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apple product development case study

Apple’s Product Development Process – Inside the World’s Greatest Design Organization

Apple’s Product Development Process may be one of the most successful design processes ever implemented. With a valuation that exceeds $2 trillion, there’s a lot that designers can learn from Apple and introduce into their own design environments.

Apple is a notoriously secretive business. In Steve Jobs’ time at the company it would have been near impossible to find out about the internal workings of the business. This isn’t surprising when a business’s market advantage is its design approach. It’s worth keeping it under wraps.

However, Adam Lashinsky, the author of Inside Apple: How America’s most Admired and Secretive Company Really Works has been given a look at the process. While there are still aspects of the way that Apple works that are shrouded in secrecy , you can get a good idea of the overall high level process through this book. And in this article, we’ve distilled the key takeaways from the book.

Apple’s Product Development Process

Design is at the forefront.

apple product development case study

Author/Copyright holder: GiuliaPiccoliTrapletti . Copyright terms and licence: CC BY-SA 4.0

How do you give designers the freedom to design and ensure that the products they produce fulfil their visions? Well at Apple they put design at the forefront.

Jony Ive, the British designer who was the Chief Design Officer (CDO) at Apple, and his design team do not report to finance, manufacturing, etc. They are given free rein to set their own budgets and are given the ability to ignore manufacturing practicalities.

At the heart of the design department is the Industrial Design Studio where only a select few Apple employees have access.

It’s a simple concept that allows for the creation of incredible products.

Design Teams are Separated From the Larger Company

When a design team works on a new product they are then cut off from the rest of the Apple business. They may even implement physical controls to prevent the team from interacting with other Apple employees during the day.

The team is also removed from the traditional Apple hierarchy at this point. They create their own reporting structures and report directly to the executive team. This leaves them free to focus on design rather than day-to-day minutiae.

A Documented Development Process

apple product development case study

Author/Copyright holder: Ed Uthman . Copyright terms and licence: CC BY-SA 2.5

The Apple New Product Process (ANPP) information is given to a product development team when they begin work. It details every stage of the design process and it goes into elaborate detail. The idea is to define what stages the product creation team will go through, who will be responsible for delivering the final product, who works on which stage and where they work and also when the product is expected to be completed.

Monday is Review Day

The Apple Executive Team holds a regular Monday meeting to examine every single product that the company has in design phase at that point in time. This isn’t as daunting as it may sound; one of the keys to Apple’s success is that they don’t work on hundreds of new products at once. Instead, resources are concentrated on a handful of projects that are expected to bear fruit rather than being diluted over many lesser projects.

If a product cannot be reviewed at one meeting – it’s automatically at the top of the agenda for the next meeting. In practice, this should mean that every single Apple product is inspected by the executive team at least once a fortnight. This keeps delays in decision making to a minimum and enables the company to be very lean with its approach to design.

The EPM and the GSM

The EPM is the engineering program manager and the GSM is the global supply manager. Together they are known within Apple as the “EPM Mafia”. It’s their job to take over when a product moves from design to production.

As you might expect, these people are usually going to be found in China, Apple does very little of its own manufacturing. Instead it relies on contract outsourcing companies like Foxconn (one of the largest employers in the world) to do this for them. This removes much of the headache of manufacturing for Apple whilst keeping production costs as low as possible. There is a significant market advantage to this approach and its one that many other electronics manufacturers are emulating now.

The EPM Mafia may sound scary (and they probably are to the suppliers) but their real job is simply to ensure that products are delivered to market in the right way, at the right time and at the right cost. They may disagree at points but their guiding principle is to act in the interests of the product at all times.

Iteration Is Key

Like any good design company , the design process at Apple is not over when manufacturing begins. In fact, Apple iterates the design throughout manufacturing. The product is built, it’s tested and reviewed, then the design team improves on it and it’s built all over again. These cycles take 4-6 weeks at a time and may be run many times over a product’s development lifecycle.

apple product development case study

Author/Copyright holder: CyberDoc LLC . Copyright terms and licence: Fair Use.

When production is complete the EPM will take possession of some or all of the test devices and then take them back to Apple’s headquarters at Cupertino.

This is a very costly approach but it’s one of the reasons that Apple has a reputation for quality. The more you invest in design, the more likely you are to build incredible market changing products. It’s the process that the iPod, the iPhone and the iPad went through.

The Packaging Room

This is a very-high security area in Apple and it’s where prototypes are unboxed. As you might expect, the security is to prevent leaks to the outside world. If you ever do see a leaked prototype for an Apple product – it won’t have come from here. It’s more likely to have vanished from a production line in China.

