Impact of iPhones on the Smartphone Market

Title of the Report: A case study of iPhones

Executive Summary

The main purpose of this case study is to describe and analyse the Apple company’s one of the most innovative products which is the iPhone. In the first part of the case study, it has given an introduction to this innovative product and has highlighted some of the unique features which were introduced with the Apple’s iPhone. At the end of the first part, it has thoroughly analysed what made Apple’s iPhone to disrupt the smartphone market by illustrating the social value of iPhones and the impact of the introduction of iPhones to the market.

In the second part of the case study it contains a retrospective analysis covering, the most suitable evaluation methods for the iPhone’s design, how the application of business analytics impact on the iPhones before and after their release and the most appropriate strategies which should be followed by a start-up which is planning to introduce this disruptive innovation.

Finally, a conclusion has been made depending on all these factors and information of how far iPhones have come and what should the Apple company do to efficiently maintain a continuous demand for iPhones in the market.

Table of Contents

1. Description of the innovation

 

1. Introduction to the innovation

 

• Introduction

 

According to White (2011) and Dan (2015), the Apple company is one of the companies which has introduced their innovative products to the market in a unique way, where those products, such as the iPhones and iPads changed everything in the market. The product of the Apple company which is related to smartphones is the Apple’s iPhone which was introduced by the company’s CEO in 2007 (Warren, 2014). The first iPhone included a “wide-screen iPod with touch controls”, a “revolutionary mobile phone” and a “breakthrough internet device”, but all in one product and has been called as the “Jesus Phone” by the media (Ritchie, 2017). This original iPhone has been introduced to the market with a price tag of $499 for the 4GB and $599 for the 8GB, and the company has been able to sell over 6 million units of this iPhone within its first year (Ritchie, 2017).

With the introduction of original iPhone in 2007, the company has released several versions of iPhones throughout these ten years till 2017. According to Grabham (2017), a few of the iPhone versions in this series include, iPhone 3G, iPhone 4, iPhone 5s, iPhone7 and iPhone X. Miller (2017) mention that according to latest statistics the Apple company has been able to sell approximately 77 million iPhones, in the fourth quarter of 2016. As a result, iPhone has been able to dominate 17.9% of the smartphone market and this is the highest percentage dominated by one single smartphone brand in the market. In addition, according to Miller (2017) by this time iPhone’s unique operating system, iOS also has dominated 17.9% of the market in the operating system’s perspective. Furthermore, Elise (2015) mentions that iPhones have been able to earn $18 billion which holds a fair 93% of the profits as of 2015.

There are several characteristics and features of iPhones which leads to its popularity among people. Its thickness, edges, storage capacity, speed, user interface, camera, Apple Pay support, FaceTime and its colours are a few of them. The following table illustrates a few of the models of iPhones and special features introduced with each iPhone model (Haselton (2017),  Elise (2015) and Grabham (2017)).

iPhone Generation	Special features
Original iPhone (2007)	Multitouch screen, digital keyboard
iPhone 3G (2008)	Support for 3G networks, launch of the App Store
iPhone 4 (2010)	A glass body, a sharp “Retina Display”, support for FaceTime, an antenna gate, increased pixel count, front-facing camera
iPhone 5 (2012)	Lightning port, LTE support for new 4G networks, extra row of icons, extra-tall screen, Apple Maps
iPhone 6 (2014)	Extended display size, Apple Pay support, advanced camera with optical image stabilization
iPhone 7	Advanced dual camera system, introduced in new colours, such as matte black and red, water resistant, more advanced processors

• Why is this a disruptive innovation?

 

It is a clear fact that Apple’s iPhone has had the ability to revolutionize smartphones and to shape the industry accordingly (Warren, 2014). There are several reasons which made iPhones to disrupt the smartphone industry. Firstly, the “multitouch interface” feature was introduced in iPhones, for the first time in smartphones’ history in contrast to the “keyboard” feature which was existing at that time with other phone brands, such as Motorola and BlackBerry (Ritchie, 2017). Also, this included a multitasking feature which enabled users to move seamlessly from application to application and backwards, which was unique to iPhones at that time (Ritchie, 2017). Secondly, iPhones also introduced desktop-like web pages and large screens which were not available in other smartphones then (Gans, 2015). Thirdly, the “architecture” of iPhones were different from other smartphones because it was almost like a small computer and this completely changed the way of interacting with handheld devices (Gans, 2015). In addition, another two main characteristics of iPhones were its increased processor power and increased storage capacity (Gilbert, 2017).

