Apple Tries To Grab More Market Share With Release of Two New Products

On Tuesday September 20th, Apple released 2 new products: the iPhone 5S and 5C. The 5S, being the higher end product, will be available in 3 colours: silver, gold and “space grey”. If bought without a contract and unsubsidized direct from Apple, the 16 GB iPhone 5S will cost $719. Some of the new features on the phone include a Touch ID, which reads fingerprints at a “detailed level,” and a new processing chip which will allow the phone to run twice as fast. The latter product, the iPhone 5C, which is a cheaper, and a more colourful version of the phone, will be released in green, blue, yellow, pink and white, with a starting price of $599 for the 16 GB version.                                                                                 

iPhone 5C

This is the first time apple has released two separate tiers of the iPhone. It was a fantastic decision for them to do this because the cheaper version appeals to an entire new market that had never thought of buying an iPhone because it was too expensive, while the 5S keeps its high-end users satisfied. This is the companies first major shift in mobile strategy since the first iPhone’s release in 2007. Other phone companies such as android and samsung have been dominating the budget-conscious consumer market for quite sometime now and this new product now gives people the chance to buy the strong brand name of Apple with a cheaper product. 

Regarding Apple’s new release of their line of iPhones, how do you think their higher prices will impact the smartphone industry and whether or not they will continue to succeed in sales?

Business Ethics: Toyota Keeps Issue Silent

Toyota, who is one of the most successful and well recognized car dealerships in the world, has been found trying to cover up an acceleration issue with many of their vehicles. It has been cited that employees at several Toyota dealerships have witnessed a sudden acceleration problem that the automaker failed to report to regulators. In July 2009, a manager at one of the the many dealerships, reported that during a test drive, a tacoma pickup accelerated from 71 mph to 95 mph while the driver’s foot was off the pedal. This rapid speed increase could be deadly and in the case of a family of four, whom were killed due to this sudden acceleration, it was.

Moreover, there have been claims that allegedly Toyota bought back vehicles which owners who complained about, in exchange for confidentiality agreements that prohibited them from discussing the matter. Records show that Toyota purchased back a Corollafrom Arkansas, when the driver complained about such an issue, then resold the same car in Florida. Toyota told the New York times that it had no obligation to buy back cars experiencing this acceleration issue and they were acting on “goodwill”. It is appalling to see a company Toyota cover up there mistakes, lie to the public, and do nothing to fix the issue. When the public began to uncover what Toyota has been doing, saw its share in the market slide from 16.6% to 15.2% in nine months.

Toyota has shown a lack of business ethics in dealing with this sudden and unprovoked acceleration issue. If you were in a management position in this company what would you have done differently.

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