Segmentation and Targeting markets

Apple does not have a target market but they have specific products that accommodate the needs of certain demographics.

The ipod nano cater to people of all ages, gender and lifestyles but the affordability and the portability of the product makes it appealing to those of a younger age. 

The iphone is applicable to all demographic groups but it caters to the needs of mature by having phone functionality and diverse applications that cater to the business people to the social butterflies. 

The ipad is again applicable to all demographics but its big screen and specialty for reading caters to the needs of all people but it specially caters to those who use the Barnes and noble nook and defers them to the ipad by having more features and internet function-ability 

Steve Jobs Versus The Beatles

Chapter 11: Developing and Managing Products.

            In the Diffusion of Innovation Apple in the electronics market are the Innovators. They are always on the cutting edge of technology coming up with new concepts and ideas. Apple consumers joke around saying that if they where to buy one of their products they are going to release a better more efficient product in six months. The company seems to be obsessed with their market it is never enough for a company like apple, their approach to their products is to satisfy the need for an ideal product. Steve Jobs and his production team try to make products that they would like to see on the market. There seems to be no limit to Apple's creativity their leadership is seen in the other companies. A lot of companies seem to be playing catch up to Apple's products if they do not adapt to the new technology that apple is presenting to the market failure seems to be inevitable. For example in reaction to the iPhone 4's face time, Sprint released the HTC Evo 4G phone. This phone offers a program similar to the iPhone 4's face time but unlike the iPhone which can only do face time over a wifi connection, the HTC Evo 4 can do "face time" over a 4G network. This is an example of the Diffusion of Innovation Apple created face time and HTC created a similar function but with an alteration that the iPhone 4 does not have.

The Beatles Arrival on iTunes

On November 17 Apple and Apple corps finally came to an agreement on distributing the Beatles's music. And it seems the sensation that was behind the Beatles in the 1960's  has not died down. In the U.S sold more than 450,000 albums in their first week. They also sold over 2 million singles all around the world the albums where priced at $12.99 and singles where sold at $1.29 each. The most popular album was Abbey Road and the most popular single was George Harrison's "Here comes the sun". Apple's total revenue for last week topped 8 million dollars. Apple is taking full advantage of the Beatles by offering an app that shows people how to play Beatles songs. The app is called iVideosongs  and it is priced at $4.95. The Beatles music stands the test of time by still being a highly profitable band even though they broke up in the 70's.

Black Friday 2010

                                                                   After The Storm


 Apple seems to have won the title of Black Friday. Apple offered 5%-10% discounts on several products. Consumers that took advantage of the Black Friday madness saved $101 on Mac's including the iMac, MacBookAir, and MacBook. They also saved $41 on the iPad and iPod touch, and $21 on the new iPod Nano and all orders had free shipping. With Apple products being valued as high quality and cutting-edge consumers took advantage of the savings. There was a huge increase in sales which is a good indicator of the holiday shopping season. Sales figures where not released but the iPad and the 11-inch MacBook Air where the top selling products this black Friday. The sales rates of the Mac's where about 8.2 an hour and the iPad had a strong sale rate of 8.8 iPads sold per hour. Although times are hard all over consumers are taking advantage of the sales of the season foreshadowing great success in the upcoming Christmas season.

Customer Relationship Management

I feel like my posts have been all leading up to this blog post. What we as a class have been doing is a part of customer relationship management we all have been writing about our company of choice. Meaning that the company that we have chosen is one that we are loyal to and are willing to write about it because we have some level of admiration and loyalty to the companies. Apple is my company because they are a easy company to write about. They keep on evolving and succeeding as times go on when apple releases a new product the world knows because it is everywhere in the media and it will be a part of the media as long as they do not release a new one. They have quality products which is a great reason why they are so popular all the media attention that the products receive is deserved. Apple is portrayed as a fashion statement in the electronics market, they do not have as many apple users as they have PC users but thats another reason why its so successful its a breath of fresh air in the stale PC overruned market. Apple is in short is easy the products they make are easy to use and deliver their purpose, by providing quality products and software the consumer does not need to stray away if they don't want to. The apple consumers dont need to even buy apple products in the mix of other products because there is the apple store where everything apple is under one roof. And if anything is wrong with your apple product you can get it serviced at the genius bar where the helpful hipsters at apple repair whatever damage is there to be dealt with. Apple creates loyal customers by providing them with a quality product and quality service on top of a unique experience that separates the sheep from the flock.  

Why is apple so successful?? What is their competitive advantages in the electronics market?

First and foremost the main reason why I am blogging about this company is because of the man in the picture, Steve Jobs. Apple had a very rough start and failed many times but Jobs is one smart business man he knows how to market his products and how to accommodate them to the target market. Jobs is a marketing genius with a wide range of memorable commercials like the 1984 commercial, the Mac v.s PC commercials and the dancing silhouettes. The advertisements are catchy entertaining and they usually get good feedback from the public. Another thing about apple is the design of their products look at them be honest they are easy on the eyes they are trendy and command attention. Jobs design team strategically put the apple logo facing the prospective buyer glowing commanding attention differentiating themselves from the competition. Look at the competition in the matters of design apple products are clean understated and sophisticated on the other hand the PC's have a wide range of products but they are all similar although they all have different manufacturers, they lack the style that apple possess. Apple is also a very innovative company always steps ahead of the competition this works for and against the company because it has consumers wondering what will happen next. This is also discouraging to prospective buyers because they fear that the product would be outdated in 6months.

But the products that they put out are so close to perfect that it is worth the money. This also creates consumer loyalty because the features seem to be never ending as the company goes along. The products are a little pricey for the lower income market but it is easy to overlook the price when you are getting high quality products like Apple products. There are reasons why there are people waiting on line for insane amounts of hours for an Apple product to be released.