Except that, iPhones have Internet web browsing capabilities with access to the full Internet through safari, opposed to WAP browsers in other smartphone devices and therefore, it is known as the best Wi-Fi mobile device in the world (Fogg, 2012 and Ritchie, 2017). Apple’s iPhones also introduced the best mobile Maps in relation to the Google’s location data, for the first time on mobiles (Ritchie, 2017). Furthermore, the launch of the App Store with iPhone 3G was one of the other unique features of the iPhones and at present, this App Store includes approximately 2 million apps in it (Gilbert, 2017). A few of the other unique features, of iPhones which made it a disruptive innovation are its appearance with unique colours, such as red, its sensors, such as proximity sensor and ambient light sensor, one of the best phone cameras, better enterprise connectivity, simplified UI look, super ease of use and more focus on consumer experience than other available phone brands, such as Nokia (Ritchie (2017), Fogg (2012), Ritchie (2017) and Hodges (2014)).

Because of all these features iPhones were able to improve the quality of a smartphone device and its services by providing a product which replaces a lot of distinct devices, such as a camera, a music player and a thumb drive (Rogowsky, 2017). Therefore, except for the expensiveness, iPhones have been able to provide services with increased performance, higher convenience, reliability and simplicity which are some of the characteristics of a disruptive innovation as mentioned in the Christensen’s theory of disruptive innovation (Gans (2015) and King & Baatartogtokh (2015)). Hence, iPhones have been able to increase customer satisfaction by overshooting customers’ current needs and have gained a higher demand for the product. In conclusion, because of all these advantages of using an iPhone, it has been able to become a disruptive innovation by reinventing the smartphone device (Grabham, 2017).

2. Exploration of Adoption Categories

 

• For this innovation, who are the five categories of innovation adopters? Name the adopter category and the typical type of person likely to be in this category. Select and introduce the three most relevant innovation characteristics for this category of adopter

Innovators (Diffusion of Innovation YouTube video, 2015): The people who belong to this category are the ones who are really interested in latest iPhones and are willing to buy them. The amazing features of iPhones, such as multitouch screens, FaceTime, large size screens, Apple Pay and mobile maps which are introduced with each new Apple iPhone, are able to attract innovators to this product. Usually, this category of people is quite well-educated with a higher technical and technological knowledge, rich enough to buy an expensive product like an iPhone and is aged between 25-35 years old.  Even though when iPhones were firstly introduced in 2007 in the US, obviously the innovators’ group must have only represented the US, at present this innovators’ group is distributed all around the world for the latest released iPhones. The main reason for innovators to buy the latest iPhone is because they are so excited to become the first person who owns the latest iPhone and therefore, they will buy the product as soon as it is released to the market. In addition, these people are also not afraid of taking risks in case the product becomes unsuccessful.

1. Relative advantage (Yocco, 2015): The relative advantage for the innovators is the efficiencies gained by using iPhones and becoming the first to adopt iPhones as a disruptive innovation. Therefore, becoming the first person who owns the latest iPhone is an accomplishment for innovators. When considering each model of iPhone, there has been at least one unique feature which has been introduced with each iPhone and which were not available in other smartphones. For instance, multitouch screens introduced with the original iPhone. Therefore, owning such a distinct and innovative product when compared to other smartphone devices is the main achievement of innovators of iPhones.

2. Complexity (Yocco, 2015): Complexity of iPhones is how easy to use and learn the technologies which are embedded in iPhones. Anyway, iPhones are user-friendly, convenient and simple to use despite their unique features, such as multitouch screens, therefore, it is obviously very much easier for innovators to adopt iPhones because innovators already have IT-based and technical knowledge. Hence, innovators are able to confidently adopt iPhones soon as they release.