A Launch Plan

apple product development case study

Author/Copyright holder: Manutaus. Copyright terms and licence: CC BY-SA 3.0

The final step in Apple’s product development is product launch. When the product is considered to be as good as it can be – it enters an action plan known as “the Rules of the Road”. This explains all the responsibilities and actions that must be taken prior to a commercial launch of the product.

It must be a nerve-wracking experience to be privy to the “Rules of the Road” because if you lose it or leak it… you’re immediately fired. This is explained in the document itself.

The Take Away

Apple’s process is complex, expensive and demanding. If you compare it to most business theories – it shouldn’t work. However, to date it has out-performed even the wildest of expectations.

You may not be able to emulate all of their processes within the space of your own workplace but there’s no reason that you can’t develop written processes for design phases and launch phases of your projects, for example. And, of course, there is no reason at all for you in not iterating!

The more you know about successful design processes, the more you can take some of the best aspects of them and use them to enhance your own products.

Find out all the details of the design process in: Inside Apple: How America's Most Admired--and Secretive--Company Really Works by Adam Lashinsky ISBN 97814555512157, Published January 25, 2012

And take an insight into Apple’s greatest designer’s mind in : JonyIve: The Genius Behind Apple's Greatest Products by Leander Kahney ISBN 159184617X, Published November 14, 2013

Hero Image: Author/Copyright holder: Sreejithk2000. Copyright terms and licence: Public Domain.

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How Apple Is Organized for Innovation

  • Joel M. Podolny
  • Morten T. Hansen

apple product development case study

When Steve Jobs returned to Apple, in 1997, it had a conventional structure for a company of its size and scope. It was divided into business units, each with its own P&L responsibilities. Believing that conventional management had stifled innovation, Jobs laid off the general managers of all the business units (in a single day), put the entire company under one P&L, and combined the disparate functional departments of the business units into one functional organization. Although such a structure is common for small entrepreneurial firms, Apple—remarkably—retains it today, even though the company is nearly 40 times as large in terms of revenue and far more complex than it was in 1997. In this article the authors discuss the innovation benefits and leadership challenges of Apple’s distinctive and ever-evolving organizational model in the belief that it may be useful for other companies competing in rapidly changing environments.

It’s about experts leading experts.

Idea in Brief

The challenge.

Major companies competing in many industries struggle to stay abreast of rapidly changing technologies.

One Major Cause

They are typically organized into business units, each with its own set of functions. Thus the key decision makers—the unit leaders—lack a deep understanding of all the domains that answer to them.

The Apple Model

The company is organized around functions, and expertise aligns with decision rights. Leaders are cross-functionally collaborative and deeply knowledgeable about details.

Apple is well-known for its innovations in hardware, software, and services. Thanks to them, it grew from some 8,000 employees and $7 billion in revenue in 1997, the year Steve Jobs returned, to 137,000 employees and $260 billion in revenue in 2019. Much less well-known are the organizational design and the associated leadership model that have played a crucial role in the company’s innovation success.

  • Joel M. Podolny is the dean and vice president of Apple University in Cupertino, California. The former dean of the Yale School of Management, Podolny was a professor at Harvard Business School and the Stanford Graduate School of Business.
  • MH Morten T. Hansen is a professor at the University of California, Berkeley, and a faculty member at Apple University, Apple. He is the author of Great at Work and Collaboration and coauthor of Great by Choice . He was named one of the top management thinkers in the world by the Thinkers50 in 2019. MortentHansen

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What is Product Life Cycle (PLC)?

Product Life Cycle (PLC) is a model that illustrates how a product progresses through stages during its time on the market. It serves as a tool for businesses to understand how their products evolve and how to manage them efficiently. This concept plays a role in making decisions regarding product development, marketing strategies, pricing strategies, and distribution channels. In today’s paced world of business and innovation, it is crucial to grasp the Product Life Cycle (PLC).

Table of Content

Stages of Product Life Cycle (PLC)

Case study of product life cycle of apple, key takeaways from product life cycle (plc):.

  • The PLC is a concept in marketing and product management that helps businesses plan strategically and make informed decisions about their products.
  • This cycle represents the stages that a product goes through starting from its introduction to its decline in the market.
  • Understanding these stages allows companies to adapt their strategies effectively maximizing profits and ensuring long-term success for their products.

Stages-of-Product-Life-Cycle-(PLC)-copy

1. Introduction

The introduction stage signifies the entry of a product into the market. The initial stage is typically associated with an increase in sales since it involves introducing the product to consumers. During this phase, businesses incur expenses for marketing and research and development (R&D) as they strive to raise awareness and stimulate demand for their product. Companies need to invest in marketing and create distribution channels to ensure that their product is easily accessible to customers. The objective is to establish a presence in the market and generate interest. During this phase, pricing strategies often revolve around two approaches:

  • Penetration pricing, where a lower price is initially offered to gain market share,
  • Skimming pricing, where a higher price is charged at first to recover development costs.

