“This changes everything. Again” …Everything? really? If you say so!

Every so often, the famous Apple phrase, “This changes everything. Again”, creates a new anticipation for the next big technology innovation. Although some of us might not admit to it, but I’m sure most people are at least curious, if not already on the pre-sale lists, for what Steve Jobs can come up with next. Like what Katie Fang has wrote on her recent blog “More on Pricing…” ,is the new Ipad 2 really worth the price they are selling it for ($499)? More than 3 times the price of the Kindle, a direct competitor, and still able to take a lead in this product category with 15 million sales in a short 9 months when it first came out. In almost every single product category that Apple has entered, they have been able to top the charts while keeping prices extremely above competitors. How is Apple able to do this?

In Katie’s blog, she has mentioned her opinion that Apple should consider lowering their prices, however, to counter that I am going to voice my opinion why I think Apple should keep prices high as they are now. Apple understands exactly what their customers’ value, hence focusing their company objectives by customer orientation. From a personal experience, when the Ipod Touch gen. 4 first came out, I was extremely excited about this new product (even though I already owned a 3rd gen. Ipod Touch) just because it had a few more new features including the front and back-faced cameras. Although it was much more expensive, I was still very willing to pay for it because I believed that it was well worth it.

http://voz.vn/2009/09/16/ipod-touch-g3-danh-bat-nguoi-tien-nhiem-ve-toc-do-xu-ly/

http://tom2network.com/ipod-touch-generation-4/
Not only is Apple customer orientated, but they also utilize a competitor-based pricing also known as premium pricing. They understand that customers are always searching for the best, and the price can symbolize the quality of a product. Therefore if Apple was to lower their prices, not only can it hurt their profit margins but it can also bring down the customers’ belief of the quality that they are providing.