3. Compatibility (Yocco, 2015): The compatibility of iPhones is how well they are capable of working with other existing technologies. For instance, iPhones were capable of working well with existing Wi-Fi technologies from the beginning and provided faster Internet connection via safari. Therefore, compatibility of iPhones has made it more convenient for innovators to adopt iPhones because acquiring additional products for support is not required.

Early adopters (Diffusion of Innovation YouTube video, 2015): The people who belong to this category are the ones who are being satisfied by using iPhones and are really pleased with the benefits of using iPhones. Hence, they really appreciate the unique features, such as multitouch screens, larger size screens and mobile maps introduced with each release of iPhones and admire their benefits. Normally this category of people is also well-educated and have a significant IT-based and technical knowledge. In addition, they need to be rich as well in order to acquire a product like an iPhone because they are quite expensive in nature and therefore, these people are generally aged between 28-38 years old. As for the innovators’ group, at the beginning, early adopters may have been only in the US and UK, but at present, they are widely spread all around the world. The main reasons for early adopters to buy the latest released iPhones are, because of their pleasant satisfaction of using iPhones and advantages gained by this specific smartphone brand. Even though not as soon as innovators, early adopters will also buy the latest iPhone model within two to three months’ time.

1. Relative advantage (Yocco, 2015): The relative advantage for the early adopters is the pleasant satisfaction and advantages that they will gain by using iPhones. Early adopters become satisfied by using the magnificent features, such as multitouch screens, Apple Pay support and mobile maps of iPhones. They also admire the advantages gained by using iPhones, such as the accessibility to high-speed internet connections and enhanced processing speeds. Therefore, owning such a distinct smartphone when compared to other existing smartphones, making the maximum use of it and getting satisfied with it, is the relative advantage gained by early adopters of iPhones.

2. Complexity (Yocco, 2015): As mentioned above the complexity of iPhones is how easy to use and learn the technologies or features which are included in iPhones. As iPhones were user-friendly and simple to use from the beginning, despite its distinct features, such as multitouch screens and mobile maps it is easier for early adopters to adopt iPhones as early adopters have a significant IT-based and technical background. Therefore, early adopters can effortlessly adopt iPhones, after innovators.

 

3. Compatibility (Yocco, 2015): As mentioned earlier the compatibility of iPhones is how well they are capable of working with other existing technologies. For example, from the beginning iPhones provided faster Internet connections through safari by working well with the available Wi-Fi technologies. Hence, compatibility of iPhones facilitates early adopters with a more reliable and convenient environment to adopt iPhones, without acquiring any additional products for support.

Early majority (Diffusion of Innovation YouTube video, 2015): The people in this category are the ones who will take some time before they take the decision to adopt iPhones. They will focus on the mainstream adoptions and will adopt iPhones when they see that iPhones have become a mainstream adoption. Therefore, these people are not the earliest nor the latest to adopt iPhones. This category will not be impressed only because of the unique features of iPhones, but they also need to be persuaded by seeing that iPhones have become a mainstream adoption, it is reliable to use and there are productivity gains of using them. Usually, this category of people is not so aware of the technological and technical knowledge and are sitting in the middle-class category in the society who has a medium level economic background. In addition, these people are normally 30-40 years of age. The people who belong to this category may come from developed countries as well as developing countries. The main reasons for the early majority to buy iPhones are because seeing iPhones as a mainstream adoption and noticing the productivity gains of using iPhones. Therefore, the early majority will tend to buy iPhones within 1-2 years’ time after its release.

1. Trialability (Yocco, 2015): Trialability of iPhones is how testable iPhones are prior to its release and when it is in use. As the early majority of iPhones are really concerned about the reliability of this product, the outcome of the tests is important to convince them that iPhone is a trustworthy device which is capable of providing all the services, such as high-speed Internet connection as expected. Therefore, trialability will help to persuade the early majority that the iPhone is a user-friendly smartphone device when compared to other existing smartphones, so it is worth acquiring one.

