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The iPhone Laura Miller and Natalie Tyo Ohio University-Zanesville

Abstract Apple Inc. is responsible for a lot of the growing knowledge of new technology, such as smart phones. From the beginning, Apple worked hard to improve each of their products, ranging from their Mac computers, the creation of the iPod, and the iPhones. Their products sold an extreme amount, and their company is growing larger. A big part of their success is their marketing strategy. They make sure to upgrade their products regularly, advertise the product well, and use promotions to bring in more buyers and profit.

Everywhere you turn in todays world, you see people with smart phones. A smartphone not only can perform basic functions of a regular phone, it has features of a computer. Apple Inc.s iPhone is one of the most famous devices in the entire world. It opened up a whole new world of smartphones. There were many important aspects of the creation of the phone. One of the most important aspect is Apple Inc.s marketing strategy. Integrating many devices into one, the phone was revolutionary. Steve Jobs was born in San Francisco, California on February 24, 1955. After being adopted, and going through grade school, he began Reed College. After attending for one semester, he dropped out. In 1975, he began building the first Apple computers in his garage, and sold them to hobbyists. On April 1, 1976, Apple Inc. was born. (Moisescot, 2006) The first Apple computer, Apple I, was not taken seriously, so the company began work on the Apple II. This computer was a much better machine. It had a plastic case and color graphics. Sales for the Apple II were several times more than the sales of the first one. In 1980, the company began to grow in size. They began collaborating with Macintosh, creating better computers, called Mac. After years of selling Mac computers, and competing with PCs, the company was looking for new projects. Tony Fadell had an idea for an MP3 player that would be small in size and would hold many songs. His idea was shot down by many companies, but when he approached Apple, the company got right to work with the creation. The music player was named iPod. (Sanford, 2012) The first generation of the iPod was released on October 23, 2001. While the iPods competitors were using a hard drive that was 2.5 inches during this time, the iPod featured a hard drive of 1.8 inches. The battery life was 10 hours long, and the player was compatible with Mac.

Apple wanted the iPod to be different than past players, such as the Walkman. They didnt want people to have to skip songs one at a time to find the song they wanted. The now infamous scroll wheel was created. This allowed people to scroll through songs quickly, and find the desired song using the screen. Throughout the next 9 years, Apple created newer and better iPods. iPod Nanos and Shuffles were created to allow people to have their favorite music in a more compact device, for better on-the-go. Some of the iPods came in colors later on, and then they created a touch screen iPod even later than that. (Hormby, 2005) Even before the release of the first iPod in 2001, Steve Jobs ordered his workers to begin working on a smartphone with a touch screen. In 1999, Apple got the rights to the name iPhone. Eight years later, the first iPhone sold over 3 million phones in six months. In 2008, after the world-wide release, Apple had sold over 6 million phones after only six months. The iPhone became the fastest selling device in history, and became the most profitable device for Apple Inc. (Hitesh, 2011) The first iPhone, iPhone 2G, was released on June 29, 2007. Using partner relationship management, Apple sold the iPhone exclusively through AT&T. This helped bring the business of the iPhone to AT&T, since the only way to get the phone was to get a contract through that phone company. The phone had a large touch screen, with aluminum back, and available in silver. With a built-in iPod, the 8GB held 1,000 songs, and the 16GB held 2,000 songs. The 8GB was sold for $499, and the 16GB was sold for $599. The phone featured a 2.0 megapixel camera and internet access whenever there was available cell service. This phone also introduced the phone industry to Wi-Fi network access. (Costello, 2012)

The iPhone 3G was released on June 19, 2009. Unlike the 2G, the 3G had a plastic case and was offered in black or white. The camera was still 2 megapixel, but it was the first iPhone to have a built-in GPS system. This phone had the lightest weight of all the iPhones. The 8GB held 2,000 songs and was sold for $199, and the 16GB held 4,000 songs and was sold for $299. The price of the updated phone was drastically lower than the first generation iPhone. During this time, the recession was first beginning. Apple understood that in order for them to make profit, they would have to lower their prices, and advertise a lot more. (Costello, 2012) The iPhone 3GS was released on June 19, 2009, and was also available in black or white. The 16GB sold for $199, and held 4,000 songs. This was the first iPhone to sell a 32GB, selling at $299, and holding 8,000 songs. The camera had upgrades, going from a 2 megapixel to a 3 megapixel, and featured autofocus for the first time. Another new feature was the video recorder and the voice control. Most of the changes from the iPhone 3G to 3GS were internal. The S in 3GS stands for speed, and the 3GS proved to be much faster in performing tasks. (Costello, 2012) The iPhone 4 was released on June 24, 2010. While the last three iPhones were all very similar in appearance, the iPhone 4 looked slightly different. It was more squared off, with the front and back made of glass, instead of a plastic back. Having all of the previous attributes of the other iPhones, the camera improved to 5 megapixels. They also added another camera to the front of the phone, along with keeping the camera on the back of the phone. Apple also introduced FaceTime, an application for video calling. People with iPhone were able to speak face-to-face using their phones. This was the first iPhone to not be exclusive with AT&T. The phone was still available through AT&T services, but Verizon Wireless was another option for buying the iPhone 4. The biggest changes to the phone were the visuals. It had a retina display

