Abstract

This case is about one of the leading consumer electronics company, Apple Inc.’s (Apple) entry into the mobile phone market. The case discusses the launch of the much hyped iPhone, which was hailed by some analysts as the most successful launch of a brand ever. While many analysts hailed the innovative marketing strategy followed by Apple and also considered the iPhone to be a category-defying product, others felt that iPhone was over hyped and said that it was never good to over hype any products. Some analysts felt that Apple had a long way to go to realize its ambition of becoming a major player in the mobile phone market considering that the market had some very dominant competitors who had decades of experience behind them. Some analysts also viewed Apple’s foray into this market as a defensive strategy necessitated by the introduction of music phones by some well-known mobile phone companies.

Learning Objectives

The case is structured to achieve the following Learning Objectives:

• The case will help the students to: Understand the reasons behind Apple’s entry into the highly competitive mobile phone market. Understand the issues and constraints in entering a new market with a new product, and in this context understand how Apple su

Keywords

Promotional strategies, Word of mouth marketing, Buzz Marketing, Innovation, Convergence, Mobile phone market, Category-defying, Pricing , Consumer electronics market, Apple retail stores, Mobile handset market, Motorola, Entry , iTunes, AT&T, Hype, Steve Jobs, iPhone, Marketing, Touch screen, iPod, Nokia, Samsung, Macintosh, Apple, Sony Ericsson