The anticipated, well not for everyone, iPhone 4s was released last week. Many customers were disappointed that the iPhone 5 was not released.
From my point of view, Apple is successfully taking advantage of using its customer loyalty to generate more revenue. In a recent blog that a fellow classmate Jeffrey Lu-Shao wrote, it mentions that the 200+ new features is what mainly attracts the customers in buying the new product. To add on to that, customers might complain about the iPhone 4s, but nevertheless, they will still buy it due to customer loyalty. From the product life cycle model:
the initial sales generated for a product are mainly the customers who are loyal to a brand and the customers who merely demand the product because it is new so owning the product would make them different to others. Throughout the growth process, Apple will use advertising to attract customers. In addition to Jeffrey’s analysis of the pricing strategy, Apple also used the psychological pricing strategy to attract customers. The $99 iPhone 4 (maturity level of the cycle) and $199 iPhone 4s reassures customers that they are buying products that are cheaper than $100 and $200. That is true. But the reality is, they are only $1 cheaper.
Image sources: http://www.netmba.com/marketing/product/lifecycle/
http://www.apple.com/ca/iphone/built-in-apps/camera.html