Source of Revenue for Firms
The internet has become quite important for business hence a lot of enterprises have opted to venture into the platform. Companies can do a lot to earn money on the internet. The firms in the article namely, Amazon, Google, Apple, and Facebook, have a different approach to revenue generation. Amazon, for instance, has established itself as a market leader in online selling. The corporation generates revenue by selling its products as well as third party products. Google generates incomes through selling ads. The Google has grown from an online search engine that did not earn revenue into a major online advertising platform through its services such as Ad sense. Likewise, Apple has grown significantly over the years from the hardware designer that it was during the pre-internet phase to one of the world’s leading software designers. Apple’s iOS is currently one of its largest revenue sources and the world’s second most popular mobile phone software.[1] Apple’s software is also the most expensive in the market as it runs on only Apple devices. Facebook, just like Google, earns most of its revenue from advertising. However, Facebook provides its services through the Facebook Exchange model, which allows advertisers work with a behaviorally segmented media to accomplish their marketing objectives.
Company Core Competencies
Each of the companies has grown significantly, creating a niche for itself in the competitive internet based market. For this reason, it is quite possible that the firms can have several competencies at once. For instance, Apple has moved from the designer of hardware to a major stakeholder in Smartphone applications and hardware components designing company. Most of the company’s 2018 revenue was concentrated in hardware, making hardware and software design its core competencies. On the other hand, Amazon has created its market through the Amazon Webs Services platform, via which it offers online selling services.[2] Therefore, the core competencies of the company are in online sales, of its products as well as those of third party sellers. Facebook has developed its core competencies in member connection, exchanges, and advertisement support. The corporation provides advertisement opportunities distinct from the retargeted advertising that is commonly used by other companies. Lastly, the main competencies of Google are in advertising and software design, through which it provides services to multiple other companies. For instance, the Android mobile phone software, a Google product, is used by most of the mobile phone enterprises in the world today. From these analytics, it is clear that Apple and Google have overlaps in software design competencies; while Facebook and Google have overlaps in advertising.[3] There is also a probable overlap between some services offered by Amazon and those of Apple, particularly iTunes.
Broadening and Product Differentiation
Most companies attempt to find the most potentially profitable activities or sources of revenue, especially during the growth phase. An example is Google and Amazon. While both of these companies have grown significantly in their niches, each of them is performing better in one out of all its revenue streams. This is an indication that while product diversification may work, a company would make the most profits from a specific product. However, this does not necessarily mean that diversification is a good choice for all businesses. Companies should choose between product differentiation and diversification based on their organizational goals and objectives.
Bibliography
Deighton, John and Kornfeld, Leora. “Amazon, Apple, Facebook, and Google 2018.” Harvard Business School, 15 June 2018.
[1] John Deighton and Leora Kornfeld. “Amazon, Apple, Facebook, and Google 2018.” Harvard Business School, 15 June 2018, P. 5.
[2] Ibid, p. 2.
[3] Ibid, p. 4.