The growth stage witnesses a surge in sales as consumers become more aware of the product’s existence and its advantages. This growth is fueled by word-of-mouth favourable reviews and effective marketing campaigns. In this phase, businesses strive to expand their market share by scaling up production and distribution. With the increasing demand, competition may intensify as new players try to capitalise on the opportunity. As the product gains recognition, pricing strategies might shift towards a competitive approach. Companies may also introduce variations or extensions of the product aimed at market segments.

3. Maturity

The maturity stage represents the peak of sales and market penetration for the product. Competition typically reaches its point during this period, and attention shifts from attracting customers to retaining existing ones. Price stability and product differentiation become a feature of this stage. Ongoing marketing endeavours aimed at maintaining both market share and brand loyalty. Companies frequently make investments in improving their products, adding features, and implementing marketing campaigns to ensure their products remain relevant and competitive. Furthermore, they may explore opportunities in markets.

In the decline phase, sales of the product start to decrease due to changing consumer preferences, market saturation, or the emergence of alternatives. Companies must decide whether to discontinue the product or continue selling, it with marketing efforts. As existing inventory price reductions or discounts may be necessary, some companies may choose to reinvent or rebrand the product or find markets to extend its life cycle. Ultimately, the decision to withdraw or revive the product depends on its profitability and how well it aligns with the company’s strategy.

Introduction Phase

During the phase from 2007 to 2008, Apple introduced the iPhone, which brought about a significant transformation in the smartphone industry. To generate awareness and create excitement surrounding their product, Apple invested heavily in marketing and promotional activities. The innovative design and user-friendly interface of the iPhone captured the interest of tech enthusiasts. Capitalising on this wave of enthusiasm, Apple implemented a pricing strategy that involved charging prices initially.

Growth Stage

In the years that followed from 2009 to 2012, the iPhone experienced growth. Apple expanded its range of offerings by introducing models like the iPhone 3G, 4, and 4S. The launch of the App Store in 2008 played a role in fueling this growth by creating an ecosystem that catered to both developers and users alike. To meet increasing demand, Apple focused on scaling up production and distribution, while establishing partnerships with telecom carriers worldwide. Product differentiation also played a role during this stage as Apple offered storage capacities and introduced new features such as improved cameras and faster processors.

Maturity Phase

By 2013, the iPhone had reached maturity as it faced competition from Android-based smartphones. The market became saturated with options for consumers to choose from. To keep its position in the market, Apple put a lot of emphasis on improving its products. Released a series of iPhones, including the 5, 6, 7, and 8 models. They also introduced the Plus and SE versions. Alongside this, Apple carried on with its marketing campaigns that aimed to build brand loyalty and make sure customers were satisfied. Moreover, they expanded into markets, which helped solidify their position as a leading smartphone company.

Declining Stage

In years (2019 onwards), the iPhone entered a stage of decline where it faced obstacles, like market saturation and the rise of competitors. To tackle these challenges, Apple has adjusted its pricing strategies and introduced the affordable iPhone SE. Additionally, the company has heavily invested in services, like Apple Music, Apple TV+, and Apple Arcade to diversify its revenue streams and keep customers engaged. By focusing on refreshing its products and building an ecosystem around its devices, Apple has been able to prolong the lifespan of the iPhone and minimize the impact of market decline.

The Product Life Cycle (PLC) is a framework that helps businesses navigate their product’s complex journey in the market. By understanding the four stages of introduction, growth, maturity, and decline, companies can make choices regarding product development, pricing, marketing, and distribution. Effectively managing a product throughout its life cycle can lead to success and a competitive advantage in today’s dynamic business environment.

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Apple Five Forces Analysis & Recommendations (Porter’s Model)

Apple Five Forces Analysis, competition, customers, suppliers, substitution, new entrants, Porter, consumer electronics business case study

This Five Forces analysis gives insights into the external factors influencing Apple’s success. Michael E. Porter’s Five Forces analysis framework is a strategic management tool for evaluating the five forces affecting the business organization: customers, suppliers, substitutes, new entrants, and competitors. This Five Forces analysis of Apple Inc. sheds light on what the company does to ensure industry leadership. Despite the negative effects of external factors in the competitive landscape of the computer software and hardware, consumer electronics, and online services markets, Apple’s mission statement and vision statement are fulfilled through relevant business goals and strategies. Based on this Five Forces analysis, the company addresses competitive forces and external factors through effective leaders, such as Tim Cook. This Five Forces analysis indicates external factors that Apple’s strategic efforts must focus on to keep its leadership in the industry.