2. Observability (Yocco, 2015): Observability of iPhones is how visible the effects of using iPhones are and whether it can be felt easily by the users. Because the early majority of iPhones are really concerned about how people react to iPhones and whether iPhones will become a mainstream adoption, observability is really important to persuade early majority by showing them that there are certain benefits and productivity gains, such as efficient Internet connections and higher quality photos of using iPhones. Hence, observability will make it easier for early majority to adopt iPhones quickly.

3. Complexity (Yocco, 2015): Complexity of iPhones is how easy to use and learn the features which are included in iPhones. Even though some of the features, such as multitouch screens and mobile maps were unique to iPhones, they have been developed in such a way that it is easier, simpler and convenient for any type of user to grasp these techniques. Therefore, despite the lack of advanced technological knowledge, the early majority will be able to adopt iPhones without great efforts. Hence, the user-friendly features included in iPhones will directly increase the adoption of iPhones among early majority people.

Late majority (Diffusion of Innovation YouTube video, 2015): The people in this category are more cautious and are the ones who take more time to adopt iPhones. They are more concerned about the price of this product because iPhones were obviously expensive from the beginning. Their focus is on how the majority of the population reacts to iPhones and whether it is a trustworthy product. Once they see the majority has adopted iPhones and it is reliable, it makes them convince that iPhones are a better product. In addition, rather than being impressed by the magnificent features, such as multitouch screens and Apple Pay support introduced with iPhones they worry about whether there is any help or support available as required. Therefore, most of the people in this category lack of IT education and have a lower level economic background. Hence, these people are usually 40-55 years old and are mostly in developing or under-developed countries. Some of the main reasons which make the late majority to buy iPhones is that because the majority of the population has started to use iPhones and peer pressures. Therefore, the late majority are the ones who usually acquire iPhones 3-4 years later since they have been introduced to the market.

1. Trialability (Yocco, 2015): As mentioned above trialability of iPhones is how testable iPhones are prior to its release and when it is in use. As the reliability of iPhones is a crucial factor for the late majority of iPhones, the test results are really important to persuade them that iPhone is a trustworthy product and it provides services, such as higher quality photographs as expected. Hence, trialability will help to convince the late majority that the iPhone is a reliable and successful smartphone device when compared to other existing smartphones, so it is worth acquiring an iPhone despite its expensiveness.

2. Observability (Yocco, 2015): As mentioned earlier observability of iPhones is how visible the effects of using iPhones are and whether it can be felt easily by its users. Because the late majority of iPhones are concerned about how the others adopt iPhones and whether there are any significant positive effects of using iPhones, observability is really important to convince the late majority by showing them that there are several positive effects and benefits, such as higher quality photos and Apple Pay support of using iPhones. Hence, observability will support late majority to adopt iPhones.

3. Complexity (Yocco, 2015): As mentioned earlier the complexity of iPhones is how easy to use and learn the technologies or features which are embedded in iPhones. Also, as mentioned before Apple’s iPhone was the very first smartphone brand to introduce several magnificent features, such as multitouch screens, mobile maps and an App Store in a smartphone device. However, despite their novelty, these features are easier and simpler to learn by any type of user. Hence, the late majority is able to adopt iPhones quiet easily despite their lack of advanced technological knowledge and will increase the popularity of the product among the late majority.

Laggards (Diffusion of Innovation YouTube video, 2015): The people in this category are the most reluctant to buy iPhones. They are not much interested in the special features which have been introduced with iPhones and one of the other reasons for them to hesitate buying iPhones is because of their price. They usually tend to stick with traditional phones and hesitate to try new features, such as multitouch screens of the iPhones. Most of these people are uneducated and they lack computer literacy. These people are mostly from developing or under-developed countries who have a very low level of economic background and are usually older than 65 years. The main reasons for laggards to adopt iPhones is because almost everyone has adopted it and finally noticing the stability of the product. Therefore, laggards are the ones who acquire iPhones several years or decades later since they are been introduced. For instance, people who are adopting iPhones, such as iPhone 3G or iPhone 4 in this year can be identified as laggards because it has been several years since the Apple company has introduced those iPhone models.