screen and denser pixel arrangement. This made the images much more detailed. (Costello, 2012) The latest iPhone was the iPhone 4S. It was released on October 14, 2011. Not only was it available through AT&T and Verizon, but it was also available through Sprint. The difference in the iPhone 4 and 4S is mainly the speed. The iPhone 4S has 2 antennas. Whichever antenna has the best reception is the one the phone will use at that point in time. This made a lot of people happy, since there had been a few complaints about the reception and speed of the iPhone 4. There was still 2 cameras, but the camera was now 8 megapixels. Apple introduced their newest feature, Siri. Siri is a voice control system. It allows the owner to give voice commands to the phone, and the phone will answer back and/or do what you told it to do. For example, you can tell your phone when an appointment is, and Siri will save the appointment to your phone and remind you of it on that date. (Costello, 2012) One of the best features that every iPhone has is the applications. There is almost an app for anything. You can download apps for cooking, playing games, finding restaurants near you, shopping at your favorite stores, and of course social media network apps, such as Facebook and Twitter. People are able to update their social media networks right from their phones, without the need of getting onto a computer. This allows for quicker interaction between people. For new mothers, the iPhone can be used as a baby monitor, allowing mothers to not only hear their baby, but see their baby. Theres a special application that connects iPhone to iPhone to allow this. For newer entrepreneurs starting a business, they have a POS system that connects directly to their iPhone, according to Business Wire (2012). Theyre able to accept credit card payments directly to the phone. This allows them to make sales anywhere theyre at, even if they dont have a home base office.

Apple uses a customer-driven marketing strategy to sell their product. Theyve used market segmentation to decide who to sell their product to, and for what reasons. One group of people best suited for the iPhone is business men or women. The phone is easy to use during trips, conference calls, meetings, or other business related gatherings. It records information thats being learned while theyre not in their office, using the application for taking notes. It can record and retrieve important data, using the application through Mac for record-keeping. It can schedule appointments and meetings, using the calendar or address book. For long business trips, it allows them to keep in touch with friends, family, or work through e-mail, messaging, or just the simple telephone. Another group of people best suited for the phone is students. There are many useful functions for a student, all wrapped into one device. It can be an iPod for their entertainment of listening to their music, or a TV for the entertainment to watch TV shows and movies. Its a phone for telephone calls and messaging. They can download games to play, or they can use the internet whenever they want. The phone is also stylish, since Apple Inc. is a fashionable brand in todays society. The third group of people best suited for the phone is medical professionals. The can record and retrieve medical records, using the address book. This can reduce paperwork and make it easy to send documents between doctors. (Veloso, 2012) The target market of the iPhone is middle and upper class professionals. These people need a device to take on the go to keep track of busy schedules and to communicate with work and family. (Veloso, 2012) There are two ways Apple has used promotion mix when releasing and selling the five different iPhones. All the iPhones, except for the 4S, were released in June. This was so college students were able to buy the phone after they were done with finals. Also, August is the backto-school month. This can bring back-to-school specials. When October rolls around, theyre

able to advertise the phones more to prepare for the holiday season. They dont have to lower their prices in order to get business during the holidays, and this brings in more profits. When the iPhone 4S was released in October of 2011, it was very successful, since people all went out to buy them for themselves and for holiday gifts. The holiday season brings much more sales and profit. (Veloso, 2012) It would seem that a phone that has almost everything would have no competition whatsoever. The iPhone does, in fact, have a competitor. Androids are smartphones, just like the iPhone. Theyre touch screen, they have cameras and video recorders, and they have applications similar to the iPhone. In the first quarter of 2011, there were over 37 million android smartphones sold. The iPhone sold over 18 million phones. While the iPhone is the only iPhone there is, there are many different androids people are able to buy, depending on what their phone service is. (Robert, 2011) The iPhone has opened doorways for multi-use devices like smartphones. Their marketing strategy has helped rocket their success with the phone in just a few short years. Even with competitors, people are very much into branding, and Apple Inc. is one of the most wellknown companies in the U.S. and in the entire world.

Reference List Moisescot, R. (2006, February 24). Steve Jobs: Long Bio. Retrieved from http://allaboutstevejobs.com/index.html Sanford, G. (2012, January 3). Company History. Retrieved from http://apple-history.com/h1 Hormby, T. (2005, October 14). A History of the iPod: 2000-2004. Retrieved from http://lowendmac.com/orchard/05/origin-of-the-ipod.html Hitesh (2011, February 24). iPhones and iPhone 2G history began when Steve Jobs instructed Apple Inc.s top engineers to investigate touch screens and create the iPhone. http://www.swayaminfotech.com/blog/2011/02/iphone%E2%80%99s-and-iphone-2ghistory-began-when-steve-jobs-instructed-apple-inc%E2%80%99s-top-engineers-toinvestigate-touch-screens-and-create-the-iphone/ Costello, S. (2012). iPhone Comparison Chart: A Simple Chart Demonstrating the Evolution of the iPhone. Retrieved from http://ipod.about.com/od/decidingwhichipodtobuy/a/iphone_chart.htm Veloso, B. (2012). Review and Marketing Plan For iPhone-Apple. Retrieved from http://dreamboard.wordpress.com/review-and-marketing-plan-for-iphone-apple/ Rober (2011, June 3). Android Sales vs. iPhone Sales in 2011. Retrieved from http://www.zanura.com/blog/reviews/android-sales-vs-iphone-sales-in-2011/ January 13, 2012. Daily Systems' Mobile POS Solution for iPhone Enables Nebraska Book Company to Sell Where the Students Are. Business Wire. Retrieved from

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