Based on the Five Forces analysis model, external factors in Apple’s industry environment point to competitive rivalry or intensity of competition, and the bargaining power of buyers or customers as the primary forces for consideration in the company’s strategic planning. Nonetheless, all five forces influence the company’s business situation, together with the effects of other external factors, such as the industry and market trends identified in the PESTLE/PESTEL analysis of Apple Inc .

Summary: Five Forces Analysis of Apple Inc.

Apple’s generic competitive strategy and intensive growth strategies are partly based on competitive forces in the external business environment. These forces limit or reduce the firm’s market share, revenues, profitability, and business development potential. This Five Forces analysis points to the following strengths or intensities of competitive forces in Apple’s industry environment:

  • Competitive rivalry or competition: Strong force
  • Bargaining power of buyers or customers: Strong force
  • Bargaining power of suppliers: Weak force
  • Threat of substitutes or substitution: Weak force
  • Threat of new entrants or new entry: Moderate force

Recommendations. Considering the results of this Five Forces analysis, Apple must focus its attention on competitive rivalry and the bargaining power of buyers. This external analysis supports the company’s current position of continuous innovation. Innovation and the business competitive advantages shown in the SWOT analysis of Apple address the five forces in the external environment, although much of the company’s effort is for strengthening its position against competitors and for attracting customers to its products. An applicable course of action is to intensify research and development for innovation to develop novel products that complement iPhones, iPads, and other current products. Apple can also improve its support and resources for software or app developers, to strengthen the company’s ecosystem of hardware, software, and online services against the competitive challenges identified in this Five Forces analysis.

Competitive Rivalry or Competition with Apple (Strong Force)

Apple faces the strong force of competitive rivalry or competition. This component of Porter’s Five Forces analysis model determines the intensity of the influence that competitors have on each other. In Apple’s case, this influence is based on the following external factors:

  • High aggressiveness of technology firms (strong force)
  • Low differentiation of many products (strong force)
  • Low switching cost (strong force)

Competitors’ aggressiveness in innovation and marketing imposes a strong force in the information technology industry environment. In the market for consumer electronics, software, and Internet services, Apple competes with Google (Alphabet) , Microsoft , Samsung, and Sony . In the video-streaming market, Netflix , Disney , Amazon , and Facebook (Meta) compete with Apple TV Plus. This Five Forces analysis also considers other technology firms, such as IBM and Intel , which influence Apple’s competitive environment. Moreover, in terms of product differentiation, products in the market are generally similar in fulfilling specific purposes. For example, many popular apps are available for Android and iOS devices, and cloud storage services from different companies are similar and available to users on different platforms. In this Five Forces analysis of Apple, such a condition creates a strong force by making it easy for customers to switch to other sellers or providers. On the other hand, the low switching cost means that it is easy for customers to switch from Apple to other brands, based on price, function, accessibility, network externalities, and related concerns. The combination of these external factors in this part of the Five Forces analysis leads to tough competitive rivalry that is among the most significant considerations in Apple’s strategic management.

Bargaining Power of Customers/Buyers (Strong Force)

The bargaining power of buyers is strong in affecting Apple’s business. This component of Porter’s Five Forces analysis model determines how buyers’ purchase decisions and related preferences and perceptions impact businesses. In Apple’s case, buyers’ strong power is based on the following external factors:

  • Small size of individual buyers (weak force)
  • High availability of information to buyers (strong force)

It is easy for customers to change brands, thereby making them powerful in compelling Apple to ensure customer satisfaction. On the other hand, each buyer’s purchase is small compared to the company’s total revenues. In this Five Forces analysis of Apple, such a condition makes customers weak at the individual level. However, the availability of detailed comparative information about competing products’ features empowers buyers to shift from one provider to another. This external factor enables buyers to exert a strong force in the industry, although promotional strategies and tactics in Apple’s marketing mix (4P) can communicate tailored information to persuade customers to buy the company’s products. Thus, this part of the Five Forces analysis shows that Apple must include the bargaining power of buyers or customers as one of the most significant strategic variables in the business.

Bargaining Power of Apple’s Suppliers (Weak Force)

Apple Inc. experiences the weak force or bargaining power of suppliers. This component of the Five Forces analysis model indicates the influence of suppliers in imposing their demands on the company and its competitors. In Apple’s case, suppliers have a weak bargaining power based on the following external factors:

  • Moderate to high number of suppliers (weak force)
  • Moderate to high overall supply (weak force)
  • Large size of some equipment and component manufacturers (strong force)
  • High ratio of firm concentration to supplier concentration (weak force)

The global size of its supply chain allows Apple Inc. to access many suppliers around the world. In Porter’s Five Forces analysis context, the resulting high number of suppliers is an external factor that presents only a weak to moderate force against the company. Also, the moderate to high overall supply of inputs, such as semiconductors, makes individual suppliers weak in imposing their demands on Apple. However, some large suppliers, such as OEMs and producers of chips, significantly influence the industry. Nonetheless, in this Five Forces analysis case, the high ratio of firm concentration to supplier concentration limits suppliers’ power and influence in the industry. This external factor reflects the presence of a small number of big companies, like Apple and Samsung, in contrast to a larger number of medium-sized and large suppliers. Thus, this part of the Five Forces analysis shows that the bargaining power of suppliers is a minor issue in developing Apple’s operations management strategies for supply chain management, value chain effectiveness, innovation, and industry leadership.

