. He calls it a trifle which is ironic as Portia gave it him as a sign of their love and it takes him three comments before he says the real reason in why he doesnt want to give it up. Once she had left Antonio manages to persuade him to give it to Portia. Which shows how is love for Antonio is greater than his love for Portia, also as he was willing to give it all up for Antonio. Although the play was written to be comical, humour has changed throughout the years and isnt what we would comedy today. The issues to do with racism still exist today, although I do feel it isnt as strong as in the Elizabethan times but it is still a big issue nowadays. The attitude that Shakespeare paints with Shylock is one of the reason why racism is still around today. One thing that has really changed and is no longer a relevance in todays society apart from in the developing countries of the world is that women are no longer restricted in what they can do as much. There is still many people though who think of women as the weaker sex. Act 4 Scene 1 is most definitely the dramatic climax to the play as in a way it unites the two cites Belmont and Venice by bringing the women into Venice. Also it unites some of the sub-plots with the main plot, the bond. The scene is unpredictable in the way you think one things going to happen but Shakespeare cleverly entwines the flaws at unexpected times, when you think its all over. I do feel though some of the dramatic effects loose their impact as it isnt a believer able story. Maybe for the time it was but the realisticness is lost today.