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Apple has released many products over the last 10 years, some of which have been described as ‘electronic jewellery’. But, how reliable are these products a why are we, as a nation in love with everything Apple?

In 2009 Apples iPhone was ‘named the coolest and most desirable brand in Britain’ even knocking Aston Martin of the top spot. However, the iPhone lost its position on top in September this year as the Aston Martin regained its place at the top of the list. The BlackBerry moved up the list for the second year in a row and is currently in 4^th position. So with the BlackBerry going up and the iphone coming down why are we nation still obsessed with the iPhone?

This is the list of the 2009/10 CoolBrands, as you can see the iPhone was on top but this year it moved back down.

There have been quite a few problems reported concerning the iPhone such include: poor battery life, freezing of the screen whilst calling, camera braking, and losing signal (the death grip). There have been far fewer complaints about the BlackBerry and other smartphones. Despite its flaws, the iPhone is ruling the roost of the smartphone world at this moment in time.

A recent customer satisfaction survey found that even though consumers felt that the BlackBerry was a more reliable phone they would still choose to have an iPhone instead of BlackBerry if given the choice. The majority of the consumers asked who owned BlackBerrys also stated that they would change their BlackBerry for the iPhone if they had the opportunity to do so.

The above graph show the iPhone results along with other smartphones from a customer satisfaction survey which was conducted in November this year.

Matt Asay, the Chief Operating Officer at Canonical is someone who previously owned a BlackBerry but the changed to the iPhone. When asked what he thought of the iPhone in comparison to the Blackberry he said ‘I love my iPhone and have never felt tempted to go back to the BlackBerry’. He then continued by saying ‘But in day to day usage, I’ve found my iPhone software to be far less stable than the ugly-but-reliable BlackBerry software.’

It appears that most people who have switched from the BlackBerry (or other smarthphones) would agree with what Asay says. The iPhone has a very sleek and stylish design to it. It has a distinctive look that is minimalistic and cool but I am finding it hard to see why the BlackBerry is ‘ugly’ maybe it’s the shape of it? Or the QWERTY keyboard that makes it look ugly? Surely we don’t live in a day in age where the aesthetics of a mobile device are a bigger factor than how reliable it is?

The way in which the Apple products have been designed to look is not the only reason why they feature at the top of the most desirable product list. Apple products have been coined with being ‘cool’ if you don’t own the latest iPod, iPad, iPhone then you can’t be cool. When looking at the iPod they are the number one fashion accessory, available in a range of colours there is one for everyone. I can’t imagine that another mp3 player will have the success that the iPod has anytime soon.

In his book 'Apple Inc.' O'Gragey states that‘Few companies can claim the success that Apple can, from practically inventing the personal computer to creating an entirely new market for portable media players to re inventing how we purchase and enjoy music. A case can be made that Apple took personal electronics to an entirely new level, surpassing even Sony, largely considered to the original pioneer of consumer electronics...Starting out as the minority player in an industry crowded with larger and better capitalized competitors, Apple turned the industry on its ear.’ This shows where Apple started and just how far they have come. Surpassing Sony was a major achievement.

So not all Apple products may be the most reliable but they are certainly extremely popular. On the 19th October 2010 Apple declared that their quarterly profits leapt by 70% as they sold: 14.1 million iPhones, 4.19 million iPads and 3.89 Macs. not bad for a company that started out in the Santa Clara Valley by two computer whiz kids.

Apple has been praised for bringing more style into the personal electronics business and I have to agree that they have. The products they produce do look cool, fashionable and sleek but that does not mean that they are the best around. It seems that we are caught up with in the world of Apple. It also seems that we are willing to pay huge amounts of money for a product that may fail us when we could get an alternative that is more reliable for about half the price.

Loyalty also seems to have played a huge factor in why Apple continues to succeed. The majority of the people that buy Apple products will carry on buying them and not switch to another manufacturer. Apple can continue to bring out better models of existing products as they have built up a big enough market to allow them to keep making money. But, with the upcoming release of the super smartphone the Google Nexsus S thought to be round the corner will the iPhone suffer or will we still put the desirability of a product over its function?

Journalisticreport

Wednesday, 8 December 2010

Journalistic Report

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