Threat of Substitutes or Substitution (Weak Force)

The competitive threat of substitution is weak in affecting Apple’s computing technology, consumer electronics, and online services business. This component of the Five Forces analysis framework determines the strength of substitute products in attracting customers. In Apple’s case, substitutes exert a weak force based on the following external factors:

  • Moderate to high availability of substitutes (moderate force)
  • Low performance of substitutes (weak force)
  • Low buyer propensity to substitute (weak force)

Some substitutes for Apple products are readily available in the market. For example, instead of using iPhones, people can use digital cameras to take pictures, and landline telephones to make calls. In this Five Forces analysis of Apple, such an external factor exerts a moderate force in the industry environment. However, these substitutes have low performance because they have limited features. Many customers would rather use Apple products based on convenience and advanced functions. This condition weakens the force of substitution in impacting the company’s business in this Five Forces analysis context. Also, buyers have a low propensity to substitute. For instance, customers would rather use smartphones than go through the hassle of buying and maintaining a digital camera, an analog phone, and other devices. This part of the Five Forces analysis shows that Apple does not need to prioritize the threat of substitution in management decisions for business processes, like marketing, market positioning, and product design and development.

Threat of New Entrants or New Entry against Apple (Moderate Force)

Apple Inc. experiences the moderate force or threat of new entrants. This component of Porter’s Five Forces analysis model indicates the possibility and effect of new competitors entering the market. In Apple’s case, new entrants exert a moderate force based on the following external factors:

  • High capital requirements (weak force)
  • High cost of brand development (weak force)
  • High capacity of some potential new entrants (strong force)

Establishing a business to compete with Apple Inc. requires high capitalization. Also, it is extremely costly to develop a strong brand to compete with large companies, like Apple. These external factors make new entrants weak in this Five Forces analysis case of the IT business. However, there are large firms with the financial capacity to enter the market. For example, Google has already done so through its consumer electronics. Samsung also used to be a new entrant. These examples show that there are large companies that have the potential to directly compete with Apple Inc. in multiple markets. Thus, the overall threat of new entry is moderate. This part of the Five Forces analysis shows that Apple must maintain its competitive advantages through innovation and marketing to remain strong against new entrants’ moderate competitive force.

  • Apple empowers small businesses to grow and serve their customers .
  • Apple Inc. – Form 10-K .
  • Apple introduces global developer resource for labs, sessions, and workshops .
  • Apple scores record 13 Academy Award nominations .
  • Jahan, S. A., & Sazu, M. H. (2023). Role of IoTs and analytics in efficient sustainable manufacturing of consumer electronics. International Journal of Computing Sciences Research, 7 , 1337-1350.
  • Sforcina, K. (2023). Digitalizing Sustainability: The Five Forces of Digital Transformation . Taylor & Francis.
  • U.S. Department of Commerce – International Trade Administration – Software and Information Technology Industry .
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Design Thinking Case Study: Innovation at Apple

Apple is one of the leading companies that is renowned for its unique products and brand. A short talk with an Apple user reveals there is an emotional relation between consumers and Apple products , including every “i” product created in the past two decades.

Why are Apple products different from their competitors’ products? How does Apple manage to achieve innovation in its product families? Answering these questions provides interesting insight into Apple’s history and how it survived its most critical time between 1985 and 1997.

When Steve Jobs returned to Apple after being fired, the company share was only worth US $5 and its future was uncertain. Today, in 2016, Apple’s share price is around US $108 and the company achieved revenues of US $233.7 billion in 2015 with net income of US $53.39 billion.  This mini case study sheds light on the role that design thinking and innovation played in helping Steve Jobs rescue Apple with his consumer-driven strategy and vision for the company.

The Hard Times at Apple

The early days of Apple (which was cofounded by Steve Jobs on 1976) are characterized by its first personal computer that was delivered with Apple OS. During this time, Apple was dominating the market because there were no other manufacturers of this type of computer as computers were used only by governments or large companies. However, in 1985, Steve Jobs was forced to leave the company. This marked the start of a chaotic era in the company’s strategy and product development.

