Why the Apple Inc. Products Sales Fast in Consumer Market - Research Paper Example

Apple Inc became the most valued technological company in the world at present, surpassing even the great Microsoft yards behind. Chronicle staff writer Kim (2010) has pointed out that Apple Inc has attained second spot in the list of most valuable companies in United States after Exxon Mobil, as far as market capitalization is concerned (Kim, 2010). Since the introduction in 1976, Apple Company has undergone many challenging business atmospheres. It faced many challenges in the 1990’s from arch rival Microsoft; however, it came out strongly from all the challenges and competitions at the beginning of 2000 and achieved the top spot in consumer electronics industry now with the introduction of variety of products like iMac, iphone, ipad, ipod etc. it became the most admired company in United States at present. Apple Company is currently operating internationally and has more than 200 retail stores in different countries. When I came to America, my first preference was to visit the Apple store in Boston. I heard about Apple products like iPod, iPhone and iPad even before arriving in America. The company sold 300,000 iPads on the launch day alone and a half million more in the first week after the introduction. According to their CEO of Apple Company, the demand for ipads was more than their anticipations which forced Apple to work hard to meet the consumer requirements. China, one of the rapidly developing economies in the world is a big market for Apple products even though China has put some restrictions upon the sale of normal Apple products in China because of security concerns. Why the Apple products are selling fast? Why the consumers are going after Apple products? What is its charm?. This paper tries to answer these questions. “Apple was founded in Cupertino, California on April 1, 1976 by Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak, and Ronald Wayne to sell the Apple I personal computer kit. The Apple I went on sale in July 1976 and was market-priced at $666.66” (Apple Inc. History, 2008). IMac was introduced by Apple in 1998 and it became America’s most popular personal computer. Apple products are moving fast in the market not because of the quality of the products alone; but because of the innovative marketing strategies as well. One of the major advantages of Apple is that it keeps a leadership policy as far as the development of new products is concerned. They never tried to imitate the existing products. They always invented new products to conquer the market. Apple communication is clever, intriguing, simple, minimalist, clear and sober. It has a style of its own. And Apple's brand is so strong and attractive enough people. They concentrated heavily on the brand building process. Earlier the name of the company was Apple Computer Inc; however they changed the name to Apple Inc with the introduction of new products like ipad, ipod, iphone etc in order to convey the message to the consumers that Apple is no more a computer company alone, but it is a leader in the consumer electronics industry. Moreover, Apple has changed their logo also to give more visibility and popularity to Apple brand. These symbolic significance or representation of Apple products helped Apple to catch the attraction of the consumers. Logo 1 Logo 2 (The Evolution and History of the Apple Logo, 2009) Suman, (2010) has pointed out that a logo definitely has to speak for the organization; but it is not good that it speaks every detail of the company. In his opinion, the customer should think and allowing the consumers to brainstorm and answer the unsaid part will help the company immensely (Suman, 2010). Apple logo has all such qualities. Apple logo says nothing about its products; however it is helping the consumers to recognize the name of the company. Once the name of the company identified through the logo, customers will search more things about the company and their products. Apple is a favorite fruit for many people and Apple Company is trying to exploit that weakness of the consumers. Apple store in Boston is beautiful, and we can see many consumers watching the demonstration of Apple products there. Even, those people who visits the Apple shops, just for watching the products, returns with an Apple product. The demonstration of Apple products in the shop can help the consumers to know more about the features of Apple products which may finally end up in a purchasing. Another good marketing strategy is the introduction of iTunes store. iTunes is a digital media player application, used for playing and organizing digital music and video files. It can also work as a bridge to manage the contents of iPod ipads and iphones. It can also connect to the iTunes Store via the Internet to purchase and download music, music videos, television shows, iPod games, audio books, eBooks, podcasts, feature length films and movie rentals and ringtones “ITunes is a free application for your Mac or PC. In China, many people don’t like use the iTunes, because we need to pay money to buy the music. But in America iTunes are free and hence the consumers can download the high-quality music even from websites. The introduction of iTunes helped Apple immensely in selling their products. Advertising is another area in which Apple defeated the competitors convincingly. Apple uses TV ads print ads, and internet ads judiciously to market their products. “I think, therefore iMac”, the slogan introduced for the selling of iMac computers was an innovative advertising strategy. “The commercial titled I THINK. THEREFORE, iMAC was done by TBWA\ advertising agency for Imac Computer (for Mac) in USA. It was released in the March 1999” (Imac Computer: I THINK. THEREFORE, iMAC). The above advertisement helped the people to know more about the iMac computers. The above slogan was formulated after making changes in the Descartes's famous words “I think, therefore I am”. Another famous TV ads “I am a Mac, I am a PC.” “Apple's "I'm a Mac/I'm a PC" ads have been widely regarded as one of the company's most effective campaigns” (Reisinger). This ad was a thought provoking one intended to ridicule Microsoft. It helped to deepen people's impression of the Apple’s computers. A good Ad is always helpful in catching the attraction of the public. Good customer service is another major component in marketing. No matter how good your product, it is always difficult to market a product if adequate customer service is not there. Most of the companies choose to avoid customer, after selling their products. In other words, after sales support is poor for most of the companies. But Apple concentrate more providing after sales support to the customers which is another reason why the people are more attracted towards Apple products Genius Bar is the representative for Apple in Boston and they are ready to provide any kind of assistance to the Apple customers. Apple's use of colors, sounds, shapes and other elements helped them to build a clear brand image. Those who are not using Apple products may also be attracted by its design. In other words, the Apple product designs attract users and nonusers of Apple products. Andy Hertzfeld, who was one of Apple Inc’s founding engineers, said that Steve Paul Jobs always asked the engineers to think about “what computer should look like”. Once, Jobs saw a beautiful kitchen ware and asked the Apple engineers to design a computer like that. On another occasion, he has asked the engineers to design a computer a Porsche. In short, Apple use new looks in their products to catch the consumer attraction. We can anticipate surprising products from Apple in future also. It is quite possible that one day, Apple Inc may introduces a computer without a desktop. Even though it is an imagination, Apple’s capabilities are much beyond that. Apple products were not much attractive in the past, but they made amendments for that with the help of innovative products at present. They are so particular in correcting the mistakes of the past and this attitude helped them to introduce new products with almost 0% defects. Even though, Bill Gates failed to incorporate a music feature with their Windows OS in 2001, Steve Jobs seized the opportunity with both hands and the development of iPads was the outcome. Jobs was able to find answers to the questions to which Bill Gates failed answer. In short, the success of the Apple products in the market at present can be attributed to innovative product designs, innovative marketing strategies, innovative advertising campaigns, introduction of innovative products, the ability of Steve Jobs to seize the market opportunities, after sales support etc are the major reasons for the success of Apple products in the market. Works Cited 1. “Apple Inc. History.” (2008). Web. 07 December 2010. 2. “Imac Computer: I THINK. THEREFORE, iMAC”. Web. 07 December 2010. 3. Kim, Ryan. “Apple Passes Microsoft As Top Tech Company.” 2010. , Web. 07 December 2010. 4. Reisinger, Don. “'I'm a Mac/I'm a PC' ads Coming to an End?”. 2010. Web. 07 December 2010. 5. “The Evolution and History of the Apple Logo”. 2009. Web. 07 December 2010. Read More