1. Trialability (Yocco, 2015): Trialability of iPhones represents how testable iPhones are prior to its release and when it is in use. Because Laggards of iPhones are reluctant to adopt iPhones and they are highly concerned about its higher price, the results of the tests conducted with iPhones are really important to persuade them that iPhone is a reliable device and it is worth acquiring an iPhone despite its higher price. Also, trialability is important to prove the laggards that the functionalities of iPhones are working as expected. Hence, trialability will help laggards to understand that iPhones are a successful brand and it is worth buying one.

2. Observability (Yocco, 2015): Observability is the degree to which effects of iPhones are observable and whether the effects can be felt easily by its users. Because the laggards of iPhones are concerned about the final benefits of acquiring this product after paying such a large amount of money, observability is essential to support them by showing the benefits, such as higher processing speed of using iPhones. Hence, observability will make it easier for laggards to adopt iPhones by visualising them that the majority of the population has adopted iPhones and are now making the maximum use of it.

Complexity (Yocco, 2015): The complexity of iPhones represents how easy to use and learn the technologies which are included in iPhones. As mentioned earlier even though the Apple company introduced its iPhone models with several unique features, such as multitouch screens, they have not forgotten to make these features user-friendly and simple to learn by any type of user. Therefore, despite the lack of computer literacy, even laggards will be able to learn the special features included in iPhones. Hence, the ease of use and learning the features of iPhones will help laggards to adopt iPhones and will increase the popularity of iPhones among them.

2. Retrospective analysis of the innovation

 

1.  Evaluation of their design

Ex Ante evaluation phase

Method 1: Conducting Interviews

As a naturalistic approach to evaluate a particular iPhone model before it releases, I would recommend conducting interviews as individuals or groups (Qualres, 2008). The participants for these interviews should include people from different ages, social status, financial status, demographic groups and who are working in several different industries. Also, these participants should represent both normal users and stakeholders, such as managers. It is appropriate to conduct such interviews with a diverse set of humans because it will help to gather different opinions towards the iPhone model which is to be designed and collect relevant data from users. When preparing questionnaires to conduct these interviews, it is important to include questions which are related to the features of upcoming iPhone. As the cost and effort of designing an iPhone are high, it is essential to figure out different points of view of the society in relation to the iPhone which is to be designed and identify users’ expectations of the next iPhone. In addition, this approach is not too expensive and there is no risk to participants at all. Also, it will be quicker to generate results by analysing different user perspectives.

Method 2: Conducting Workshops

As an artificial approach to evaluate a particular iPhone model before it releases, I would recommend conducting workshops with users (Association for Qualitative Research, 2013). At this point, this particular iPhone is not yet designed, but it is necessary to introduce some of the features which are to be implemented in the upcoming iPhone model, before actually starting to design it, which will be costly and requires great efforts. In this approach, it facilitates for the designers to interact, most probably with the future users of this upcoming iPhone model. In addition, these workshops can be categorized according to the age of people(young/old), their experience in using iPhones (have used iPhones before/ have not used iPhones before) etc. and it will help to gather different perspectives of users and also to gain very useful insights of people. Other than that, workshops also allow to understand the user expectations of the upcoming iPhone model, reduce their uncertainty towards the product and facilitate to connect communities of iPhone users. Furthermore, this approach is not much expensive and there is no risk associated with the participants. Therefore, by taking an approach, such as conducting workshops, the designers will be able to collect some valuable feedback from participants in advance and apply them when actually designing the iPhone model to make it an effective and useful product.

Ex Post evaluation phase

Method 1: Focus Group Discussions

As a naturalistic approach to evaluate an iPhone after its design, I would recommend of having focus group discussions (ODI, 2009). Apple’s iPhones have become one of the most revolutionary innovations of smartphones which has been experienced by humans since 2007. Therefore, even after designing an iPhone model it is important to gather information as feedback or comments from a focused group of users who have had experience with this particular iPhone model. This approach will be the best way to evaluate the effectiveness of a particular iPhone model and to identify any side effects associated with them, if there are any because focus group discussions allow having in-depth discussions about this iPhone model. In addition, the level of efficacy of this particular iPhone model can also be identified by conducting focus group discussions. Finally, taking an approach, such as focus group discussions, is less expensive, less time-consuming and will be really helpful for the designers to get an overall idea of user satisfaction towards this particular iPhone model.