In the period 1985-1997, Apple struggled to achieve market success, especially after Jobs’s departure and increasing competition from other giants such as IBM, which decided to enter the PC computers market. During this period, Apple faced number of challenges including:

  • Unstable strategy due to the change of executive teams
  • Unclear vision about Apple’s competitive strategy, especially after IBM entered the PC market
  • Unclear vision about selling OS licenses, which would put the company in competition with Windows operating system
  • Large number of failed products (such as Newton PDA) and few successful ones (such as PowerBook)
  • Products not unique in the market
  • Confusion and uncertainty among Apple consumers, resulting from this strategy

Apple Newton PDA

Design Thinking to Fuel Innovation

Apple is one of the leading companies in the field of innovation and this couldn’t have happened without the company adopting design thinking . Design thinking is a solution-oriented process that is used to achieve innovation with considerations about the consumer at the heart of all development stages. Tim Brown, president and CEO of IDEO, defines design thinking as follows: “ Design thinking is a human-centered approach to innovation that draws from the designer’s toolkit to integrate the needs of people, the possibilities of technology, and the requirements for business success. ”

“Most people make the mistake of thinking design is what it looks like. People think it’s this veneer — that the designers are handed this box and told, ‘Make it look good!’ That’s not what we think design is. It’s not just what it looks like and feels like. Design is how it works.” — Steve Jobs

In previous design thinking articles, we explored the different models of design thinking including the IDEO model, d.school model, and IBM design thinking  model. Most of these models share the target of achieving innovation through three main factors:

design thinking innovation

User Desirability . The product should satisfy the consumer’s needs by solving everyday problems through a user-centered process. This can be achieved through a deep understanding of the user and through an empathic design process, which can only be achieved by putting ourselves in the shoes of our consumers (using tools such as an empathic persona map ).

Market Viability . Successful products require an integrated marketing strategy that identifies the target segment and builds the product brand in accordance with this target segment. Tools such as the business model canvas can help our understanding of the project and create a business strategy for it. Also, tools such as the SWOT analysis allows us to understand the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats of the specified product.

Technology Possibility . Technology provides state-of-art tools for designers to innovate and build products that meet today’s needs. Technology should be adopted through the development process, including the prototyping stage where a visual presentation of the product is made to the team.

Think Different!

After Steve Jobs returned to Apple in 1997 (upon Apple’s acquisition NeXT), he started to apply the design thinking characteristics discussed above, which reflected his vision for Apple products. The vision discussed below was used to form Apple’s strategy from 1997 until today. Steve Jobs applied design thinking by focusing on:

  • People’s needs and desires, rather than only the needs of the business
  • Building empathy by helping people to love Apple products
  • The design rather than the engineering work; designers consider both the form and the function of the product
  • Building simple yet user-friendly products rather than complex hard-to-use products

The vision characterized above can be clearly identified in modern Apple products. Although other competitors focus on the features and product capabilities, Apple focuses on a holistic user experience.  For example, the iMac is renowned for being quiet, having a quick wake-up, better sound, and a high-quality display. This vision was formed in Apple’s development strategy that includes:

Apple iMac

Excellence in Execution

In this part, Steve tended to improve the execution process by closing 2 divisions, eliminating 70% of the new products and focusing on the higher potential products, reducing the product lines from 15 to just 3, and shutting facilities to move manufacturing outside the company. Apple also launched a website for direct sale of its products and started to take an interest in materials and how products are manufactured within a consumer-driven culture.

Platform Strategy

Apple streamlined their product portfolio to a family of products that can be produced  much more quickly while keeping the existing design elements. Also, the company targeted product that require less repair and maintenance.

Iterative Customer Involvement

The consumer experience should be integrated into the design and development stages through participating in usability testing. Also, the design for interfaces should focus on the user experience.

Beautiful Products

In addition to the function of the product, the form should beautiful, which can be achieved through continuous innovation and development. Apple also focused on the materials and manufacturing process and took a bold approach to trying new ideas rather than sticking with the ordinary design forms.

Apple’s history with innovation provides a clear lesson about how design and innovation can turn company failure to market success and a leading position in a competitive market. Design thinking helped Apple to innovate while placing their consumers at the heart of the process. The period that Steve Jobs was absent from Apple demonstrates that copying others and lacking a clear innovation strategy can lead companies directly from success to failure. On the other hand, innovation can definitely help build a successful business.

