State of the Tech

According to various rumors on the Internet, Apple is planning to release their iPhone on the Sprint network as early as next summer. While nothing has been confirmed, the news has surprised a lot of industry experts, who had been expecting a possible announcement for the Verizon network, if anything at all.

Now before I continue this story, I must wonder how many of you are reading this with various levels of excitement and anticipation. Did the headline grab your attention? Did you think to yourself, “this is really big news” or “I’m on Sprint and now I can have an iPhone!” Are you still in a state of disbelief?

Well, I hate to break it to you, but the headline and first paragraph are completely made up. Let’s just call this a little experiment testing how strong of a hold the iPhone has on the market. Please read on and see if you can help me with my experiment!

I had this idea as I was contemplating an article that shows sales of the Palm Pre have slowed since its launch in June. If the findings by Wall Street analysts are correct, it would seem that the Palm Pre simply filled some pent-up demand for an advanced smartphone in the Sprint market. Likely, the Palm Pre sold well among more technical users but not much beyond that. Why isn’t the Palm Pre selling well? Is their marketing not hitting the mainstream market as I’ve theorized in two previous articles (Pre-view, Pre-judging Palm’s Ads)? Or is the mainstream simply not interested in the Pre? If they aren’t interested in the Pre, is it because they really want an iPhone instead?

While this “experiment” is far from scientific, I would like you to comment on this article, sharing your initial reaction when you first thought that the iPhone would be available on Sprint’s network (and then what you thought when I revealed it as a hoax!). I’m curious what an average person on the street thinks of the iPhone and its competitors.

Another thought that crossed my mind was that if Apple really wanted to kill the Pre, all they would need to do was float a rumor that the iPhone would be available on Sprint (or Verizon or any carrier that doesn’t yet have the iPhone but has or will have the Pre). My theory is that many people would hold off on purchasing a Pre if given the possibility that an iPhone was around the corner. I wonder if people are doing it anyway, not knowing that the odds of an iPhone on Sprint are very slim for the foreseeable future.

Being a business owner, I take an interest in observing how companies market themselves. Being in the technology business, I take a even keener view how technology companies market themselves. This is why I’ve written a few articles about Palm and Sprint’s marketing of the Palm Pre smartphone.

I’ve watched the latest series of Pre ads over the last couple of weeks. The thing that struck me was the abstract nature of the ads. They feature a young woman sharing various deep thoughts about her Pre. Honestly, I didn’t think they were very good because I thought they lacked substance. I don’t think the “existential” nature of the ads are very effective in giving people a reason to go out and buy a Pre.

I purposefully didn’t say anything about the ads to my wife, as I wanted to get an unsolicited reaction out of her. She is a business consultant, so I take her opinion on matters of marketing seriously. Sure enough, just a couple of days ago, she noticed the ad and commented that it was the worst ad she had ever seen in her life. Now, granted, she uses the phrase “… ever seen in her life” quite a bit, but the fact that she said it means she feels quite strongly about it.

I must wonder, who is Palm trying to attract with these ads? Is the market segment that is influenced by “touchy-feely” ads the same market segment that will run out and buy Pre phones? Is this market segment large enough? Apparently, there are many people that feel these ads are actually creepy and/or annoying.

Again, let’s compare the Apple iPhone “there’s an app for that” series of ads. They are simple, straightforward, and effective. Apple’s ads can be summed up in this way: “look at how many things the iPhone can do and how easy and cool it is to do those things.” Then of course, there’s the tagline: “There’s an app for just about anything … only on the iPhone.”

On a side note, it seems the latest iPhone ads are much louder than other commercials. Is this a purposely subliminal design by Apple? I’ve certainly noticed the commercials because the initial loudness does interrupt my general lack of attentiveness when TV commercials are running. Then once I’ve noticed them, my inner-geek keeps me watching. If this was done on purpose, kudos to Apple for implementing such a brain-dead simple way to get people to notice their commercials.