Product Development Process: Apple iPhones - Article Example

Product Development Process: Apple iPhones Case Modern businesses have grown so competitive that firms have had to bevery creative to stay relevant. The most affected industry is the technology industry where firms have had to innovate new products virtually every six months. They either improve the existing ones or come up with completely new items. The pace at which such changes have been taking place may be alarming for consumers who have to either stay contented with the previous versions or go for the new ones just because their social circle has done so. Whichever the case, it is observable that firms have designed their product development process in such a way as to meet demands. Such demands go in details from quality, affordability, reliability, durability and likeability amongst others. The product development process is such that it is inclusive of all the possible features a potential customer in any part of the world may desire. This paper shall analyze how to develop a product at the Apple Inc. The chosen product is phone line for various models of iPhone. Product development process is a critical area in manufacturing that determines the extent to which a firm may be competitive in its target market. Product Development for Apple’s iPhone Apple’s products go through the normal development process that many businesses also go through. Before the company launches a product, the product passes through pre-development, development, and post-development. At the predevelopment stages, the company has to go through strategic development, marketing analysis and business plan. To begin with, strategic planning revolves around product project plan. For instance, Apple’s strategic product planning takes into consideration what other competitors are offering. It compares its features against those of other manufacturers in a bid to come up with a new product that meets the market demand. Taking a case study of iPhone 6, it is observable that the pre-development stage maintained some features of the previous version as it improved on some features. All that reflects customers’ desire. For instance, the desire for a slimmer device has not changed. Internal memory is another issue that Apple considers. One of the most important features that Apple considerers is the IOS used in the device. The choice of the IOS enables the product to support features that give it a competitive advantage over its competitors. Whereas it is a common practice for companies to design their new products to conform to the budgetary allocations in the manufacturing and the financial departments, Apple’s pre-development process is different. The product development process in the company is such that the manufacturing and the finance department adopt the budget from the design department. Such an approach allows the design department to move forward freely with the initial costs until a desired model has been realized. It is only then that the cost implications are addressed. According to Panzarino (1), Apple Inc. does not allow designers to interact with the finance department. It does this so that the research and design department can proceed with the pre-development without any worry for cost implications so that the focus is strictly on the product. That is because the design department is the pillar of Apple Inc. After a new product has been decided on, the strategic product planning moves to project planning. The project plan is the last phase that is addressed before the product can move from the pre-development to development. In terms of addressing who does what, where, when and how, the project plan allows the planners to draw membership from all the relevant departments. That is particularly so in a bid to ensure that the product comes out successfully as far as addressing internal and external environment are concerned. At this point, the research and design department, the marketing department and senior management at the ones tasked with addressing development. That is to ensure that once the product moves to the development stage, every concern has been set. The pre-development stage enables decision makers to consider quality, affordability, reliability, durability and likeability amongst others after the designers are done with the initial design. Any other changes are implemented after the initially desired design is a success. That ensures that Apple moves forward smoothly with the initial production plans. The next stage is the development stage. For Apple, this stage is only arrived at after a careful selection and consideration of many possible options. For example, iPhone 6 came as the latest product from Apple. Top on the list just before the decision to develop of iPhone 6 was competition from LG, Sony, Samsung and Google amongst others. Apple’s product development stage in the product development process considers the following. The company assesses how the existing product line can be adapted to suit the development needs of the new device. In many cases, some little additions to the existing product line are considered. Improvement of existing parts of the former models is also taken seriously so that the user experience is always a notch higher than in the previous versions. That calls for the company to address matters of product repositioning. Repositioning enables the company to create awareness and even as it proceeds with the development of the prototype before launching the actual product. By making reposition part of the product development process, Apple can prepare its customers psychologically for a product in the development process. The purpose of the development phase in the product development process is to transform the idea into an opportunity that the business can exploit. In other words, this stage focuses on the eventual launch in the market. It is more of a design implementation stage as opposed to brainstorming, and assessment stage as is the case in the pre-development stage. At this stage, other departments are involved closely. The research and design quality, sales, engineering and productions departments work closely together through improved cooperation to develop the product. That is particularly so since evaluation of the viability of the development of the product ends at pre-development stage. This stage is more of "hands on work" stage as it the idea design is replicated into multiple final products to meet the market demand. The product moved through a number of stages with most of the work happening at preparation for product promotion. For the case of iPhone 6, some of the considerations included in the final product are: A thin width and a wide-screen A simplified design of smooth glass and metal cover on the external surface Battery and parts made thinner to improve the appeal and reduce weight while at the same time improving the model A greater display of rich colors for natural depiction as much as possible (Apple Inc. 1) By giving the product the above design features, the company focused on market competition from a complex approach. The design offers an improved technology with the trending designs that are increasingly being based on nanotechnology. The prototype development of Apple’s iPhone 6 takes into consideration the marking strategy even before official piloting and launching. That way, one may observe that product development process is not entirely divorced from the eventual sales and marketing. In fact, the design usually has that in mind even before actual development. The launching of the product comes slightly before the post-development stage. The three stages (pre-development, development and post-development) are interdependent on one another. The product development process is not complete without any of the stages. The launching of the product comes after pilot test has been done to ensure that the product works as intended. The time between the announcement that Apple’s iPhone 6 was ready, compared to the time the company finally launched the product, shows that the Apple values piloting. Post-development stage of product development process may also entail piloting. Although some companies pilot as they sell, Apple pilots her new products before beginning sales. Its post-development analysis is based purely on observation and customer feedback. During this time, the company monitors the user experience of the new product through interactive forums. The aim of the post development stage is also to support the product after it has been launched into the market. IPhone 6 was received cordially in the market. Some of the questions that may be raised from the approach used in the post-development stage include: How will the target segment respond to the launch? Does a slow reception imply poor quality or high pricing? Based on the response, should any changes be made in the first 3 months? One advantage with Apple products is that they are reliable. The company targets the middle and the upper segment of the market. Therefore, the product is designed to appeal to high-income earners and middle-income earners. The product is also affordable to the low-income earners, as the company has built different models. What this tells me about the reading is that post-development monitoring is also critical to assess the segment that has responded well to the new product. For many companies, a project team made up senior management, research and design, marketing as well as sales and logistics usually monitor the post-development period. That enables them to make any decision particularly in regards to distribution, packaging and pricing. For products that are produced by multinational companies, the post-development monitoring is very critical to ensure that unscrupulous business people do not buy their products at cheaper outlets then come sell them at selected expensive shops. For instance, iPhone 6 could be cheaper in China and Hong Kong than it is in Britain and France. Logistics and sales department have to work closely with the marketing department to ensure that the difference in price between the two regions does not encourage such possible behaviors. Such is the nature of Apple’s product development process for a new phone. Works Cited Apple Inc. iPhone 6: Design. 2015. Accessed from https://www.apple.com/iphone-6/design/ Panzarino, Mathew. This is how Apple’s top secret product development process works. 2012. Accessed from http://thenextweb.com/apple/2012/01/24/this-is-how-apples-top-secret- product-development-process-works/ Read More