Dr Rafiq Elmansy

I'm an academic, author and design thinker, currently teaching design at the University of Leeds with a research focus on design thinking, design for health, interaction design and design for behaviour change. I developed and taught design programmes at Wrexham Glyndwr University, Northumbria University and The American University in Cairo. Additionally, I'm a published book author and founder of Designorate.com. I am a fellow for the Higher Education Academy (HEA), the Royal Society of Arts (FRSA), and an Adobe Education Leader. I write Adobe certification exams with Pearson Certiport. My design experience involves 20 years working with clients such as the UN, World Bank, Adobe, and Schneider. I worked with the Adobe team in developing many Adobe applications for more than 12 years.

apple product development case study

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apple product development case study

Inside the Apple product development cycle

apple product development case study

Today, Apple CEO Tim Cook will speak at an ‘innovation event’ at the company’s headquarters in Cupertino, California. The buzz surrounding the iconic technology and design company’s autumnal announcements is deserved, as the event often heralds the release of the sort of consumer electronic goods that change the way consumers behave for the next decade. 

Not that all Apple keynotes (or innovation events as they’re called now) are created equal. Steve Jobs’ iconic announcement of the first iPhone (in which he explained to the audience what a smartphone was, and then trolled the audience with this picture) was epoch changing. In the 12 years, smartphone adoption has changed everything. 

Whether or not today’s announcement will rival Jobs’ famous keynote remains to be seen (although the general consensus seems to be ‘probably not’). Nevertheless, a slew of sleek new Apple products can shape consumer buying habits for years to come, so it’s definitely worth tuning in. 

The most likely topic of the event is predicted to be the launch of the iPhone 11, which is expected to have a more powerful processor, a better camera and improved facial recognition technology - among other things. While Apple keeps guards the secrets of its production process more closely than some countries guard their nuclear launch codes, and has bought more startups than you’ve had hot dinners, Gigabit has pulled together what we know about the process of turning a designer’s first sketch into the next piece of must have consumer gadgetry. As Apple prepares to unveil the new, more powerful and feature-packed iPhone, here’s what we know about how the company put it together. 

The two year cycle

“This is a day I’ve been looking forward to for two and a half years,” said Jobs, walking out onto the stage in 2007. Obviously, designing and manufacturing a revolutionary smartphone from scratch is going to take longer than building its 22nd iteration with more than a decade of experience and infinitely greater resources - not to mention the iPhone One wasn’t finished at the time of the 2007 keynote - but it’s a decent ballpark figure, and matches up with the fact that from versions two through six, Apple’s development strategy centred around the ‘tick-tock’ method, where a tick year saw a new device, followed by an S (or otherwise enhanced) version around 12 months later. 

This pattern has shifted somewhat in recent years, and it would seem that a new iPhone makes its way to stores every year. This could still mean Apple is operating two asynchronous two year development cycles, but again, it’s a very secretive company. 

Design first 

According to a book Inside Apple: How America’s most Admired and Secretive Company Really Works by Adam Lashinsky, the technique that keeps Apple’s reputation for impeccable design and user centricity is remarkably simple: treat the designers like royalty and don’t let the finance department anywhere near them. At the time of writing, Apple’s chief designer was Jony Ive ( these days he makes solid diamond rings with Marc Newson ) who, along with his design team, reportedly “do not report to finance, manufacturing, etc. They are given free rein to set their own budgets and are given the ability to ignore manufacturing practicalities.” 

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Flourishing in isolation 

When Apple selects a design team to work on a new product, that team is (sometimes physically) divided from the rest of the company. “The team is also removed from the traditional Apple hierarchy at this point. They create their own reporting structures and report directly to the executive team. This leaves them free to focus on design rather than day-to-day minutiae.”

Rinse and repeat

Apple’s famously outsourced manufacturing process is also very incremental. Once the design is sent to be manufactured, it is then tested, reviewed, redesigned and built again in cycles that last anywhere from four to six weeks and may be repeated many times over a design cycle. “This is a very costly approach but it’s one of the reasons that Apple has a reputation for quality.”

Management strategies at scale 

This remarkable and secretive strategy served Apple spectacularly over the years, but increased production capacity, broadening ranges of products and accelerating production schedules in the last three years point to some radical changes behind the scenes.  

As Apple has scaled over the last decade (thanks largely to iPhone sales) the company has restructured its design process. John Carter and Jeanne Bradford, management consultants at TCGen Inc, spoke of the challenges they faced transforming the company’s design and manufacturing process as continuous scaling became a major goal and hurdle for the software giant. “Even billion dollar companies aren’t perfect. Just as often, and potentially more, they face internal problems because they can’t see the bigger picture,” wrote Carter. “The managers were weighed down with attempting to invent the wheel and putting out the day to day fires the other product teams were causing. Apple struggled to achieve their largest goal, scaling up. After their fourth attempt at identifying the product development best practices, myself and my colleague Jeanne Bradford were brought on to find the golden intersection between idea and creation.”  

The structure that Carter and Bradford presented to Apple centered around boundary conditions, in an effort to promote team autonomy. 

