High/Low Strategy… Rationale behind the 5C

So the initial exasperation felt at the release of the Iphone 5C is winding down considerably. Now we rarely tend to hear cries about the pointlessness of releasing an almost identical phone to the flagship Iphone, albiet with somewhat lower quality performance and somewhat lower price.

iPhone 5C

Infact, the rationale and strategy behind this move is quite apparent. Before the rapid rise of Samsung as a major smartphone player, Iphone could afford to ignore the low end market side. However, due to the dramatic increase of cheap smartphones in the market, for Apple to maintain it’s share of the smartphone industry, it has little choice but to make both a cheap smartphone and an expensive one1. This strategy of marketing to both the low end spectrum and high end spectrum seems to have been effective – a recent report states that the demand for the 5C has increased substantially, over a 30% rise from the week of the initial launch2.

One can respect Apples initiative and willingness to adapt to a changing market.

This Tuesday, the highly anticipated new line of Ipad will be revealed2. The question is will Apple employ this high/low strategy in the tablet industry as well?

 

References

Al Akkad, O. (2013). What to expect from Apple’s iPad announcement. The Globe and Mail. Retrieved from http://www.theglobeandmail.com/technology/what-to-expect-from-apples-ipad-announcement/article14963892/ on Oct. 21, 2013

Cole, S. (2013). iPad 2 remains Apple’s most popular tablet, iPhone 5c demand growing. Apple Insider. Retrieved from http://appleinsider.com/articles/13/10/21/ipad-2-remains-apples-most-popular-tablet-iphone-5c-demand-growing on Oct. 21, 2013

Picture: http://www.geek.com/apple/iphone-5c-rumor-roundup-colors-specs-and-a-lower-price-1569298/