Method 2: Computer Simulation

As an artificial approach to evaluate an iPhone model after its design, I would recommend using computer simulation (Winsberg, 2013). Even though the designers may have had good feedback from real users while conducting a naturalistic approach in Ex Post phase, it is necessary to collect more feedback from users. Therefore, even though this approach is unreal the participants will be placed in an environment which is similar to using an actual iPhone. In addition, this approach is less expensive, faster and more importantly, there is no risk associated with the participants. Hence, by taking an approach, such as computer simulation, the designers will be able to gather valuable feedback from participants and use this feedback to evaluate the efficiency, effectiveness and efficacy of this iPhone model. Therefore, this feedback will be really useful and the designers can apply them to improve the future models of iPhones as necessary.

 

2.2 Evaluation of their Application of Business Analytics

(a) How can the organisation that innovated the selected innovation benefit from business analytics when designing the innovation?

One of the main reasons for a particular innovation to become successful, disruptive and sustainable in the market is that it is capable of satisfying its customers. In other words, there should be a significant “market need” which is equivalent to the product that is expected to design. Therefore, business analytics, which represents the “processes and techniques of data analysis for the generation of knowledge and intelligence” (Duan & Cao, 2015), is a crucial factor of clearly identifying what is exactly needed or expected from a smartphone device. Therefore, predictive business analytics can be used to analyse previous and current trends of smartphones and predict different needs and features which are expected by users from future smartphone devices. Hence, the Apple company can use this information and apply them when designing their own smartphone model which is the iPhone, in order to gain a competitive advantage for the product in the market and to highly satisfy a variety of customers’ needs.

(b) How business analytics support the efficient management of the innovation?

Customer service

Customer service is one of the most important aspects when supporting with an efficient management to the iPhones because the existence and success of iPhones are highly dependent upon consumers attitudes and reactions towards the product (Adams, 2012). Therefore, even after selling the product to customers it is crucial maintaining a proper customer service which facilitates for customer support whenever it is required, in order to enhance the customer satisfaction towards the product. For instance, Apple company maintains Genius bars within their stores and also, they do provide customer services over the phone. The importance of descriptive business analytics is that it can be used to categorize and analyse the most common problems of users. For instance, once the Apple company identifies some of the most commonly asked questions or problems related to iPhones, they can include those questions on their website, with the most appropriate solutions for them. In addition, they can collect feedback from users who have visited Apple stores (in regards to an iPhone) to gain a good knowledge about users’ experience at Apple stores. For example, if there is an efficiency issue, then the company may consider recruiting more staff members depending on the patterns of the number of customers to that particular Apple store, which can also be done by using descriptive business analytics.

Customer relationship management

Maintaining a customer relationship management is another important aspect of the efficient management of iPhones (Rouse, 2014). In order to properly maintain a customer relationship, it is essential to get to know about the consumer’s profiles, their special needs and details about customers. Therefore, descriptive business analytics can be used to analyse consumer profiles and to identify users’ special preferences and behaviours. This information can be used to maintain a strong bond with the customers by accomplishing their needs. As there are millions of iPhone users around the world it is really beneficial for the Apple company to maintain a positive relationship with their customers and keep the customers happy always. For instance, if the Apple company finds out that its iPhone users are more interested in music and photography, they can decide to upgrade their iTunes facilities and provide more enhanced features with the iPhone camera, such as the dual camera they have introduced with Optical Image Stabilizer and Portrait lighting in the iPhone model X.

