Apple's secret? Drop prices then restrict product

It's all about demand and lack of supply, apparently

It's a masterclass in creating an icon. First you tease the press with hints of a mould-breaking product; then you launch it to huge fanfares and much merry-making; then you sell it at a premium; then you dramatically cut the price without having the stock to meet the demand - thus creating pent-up demand for the new version "coming soon".

It's just a year in the life of yet another runaway Apple product. In this case the iPhone. Last month Apple cut the price by £100 for the 8Gb version (to £169). In weeks it has sold out around the UK. The press is now frothing over the imminent arrival of a new 3G iPhone, which will basically make the current versions obsolete.

Canny marketing or working things out as they go along? Probably a bit of both.

But at the end of the day, despite some glitches, the iPhone seems to make its users happy, and not just because they are walking around with the most wanna-have phone on the market.

Apple has definitely annoyed the Nokia's and Samsung's of the world this year. If the 3G iPhone ships soon it will spell continued misery for the established players. Despite them all saying they would have iPhone-killers by now, none of them seem to have managed it. On cost maybe but not on functionality.

O2 may not be making a great margin from its deal with iPhone but the gamble seems to have paid off in terms of its own branding.

Comments

[Lalo]

http://tech-exposed.com/

Great article

[gagravaar]

Apple's secret?

It's not rocket science, or manipulative marketing (certainly no more than anyone else).

They just make great, reliable, fun to use products. Period.

Try one and find out.