Written By: Evan Amini
Is the Jet Black iPhone Scratching Apple’s Flawless Reputation?
Every time Apple comes out with a new iPhone, there seems to be some sort of problem that is inevitable for consumers. When the company introduced the iPhone 6 back in 2014, the larger model (the iPhone 6 Plus) experienced a design flaw known as “Bend Gate”, where the iPhone would bend under pressure. Now, last week Apple introduced the iPhone 7, bringing a reinforced design that is indestructible when relative to other phones on the market. Despite many focusing on the “no audio jack” phenomenon, a more problematic design flaw has been brought to the table. According to Apple’s website and many reviews across the internet, their new glossy Jet Black iPhone is easily prone to scuffs and scratches. Having gone through release flaws like this in the past, what does this mean for Apple’s economic future? In my opinion and the evidence to support, this will have no impact on Apple’s sales.
Apple falls under the category of a microeconomic orientated company. This causes them to orientate their economic distribution based upon the technological market, impacting a specific part of the economy instead of the economy as a whole. They seem to consistently dominate this market, despite what their competitors produce. Because of this, Apple seems to not be in a conventional competitive market, because they are easily able to dictate the prices of their products and ultimately the prices of other products within the market, without seeing a negative change in their sales (although, an economist could consider them being in a competitive market, as nearly half the cell phone’s sold in The United States are not from Apple). The company has built a large enough demand for their products, that the flaws in their company get masked. Pre-Orders for the iPhone 7 and 7 Plus in the Jet Black color were record breaking. The company sold out of the model (along with all colors in the Plus line) within the first couple of minutes (Reisinger). The orders for the product were so high, their supplies for the Jet Black iPhone were unable to meet the demands of the consumers, thus both Jet Black models were back ordered to November. Apple is unable to meet the demands for the products, because the resources to make the iPhone are scarce; but instead of dwelling on this, Apple uses this as a competitive advantage.
You may think that Apple never informed their customers about the flaw for the color, but the truth is that many consumers knew. Reporters were able to test out and handle the iPhone after Apple’s announcement event a week before the pre-order process. Reviews were blowing up the internet about how great the new design was, especially the Jet Black finish, but they noted that the iPhone’s being tested out were already experiencing light scuffs and scratches, despite the iPhone’s being kept in a press room (Dunn). Even apple informed customers on their website, stating “The high-gloss finish of the jet black iPhone 7 is achieved through a precision nine-step anodization and polishing process… Its high shine may show fine micro-abrasions with use. If you are concerned about this, we suggest you use one of the many cases available to protect your iPhone” (Apple). The opportunity cost of buying the Jet Black design is the inevitable scratches and scuffs; but despite all this, consumer’s didn’t seem to care.
Now I may have focused specifically on the flaw behind the Jet Black design, but Apple also falls short of competitors on their missing audio jack, no wireless charging, and lower battery life than many competitors. In the end, Apple has built such a loyal following that their demand for the new products is able to outweigh everything else. You may think that after doing such research that I personally will avoid the Jet Black iPhone, but hypocritically I preordered the iPhone 7 Plus in Jet black and am impatiently waiting for it to arrive in early November. If there's anything to be learned here, it is that the economic growth isn’t always through providing consumers with the best overall product, but instead creating a system of what is most important: consistent demand. Apple should see (and have seen) little impact on their sales because of this design flaw.
Works Cited
“iPhone 7”. Apple, Apple Inc, September 2016, http://www.apple.com/iphone-7/.
Savov, Vlad. “If You Want The New Jet Black iPhone, Learn To Love Scratches”. The Verge, Vox Media, 20 September 2016, http://www.theverge.com/circuitbreaker/2016/9/20/
12985890/iphone-7-jet-black-scratches.
Reisinger, Don. “Here's How Well iPhone 7 Sold In its First Weekend”. Fortune, Time Inc, 19 September 2016, http://fortune.com/2016/09/19/iphone-7-sales/.
Dunn, Jeff. “Apple Has Already Admitted The Jet Black iPhone 7 Scratches Easily”. Business Insider, Business Insider Inc, 7 September 2016, http://www.businessinsider.com/apple
-iphone-7-jet-black-price-scratch-easily-2016-9.
Hahn, Jason. “Apple and Samsung dominate US smartphone sales, combine for 66 percent market share”. Digital Trends, Designtechnica Corporation, 7 November 2015, http:// www.digitaltrends.com/android/apple-and-samsung-dominate-u-s-smartphone-sales-combine-for-66-percent-market-share/.
I agree that even if Apple does have some flaws, the demand will always remain high. Specifically, even though the jet black iPhone scratches, people most likely already know that and will buy a case to prevent that from happening. But, it may seem as though Apple anticipated the demand for the jet black iPhone to be low, as they decreased the supply of it, but the demand was higher than expected which will cause them to create a bigger supply.
ReplyDeleteClearly Apple knows its market well enough to predict that regardless of minor design flaws won’t negatively impact their sales. They must be especially confident of that today since they were unwilling to fix a cosmetic issue that could likely be resolved with a month of two of further work. It would be interesting to see if, on the flip side, Apple uses the seeming inconveniences to differentiate themselves or to increase demand. For example, if Apple was constricting the supply of iPhones in order to create more hype and more demand for a pre-ordered phone.