Apple local store support

Maintaining an Apple local store support is also an important aspect of efficiently managing iPhones. In order to manage an efficient local store support, the company can track the number of people who buy iPhones in specific towns of the countries and use descriptive business analytics to analyse and identify the most popular areas for iPhone purchases. By depending on this analytics, the Apple company can establish original Apple stores or Apple support centres in these towns in order to provide the customers with a better experience, rather than letting them buy iPhones via authorized dealers. This would be really helpful to gain positive attitudes towards iPhones because their customers will be facilitated with numerous help and support which was not available for them before. As a result, it will inevitably increase customer satisfaction and also will be a reason to increase the number of iPhone purchasers in that particular area.

3.         Evaluation of original Entrepreneurship and Start-Up Potential:

• Strategies which are most applicable for a company which is about to introduce this disruptive innovation

1. Introducing online self-help resources

 

As a start-up, it is ideal for this organization to introduce some online self-help resources to their customers (Nili, 2017). It is obvious that some of the features of this iPhone, such as multitouch screens will be quite unfamiliar for users, so it is necessary to provide self-help information for the users as text-based manuals and video instructions which could be published via YouTube. All the features and functionalities which are available on this iPhone should be included in a text-based manual with images where necessary because it will be really helpful for users to understand certain features of the iPhone, which they are not familiar with. Also, it is extremely important to publish videos which explain the main features of the iPhone as this makes it super easy for users to understand the main concepts of these features. Publishing such text-based manuals and YouTube videos do not require many resources but will be really helpful for the users. Therefore, online self-help resources are highly relevant to a start-up like iPhone because they are really helpful for users and does not require many additional resources.

2. Using cloud-based solutions

This company is just about to introduce an innovative product, which is the iPhone, to the society, therefore, as a start-up it may have certain resource constraints, such as the budget. Hence, as a strategy to eliminate the capital costs associated with the company, it can host company’s data, email and CRM on a virtual cloud server (Nili, 2017). As a result, the company does not need to have an actual physical server. Except that the company can also acquire services, such as storage and networking from outside companies. Therefore, it is not necessary for this company to have their own servers, software and other hardware devices. In addition, most of the cloud-based services are free or they are really cheap and this makes it really convenient for start-ups like this company to use cloud-based solutions to support the company’s internal activities. Therefore, the introduction of cloud-based solutions is highly relevant to a start-up like this which is going to introduce the iPhone, because it eliminates the capital costs associated with the company and this is a great advantage for a start-up which is usually under resource constraints.

3. Using free, open-source and cheaper software and applications

As a start-up is it a wise decision for this company to use free and open-source software applications as they do not require many resources, such as budget (Nili, 2017). Based on this company’s business requirements and goals they can choose certain open-source software and applications available online, to use in the organization. There are several open-source software and applications, such as Trex (used for planning), OrangeHRM (used for Human Resources Planning), SugarCRM (used for Customer Relationship Management) and OpenCog (used for voice recognition) which can be used by this start-up to support their internal activities. Another one reason which makes open-source applications highly appropriate for start-ups is that they do not have a higher number of customer services. As a result, this company can gain the maximum advantage of these open-source software by choosing the most applicable ones for their organization. Therefore, the use of free, open-source applications is highly relevant to a start-up like this company who is about to introduce the iPhone to the market, because these applications are inexpensive and are highly suitable for a limited resource environment.

Conclusion

In conclusion, iPhone is one of the most disruptive innovations which has been introduced by the Apple company. The main reasons for it to disrupt the smartphone market are its unique features, such as multitouch screens, Apple Pay support, mobile maps, App Store and large screens, and the user-friendliness despite its distinct features. As a result, the iPhone has been able to satisfy their customers by overshooting customers’ needs and have gained a higher demand in the market. Because of all these reasons iPhones can be called as a reinvention of the smartphone device. In addition, the Apple company can use proper evaluation methods to collect user feedbacks and use business analytics to identify users’ expectations of the future iPhone models. Therefore, these techniques can be used to efficiently manage this disruptive innovation and also if the Apple company will be able to design their future iPhone models to satisfy these user needs, they can successfully maintain a continuous demand for iPhones in the market.

