Can iphone maintain its initial momentum ?

International Marketing

Case Study 5.2

Apple Inc.'s iPhone :

Can iPhone Maintain Its initial Momentum ?

Introduction

The Apple iPhone is probably the most well-known phone in the world. Perfect commercial and

media strategies have led to a real frenzy around the product. It is legitimate to ask whether it is the

product in itself and its qualities that have made it the unavoidable telephone or whether this

enthusiasm is simply born of a well-conducted strategy.

It is in 2002, in California that begins the history of the iPhone. The development of the phone is

the resullt of 5 years of work. Indeed, the operating system of MAC OS X has been redeveloped to

be adapted to the phone. Steve Jobs called this phone "iPod in a mobile phone".Apple's expenses for

the development of this mobile are estimated at $ 150 million.

The advantages of the first version of the iPhone resided in its high-tech side, its simplicity and

intuitiveness. The operating system was perfectly optimized. Moreover, its touch screen and its

fluidity have undoubtedly contributed to its success.. Nevertheless the first version of the iPhone

was clearly limited: absence of 3G, GPS chip, impossibility to send MMS, unique operator by

country.

How could the iPhone, a limited but innovative mobile phone have been so successful when it came out in the US?

First, perfect marketing campaigns and communication have played an important role in the success

of the iPhone.

At the launch of the iPhone, Apple has given itself the means to mark the spirits.

To do this, Apple had a surefire way: creating a memorable event involving the press. For example,

in France, the iPhone was launched on 28 November 2007 in the Orange store of the Champs

Élysées.

A buzz created by Apple that clearly worked: as soon as it was released, all the media evoked it and

the advertising hype contributed to anchoring it in the minds of the future consumers.

The press has indeed played an important role in the successor of the iPhone. Most of the media

(newspapers, webzines, TV channels, radios) have fallen under the spell of the telephone, thus

relaying their enthusiasm to their readers, viewers, listeners ...

To cultivate this enthusiasm, the brand of Steve Jobs knew to give regular appointments to the

specialized press in particular during its Keynotes. Keeping the suspense and keeping the press as

well as consumers on the edge has been one of the highlights of Apple's marketing campaign.

In the United States, on the weekend of its release, 500,000 iPhone have been sold.

Apple's game is to make the new product as desirable as possible, and this is where an extremely

well-executed strategy comes.

In addition to a design and perfect finishes, the brand was able to innovate in the high tech industry

through communication based on the principle of the ambassador: create a tacit link with its public

and create communities Apple, who will undertake to make the object desirable by extolling its

qualities.

The key to success is a communication strategy based on silence, secrecy and expectation. No

information should be disclosed. This confidentiality makes it possible to believe information leaks.

These leaks proliferate rumors throughout the world, fueled by Internet users who make the buzz

rise. In the meantime, the firm is still not communicating on its product. This expectation always

generates the curiosity, the envy and the impatience of the public.

Also, Apple is at the origin of inventions having revolutionized the uses. Note that Apple has

invented the mouse. Although the iPhone is not revolutionary in terms of technology, apple

enthusiasts and curious have been tempted by the product.

Apple is a brand recognized internationally, the quality and originality of its products make it its

success. Expensive to buy but they have a good lifespan. We can also note that the majority of the

buyers of the iPhone are owners of iPod. Possessors already convinced and considering only very

little the technical characteristics of the product.

In the field, the arrival of applications makes iPhone sales soar. In 2008, it sold 10 million more

than the previous year. Indeed, the App Store has changed everything, making this smartphone a

standard. The applications become accessible to all, many of which are available for free with a

single click. This phone was the first to delight both developers and neophytes interested in new

technologies and its "High Tech with simplicity". Major brands such as Amazon and Nike, as well

as the major press groups like Le Monde, have been eager to develop applications accessible on the

mobile. An incense around Apple's mobile that has strongly contributed to its success since the

brands themselves have appropriated it.

The success of the iPhone also depends largely on the ease of use it offers. The phone also attracted

people who were not specially attracted to mobiles. Its simplicity and intuitiveness make it user-

friendly. The iPhone: a fully touching mobile no longer frightening the most reluctant.

The real success of the launch of the iPhone is as much the product as the way of selling it.

With Tough competition from Nokia, HTC and blackberry, do you think the iPhone is a successful in Europe as in America ? If not Why ?

The iPhone is a true technological revolution, it is both a superb iPod touch, a revolutionary cell

phone and a great device to go on the Internet. There are not three devices, but only one. Apple has

reinvented the phone and met in a monopoly position.

At that time. the Finnish Nokia is the leader on the market and the Canadian BlackBerry enjoys a

virtual monopoly in companies where its tiny keyboards and its security are very appreciated.

On the market, the trend is to mobile embedding a full keyboard below their screen and a scroll

wheel to navigate between applications. The pen is also common for the use of screens that are not

fully touch screen yet.

Apple is the first to present a fully touch-free, keyboardless phone with a single button for every

instant of return to the home screen. The integrated software, then called OS X (now iOS), and

which accompanies this touch screen, is also a revolution. Although the App Store is not present

yet, we can already see on the main screen icons corresponding to each application.

The smartphone has taken a central place in the lives of consumers, sending a message, making a

phone call, reading emails and so on. More than a technological gadget, the iPhone represents a real

object of everyday use, precursor of connected mobility