ReplyDeleteI agree completely with you on the topic. Despite any type of flaw in the Iphone design, it will never stop people from buying the newest products. This is the demand consistency that draws people back to buy from the supplier. I also think the scuffing and scratches are a minor downfall to the improved version of the Iphone as you can easily be supplied with a case to protect it. I think this would also show evidence as to why the demand will not be effected.
ReplyDeleteAs a consumer of Apple products, I want my phone or laptop to be good, whether it's in terms of the durability, the design, the features, whatever it may be. Although I do look at all these things, the pros always seem to outweigh the cons. It's probably because I have always been satisfied with their first major products like the iPod Nano and the iPod Touch. Since I have bought their products for so long, I will continue to do so, no matter the new designs. Because of this, I think Apple has been able to create such a large consumer base from the beginning, which is why they are doing so well now. It would be interesting to see what would happen if Apple were to create a totally new product, outside of normal technology, and see how the sales are because there is no precedent to this object. This would give us a clear view on the power of Apple as a supplier, their market, and their advertising strategies.
ReplyDeleteIn our modern society, technology became a craze and a new revolution in people. Everyone wants to update to the new technology, ignoring the price of the product. For several years, Apple has been the most significant company and has always been at the top of the line, it still gives the new form of technology such as touch ID and "no audio jack". These technologies fascinate many consumers which results the increase in demand; being an apple consumer, I also update my apple products to experience the new features in the smartphone(like the Jet Black). In the context of "flaws", I agree that Apple still have flaws and have not yet perfected in all ways, these small flaws are not concerning any consumer because they have the complement, phone case. All consumers are confident on their product because they expect the quality for the price they pay. It is interesting on how Apple stays at the top from many years, through its innovative technology.
ReplyDeleteWhile just getting the iPhone 7, I wanted the jet black version, but of the two blacks, jet black is the most popular. To the high increase in demand for the jet black, they had run out of them and I was stuck with the regular matte black. After reading this I was surprised at what the other phone ended up looking like, but also being satisfied that I got the best option. Companies will try not to tell consumers little things like appearance that can happen to their product over time, because it can simply just be wear and tear and not be the companies fault. Leaving out little information but also being able to get away with it is what makes products sell even more. Overall it's a great phone and Apple doesn't have anything to worry about with its reputation with the jet black iPhone through some scratches.
ReplyDeleteIt is actually surprising that a company as technologically advanced as apple can't find a way to stop the scuffing on their black phones. I am aware that it has been a problem for a while with their products, for example, the iPod touch with the silver back. When you buy the iPod, its like a mirror, but in less than a month of normal use, its all scuffed up. You are right about the fact that apple has very loyal customers, but if they keep making products with these flaws, will I'd steer their loyal customers away to other companies like Samsung?
ReplyDeleteWith the high demand of the jet black Iphone, Apple could have and should have built enough before their release to allow those who want the phone to get their hands on it. This is simply supply and demand of the products coming from a company where brand loyalty drives their profits sky high, and innovations are limited. In my opinion, charging over $700 for a phone made with a finish which will get scratched is unacceptable and they should have simply come up with a new design for a finish with higher quality and more durable materials. However like I said, Apple has built a group of product fans who simply do not care about the quality of the product, and will purchase because the phone is apple and they like apple phones. In the future, I would hope that Apple fixes this issue but most likely will not as they do not care if the finish gets fixed, as people will buy the phone anyways.
ReplyDeleteKnowing Apple users, people really don't care about the scratches. They'll buy the phone anyways. And besides, that's what cases are for. People will keep buying iPhones no matter what. They'll never stop.
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ReplyDeleteIt is likely demand for the Iphone7 will remain high. In addition to being world-renowned company, there's an army of people who are loyal to Apple brand. Furthermore a lot of people who own Apple phones also own other apple products like Ipads and Apple computers. Lastly their main competitor's phone explodes which is much worse than some little scratch.
ReplyDeleteI do not think people will ever stop buying IPhones, no matter how much they damage. They are always demanded by costumers because of their popularity. Every time Apple comes out with a new device, it has new features that make people want to have it. Even though many people don't need the new features of the IPhones, it is sometimes part of the norm of society to have an IPhone, so therefore people buy them. Especially since the Samsung phones have been exploding, like Cade said above, more people are turning to the Apple devices because of the damages of them are much less than those of the competitor. I agree with this blog that even though phones have flaw, Apples economy will not be impacted because of how much of their products are demanded all the time.
ReplyDeleteApple and specifically the iPhone's will always be successful, no matter what problem or obstacle they face. With the jet black phone being reported to be scratched and scraped more, people will buy cases and screen protectors to protect their phones from that. To customers it mostly only matters what the phone looks like and the technology on it. Even with the audio jack problem, and this problem, Apple will continue to be successful.
ReplyDeleteNow and days the demand for a new I Phone are really high. Some of the problems are the rumors about phones blowing up and never working. The opportunity cost for particularly I Phone 7 is in fact that you have to use your charger out lit to listen to music preventing you to charge and listen to music. With all this being said I Phone 7's are being considered, but with these new changes people prefer the older I Phone 6 or 6+.
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