Bibliography

Adams, R. L. (2012). 10 Reasons Why Good Customer Service Is Your Most Important Metric. Retrieved from https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/284799

Association for Qualitative Research (AQR). (2013). Definition: Workshop. Retrieved from https://www.aqr.org.uk/glossary/workshop

Dan, A. (2015). The 25 Most Disruptive Brands of 2015. Retrieved from https://www.forbes.com/sites/avidan/2015/11/29/the-25-most-disruptive-brands-of-2015/#54fa32a17bbd

Duan, Y., & Cao, G. (2015). Understanding the Impact of Business Analytics on Innovation. In ECIS

Elise, A. (2015). Apple Dominates Smartphone Industry With 93 Percent Of The Profits. Retrieved from http://www.ibtimes.com/apple-dominates-smartphone-industry-93-percent-profits-1811324

Fogg, I. (2012). Five years of iPhone disruption. Retrieved from https://technology.ihs.com/408607/five-years-of-iphone-disruption

Gans, J. (2015). Why Apple and its iPhone confound disruption theorists. Retrieved from https://theconversation.com/why-apple-and-its-iphone-confound-disruption-theorists-38205

Gilbert, M. (2017). What Apple Can Teach Business About Disruption. Retrieved from http://fortune.com/2017/01/12/apple-world-economic-forum-davos/

Grabham, D. (2017). History of the iPhone 2007-2017. Retrieved from http://www.t3.com/features/a-brief-history-of-the-iphone

Haselton, T. (2017). Here’s every iPhone released, in order, and what changed along the way. Retrieved from https://www.cnbc.com/2017/06/29/every-iphone-released-in-order.html

Hodges, D. (2014). The Great Disruption: The Story of Nokia and Apple. Retrieved from http://insights.wired.com/profiles/blogs/the-great-disruption-the-story-of-nokia-and-apple#axzz4spdMKN4H

King, A., & Baatartogtokh, B. (2015). How useful is the theory of disruptive innovation? Mit Sloan Management Review, 57(1), 77-90

Miller, C. (2017). Latest Gartner data shows Apple edge out Samsung in market share during Q4 2016. Retrieved from https://9to5mac.com/2017/02/15/samsung-loses-market-share-to-apple-in-q4-2016/

Nili, A. (2017). IFN502 IT Innovation and Disruption: Innovation and Entrepreneurship [Lecture Notes]. Retrieved from https://blackboard.qut.edu.au/bbcswebdav/pid-6948457-dt-content-rid-9368642_1/courses/IFN502_17se2/502wk07_17.pdf

ODI. (2009).Research tools: Focus group discussion. Retrieved from https://www.odi.org/publications/5695-focus-group-discussion

Qualres.org. (2008). RWJF – Qualitative Research Guidelines Project | Interviewing. Retrieved from http://www.qualres.org/HomeInte-3595.html

Ritchie, R. (2017). 10 years ago today, Apple and iPhone changed our world. Retrieved from https://www.imore.com/history-iphone-original

Rogowsky, M. (2017). A Decade Of iPhone: The Smartphone Disrupted Everything But Still Has Work To Do. Retrieved from https://www.forbes.com/sites/markrogowsky/2017/01/09/iphone-at-10-the-smartphone-disrupted-everything-but-still-some-has-jobs-to-be-done/#a5025f33ed59

Rouse, M. (2014). Customer relationship management (CRM). Retrieved from http://searchcrm.techtarget.com/definition/CRM

Warren, T. (2014). iPhone: A visual history. Retrieved from https://www.theverge.com/2014/9/9/6125849/iphone-history-pictures

White, C. (2011). 7 Disruptive Innovations That Turned Their Markets Upside Down [INFOGRAPHIC]. Retrieved from http://mashable.com/2011/10/09/7-disruptive-innovations/#W9StAnUyq5qB

Winsberg, E. (2013). Computer Simulations in Science. Retrieved from https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/simulations-science/

Yocco, V. (2015). 5 Characteristics Of An Innovation. Retrieved from https://www.smashingmagazine.com/2015/01/five-characteristics-of-innovations/

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Appendix 1: Infographic: illustrating the innovation, the component parts, and how they communicate with each other.