By Shaifali Agrawal:
The thinnest, lightest and fastest iPhone is here. The pre-ordering of iPhone 5 began on the 14th of September and is expected to fetch 1.3 million to 1.5 million buyers in the first week, which is more than the first week pre-orders of the iPhone 4. The iPhone 5 launch date has been set for September 21st and Apple is hoping to sell as many as 10 million of the devices in just the first few days of launch. Thanks to the hype, the leaks, the crazy fans, the blog posts and the tweets: the entire day of the commencement of pre-ordering was about nothing else but the iPhone release, its awesome features, its price, etc. Now, the ultimate goal of most marketing plans is to generate the kind of interest the iPhone created before and after the event.
There was a time when Apple was the only Smartphone in the market, but it now has rivals to compete with. Samsung and HTC have taken the front seat the entire year, with Samsung Galaxy S3 selling more than 10 million units in its first two months on the market, reaching sales figures comparable to those of Apple. Samsung wants to portray itself as ‘Better, faster and cheaper’.
”What’s in a name?’‘ Shakespeare avowed. He did not know his words would be echoed even in the 21st century where they won’t hold true. Does a brand name increase its value, or only its price? Samsung’s stand is that it can provide you at a lesser price what Apple would, at a much higher price. Though Samsung is the king of mobiles in the market as of now, but somewhere its policy of providing you great features at a not-so-expensive price lowers its position in a status-conscious and pretentious society. It does not matter if the price tag is burning a hole in your dad’s pocket; you need to flaunt your iPhone 5 in front of your enemies. And you can be sure that, that friend of yours would go green with envy.
Because of the competition, Apple hyped up its new release and though the publicity and excitement among the fans was noticeable, the iPhone 5 fell short of the people’s expectations. One particular website called it “the victim of its own marketing plan’s success”. Despite not fulfilling the expectations, Apple would still continue to be in minds of people as a leader in functionality, beautiful design, and innovative device. The iCraze will definitely not die out soon.