Amanda Liu

In class, we were talking about distribution, where it means all the activities required to get the right product to the right place at the right time. I found this apple advertisement that illustrates the concept of distribution to the right people, right time, etc. because it shows that PC has a lot of problems with their products and Apple took the advantage to release a new series of Macbooks to compete with PC corporations. For example, with negative reviews regarding the several problems with their newly introduced operating system, Windows Vista, many PC users switched to back to Windows XP. Perhaps, introducing the Macbook air before Windows 7 was released was a method to make consumers more aware of the Apple brand, which demonstrates the concept of distributing their brand to the “right” consumers -those who are becoming more impatient with Windows, leading them to become Apple customers. Moreover, distributing at the right time shows that Apple realizes the Windows is experience a crisis, which benefits Apple due to the fact that they can simply imply, through their ad campaigns, that they possess a more efficient and mature operating system that may eliminate consumers frustration with their competitors’ products.

In my perspective, I believe that Apple is unlikely to use a direct channel. Instead they would have a channel,starting with the manufacturers (producers) to retailers then to consumers. The Apple Company should ensure that their products are in the apple stores throughout the country because that’s where almost all  the customers expect to find the products. In a channel selection, I believe that Apple used to utilize a shorter channel, but now it has seem to be that they are expanding their distribution channel in order to increase their sales volume. For instance, other than selling their products in apple stores located in local malls, they also distribute their products to Best Buy, and Wal-Mart. This allows Apple to have the opportunity to introduce and sell their products to those Best Buy and Wal-Mart shoppers who are unaware or not familiar with their products.