Have Apple launched the iPad at the wrong time?
Yesterday Apple launched their latest piece of technology, the iPad. It is amazing how Apple have been able to keep so many people intrigued about the new launch. Thousands, maybe even millions of people were waiting for the Steve Jobs Keynote yesterday to find out what their latest piece of technology is, and can do. Plenty of rumours had been flying around but nothing had been confirmed. Yesterday Apple confirmed the release of the iPad which is not on sale until two months time.
One thing that I do not understand completely is the timing of the launch. Strategically, you would have thought that launching a product with so much demand, 15 days before Christmas would be a tactical way to ensure that this device is on everybody’s Christmas shopping list. The objective would have been to maximize the number of sales at an inflated price knowing that 15 days before Christmas you are going to “sell out”. We are talking about a luxury product here (although at a good price) and being in a worldwide crisis for about two years now, one would imagine that Apple would have wanted to make the most of Christmas.
Hold on…maybe Apple have their reasons as to why they have launched now, a month AFTER Christmas (and on sale in two months time). I cannot for one imagine a company like Apple would not have thought about their strategy before launching.
Maybe, as they are launching some very sophisticated technology, the plan was to launch before Christmas but due to delays and bugs there was no chance they would be able to launch a product that worked 100% so they decided to wait until the product was ready for the public to ensure there was no negative publicity aimed towards the product.
Maybe, there is so much demand for this product, they know that they will “sell out” even launching after Christmas and therefore wished to have avoided having any unhappy customers that will have been left without an iPad over Christmas.
Maybe they wanted to maximize the number of sales for other products, such as the iPhone over Christmas knowing that when they launch the iPad there will be less demand for their “old” products as the public will want the “latest” Apple device instead.
There are so many reasons that could have meant Apple launch after Christmas that it is impossible to put your finger on one thing.
I am currently reading “La pelota no entree por azar”, a book written by Ferran Soriano, the ex-economic vice-president of FC Barcelona. In his book Soriano outlines the strategy the football team undertook to become one of the most powerful clubs in the world, not just on the pitch but economically as well, something they achieved in his five year tenure. I must say, a very interesting read.
It makes me relate to my day to day work and ensure that when managing our clients online business as well as SEM and SEO campaigns, strategies are put in place, bearing in mind the situation the companies find themselves in, the market they compete in and the objectives they want to achieve. All these factors (and many more) dictate why certain decisions are made.
Have Apple made a mistake launching the iPad after Christmas, or tactically is it a genius decision? Time will tell…
on Enero 29th, 2010 at 3:07 pm
I cannot believe Apple didn’t think carefully on the timing of iPad launch. I think they did on purpose. As they might have chosen on purpose to use ‘pad’, even though in AE that word may not have the same meaning as in BE and/or it’s not that common…
Two weeks ago many tablets were presented at CES in Las Vegas (http://www.cesweb.org/). Why didn’t they launch iPad then, when all the world had their eyes on the tech event of the year? They wanted to have and organize their own event, an Apple event, that’s quite clear.
In my opinion, Apple wanted the world to see what the others where presenting and just after (2 weeks) launch theirs, so the world could see the differences between the tablets and love iPad instead. Why not presenting it at CES? “Because we are different, we are Apple, and we are better: just wait and see.”
Why not before Xmas? They would have had to launch it in September, to sell it in November-December and that might have been to early, before CES or still solving software/desing problems. Who knows.
Anyway, I think we’ll have to wait for the next version of the iPad. It’s an awesome gadget, but it has some things left (camera, multitask, no e-Ink…) We will also have to wait and see if finally iBook App Store is a worldwide store or only available for the US.
on Enero 29th, 2010 at 4:05 pm
Thanks for your insights Maria, very interesting. Maybe a book will be released one day outlining the strategy Apple took with regards to the iPad and our questions will be answered! I still think it might be a risk to launch after Christmas and not make the most of this period of “consumerism” whilst in a world-wide Credit Crunch
on Enero 29th, 2010 at 6:49 pm
Dani, when you hear something about corporations you have to try to look for real message. I think, as Maria stated, that Apple thoutght really carefully on the timing of iPad launch.. But let me ask you in other way. who’w the ral target of iPad launch -don’t answer me now, read this first http://www.lavanguardia.es/economia/noticias/20100126/53877579340/apple-arranca-su-ejercicio-fiscal-con-un-aumento-del-50-en-su-beneficio-steve-jobs-the-wall-street-j.html and then check http://www.nasdaq.com/aspx/dynamic_charting.aspx?symbol=AAPL&selected=AAPL in the 3 months chart. Things become clear eventually
on Enero 29th, 2010 at 6:51 pm
pls sorry for the typing, i´m in train and it’s quite difficult if you type without check the text
on Enero 29th, 2010 at 6:57 pm
when i say “who’w the ral target…” i wanna mean “who’s the real target …”
on Enero 31st, 2010 at 11:51 pm
Thanks for your comments Mariano. I agree with you, Apple certainly have a strategy in place for the iPad. Whether it is the right decision or not is a different story.
Apple have the advantage of being a very well recognised company and have always produced great products, which will always work in their favour when launching new products.
I wonder, of Apple’s target market (I would say: savy computer users, designers and businesses into the latest technology), those who already own an iPhone and a MacBook, would they also contemplate buying an iPad?
I am sure Apple have though carefully about this but from what I have read they seem to be very similar products.
My questioning of the time of launch is simply due to the time of the year. I just wonder if they had considered launching before Christmas and making the most of selling as many iPads as possible over this period. I am sure that every Christmas there is at least 1 Apple product in the top 10 products sold over Christmas.
If this Christmas they sold lots of iPhones and MacBooks how would this influence the launch of the iPad?
There are so many questions that Apple have to ask themselves when deciding on their strategy that unless we know what these answers it is very difficult for us to know if their decisions are right or not.
on Febrero 1st, 2010 at 11:02 am
Sea cómo sea, iPad ya está generando debates interesantes sobre modelos de negocio.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2010/feb/01/ipad-imapact-on-media
¿Cómo afectará a la industria editorial? De momento, Amazon ya está cambiando su política, Macmillan se negó que sus libros costaran 9,99 en formato Kindle y Amazon retiró todos los libros de Macmillan (papel y digital) y el que queda mal en el embrollo es Macmillan
http://www.amazon.com/tag/kindle/forum/ref=cm_cd_tfp_ef_tft_tp?_encoding=UTF8&cdForum=Fx1D7SY3BVSESG&cdThread=Tx2MEGQWTNGIMHV&displayType=tagsDetail
Interesante, muy interesante. El tiempo lo dirá
on Febrero 3rd, 2010 at 11:30 am
Google now announces its own tablet.
http://edition.cnn.com/2010/TECH/02/02/cnet.google.chrome.tablet/index.html?eref=rss_tech&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+rss%2Fcnn_tech+%28RSS%3A+Technology%29&utm_content=Google+Reader
Is this a war?
on Abril 16th, 2010 at 7:28 am
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