Iphone Research Working Paper
ASSESS IPHONE- MAN WORKING PAPER
Overview of Apple, Inc. iPhone Product Line
At launching 2007 the iPhone Apple, Inc. was new entrant in the market of mobile handsets in the Porter’s 5 forces framework (Porter, 1985). Although it was not the highest technology standard on the market it was perceived by Apple customers as the pinnacle of the mobile handset hardware because of two main factors: the offering was from a firm, being strongly branded and recognized as an innovative firm, well known by its MAC-s and iPOD. In fact iPhone, bearing mostly used features of the iPOD, was supplementary product to other existing products of the firm. Nevertheless its user friendly design and elegance, combined with the buzz of expectation of a new product that the firm created, turning its brand fans into willing to buy buyers pushed Apple in a leading market position that continued with certain fluctuations with the next iPhone generations (Diagam No. 1). Most users praise at premium the easy to use interface and the sleek design. The most common complaint appears for users in the time to get used to the touch screen keyboard. The iPhone has gained a competitive advantage due its technological difference from other phones, but not only – the remarkable communication of the new Apple product – series of metaphoric stories of Apple CEO Steve Jobs, explaining not what the offering is, but why the firm designed it for the users and how, engaged emotionally the customers. Apple correctly predicted the stupendous success of the iPhone and contracted Samsung as an exclusive hardware supplier for NAND Flash RAM. In spite the mobile handsets market is standardized and strongly competitive, Apple has invested significant money and effort into not allowing the iPhone to be positioned as a commodity item, but as a simple, unique and superior product (iPhone and the others in the mobile sets industry, similarly positioned as Mercedes in the car industry and Bang and Olufsen in the hi-fi
Overview of Apple, Inc. iPhone Product Line
At launching 2007 the iPhone Apple, Inc. was new entrant in the market of mobile handsets in the Porter’s 5 forces framework (Porter, 1985). Although it was not the highest technology standard on the market it was perceived by Apple customers as the pinnacle of the mobile handset hardware because of two main factors: the offering was from a firm, being strongly branded and recognized as an innovative firm, well known by its MAC-s and iPOD. In fact iPhone, bearing mostly used features of the iPOD, was supplementary product to other existing products of the firm. Nevertheless its user friendly design and elegance, combined with the buzz of expectation of a new product that the firm created, turning its brand fans into willing to buy buyers pushed Apple in a leading market position that continued with certain fluctuations with the next iPhone generations (Diagam No. 1). Most users praise at premium the easy to use interface and the sleek design. The most common complaint appears for users in the time to get used to the touch screen keyboard. The iPhone has gained a competitive advantage due its technological difference from other phones, but not only – the remarkable communication of the new Apple product – series of metaphoric stories of Apple CEO Steve Jobs, explaining not what the offering is, but why the firm designed it for the users and how, engaged emotionally the customers. Apple correctly predicted the stupendous success of the iPhone and contracted Samsung as an exclusive hardware supplier for NAND Flash RAM. In spite the mobile handsets market is standardized and strongly competitive, Apple has invested significant money and effort into not allowing the iPhone to be positioned as a commodity item, but as a simple, unique and superior product (iPhone and the others in the mobile sets industry, similarly positioned as Mercedes in the car industry and Bang and Olufsen in the hi-fi
Bibliography: Williams, J. R. (2009): Mobile Computing: Predictions on Sustainable Advantage, Tepper School of Business at Carnegie Mellon University,Working Paper No. 2009-E18 http://money.cnn.com/2008/03/06/technology/apple.fortune/index.htm http://www.giiresearch.com/report/id265000-worldwide-smartphone-forecast-analysis.html http://appleinsider.com/articles/12/07/17/users_say_apples_iphone_worth_313_to_them_android_averages_220.html APPENDIX 1 : iPhone features change over the time