“Boundary conditions are a contract between the teams and management. At the start of each project, the team and management negotiate a contract around approximately five dimensions of a project:

Product Cost

Reliability

Each boundary condition identifies the big, bold aspiration the team has for its project. The team and management then agree on quantitative thresholds for each of the boundary conditions. For example, a target cost for the product at retail or a “no later than” date for delivery of a product being shown at a trade show.

The success of the boundary conditions process lies in defining a quantitative metric for each dimension. As long as each team expects to remain within its pre-defined boundary conditions, upper management leaves the team alone. If the team predicts they are going to cross a boundary, called a boundary break, then they have an escalation process. This process is the out-of-bounds process.

There are two solutions for an out-of-bounds process.

One : The team sends an email to management proposing the solution to the boundary break. If management agrees to the teams solution, a new quantitative metric is agreed upon and the team proceeds as was.

Two : If management doesn’t agree to the team’s solution, then a meeting is held. Management and the team will come to an agreement and create a new quantitative metric as their target.

After the out-of-bounds review is complete, the team and management continue as they were. This approach ensures teams don’t get micromanaged and provides a clear escalation path if projects don’t go according to plan.”

This approach was reportedly accepted by Apple and has allowed the company to continue scaling at an impressive rate. While we may never know exactly is going on inside Apple HQ, this is our best guess at the shape of the journey that the new iPhone 11 in on towards an Apple Store near you. Or maybe it isn’t. If history has taught us anything it’s that Apple isn’t afraid of changing the game. 

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Apple Inc. in 2020

  • Format: Print
  • | Language: English
  • | Pages: 31

About The Author

apple product development case study

David B. Yoffie

Related work.

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Apple Inc. in 2020 – Select Market Data

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Beloved Brands logo

Apple case study: How Steve Jobs built Apple around simplicity

Graham Robertson, Founder of Beloved Brands

Graham Robertson, Founder of Beloved Brands

Brand Toolkit

Our Apple case study starts with 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗱𝗮𝘆 𝗦𝘁𝗲𝘃𝗲 𝗝𝗼𝗯𝘀 𝗿𝗲𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗻𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗼 𝗔𝗽𝗽𝗹𝗲. This is the starting point that 𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗻𝘀𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗺𝗲𝗱 𝗔𝗽𝗽𝗹𝗲 𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗼 𝗼𝗻𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗼𝗱𝗮𝘆’𝘀 𝗺𝗼𝘀𝘁 𝗮𝗱𝗺𝗶𝗿𝗲𝗱 𝗯𝗿𝗮𝗻𝗱 s . Steve Jobs recognized that consumers were frustrated by how all the other technology brands designed their products in a lab without any thought for the consumer. Steve Jobs made the most significant contribution to the Apple brand strategy by starting with the consumer experience and then working back to the technology. The Apple brand positioning builds everything around the idea that “Apple makes technology so simple that everyone can be part of the future.” 

Moreover, we witnessed the most incredible decade that any company has ever seen, with Apple launching iTunes, iPod, iMac, the MacBook Pro, MacBook Air, iPhone, and the iPad. 

If you are a marketer looking to improve your knowledge by looking at what Apple has done so well, our Apple case study will teach plenty of lessons for using a brand idea to inspire and steer everyone who works on the brand. At every step of the Apple brand strategy, we will provide a link to click on and learn how the process can work on your brand. 

If you are a fan of Apple, click on this link to view their best store locations: Apple Store locations . Or come see some of their best advertising: Apple Advertising . 

How Steve Jobs built the Apple brand strategy around simplicity

Building the Apple brand

Our Apple case study will show how to develop Apple’s brand positioning statement and plan . Then, I will show how Steve Jobs pushed to stretch their “simplicity” brand idea across their company. Everyone who works behind the scenes knows their role in delivering simplicity.

Simplicity drives all Apple advertising. 

In the 1980s, Apple started with “technology for the rest of us” when they took on IBM. And they continued that attack with “I’m a Mac” ads that took on Microsoft. Simplicity drives Apple’s innovation. Steve Jobs pushed for great advertising. 

The beauty of Apple is how they take complex technology and simplify it so consumers can do more with Apple products. 

The Apple brand strategy even drives their retail stores. Their Genius bar helps answer technology questions. They allow consumers to play with their products. Apple salespeople are trained to avoid “geek speak.” 

The return of Steve Jobs

After Steve Jobs returned in 1997, he shifted the focus to rebuilding around the  brand idea of “Apple makes technology so simple that everyone can be part of the future.” Jobs came in with a consumer-first approach in a market dominated by an obsession with gadgets, bits, and bytes. At the heart of our Apple case study is the use of the brand idea of simplicity and its impact on the brand strategy.

Steve Jobs view on simplicity

Undoubtedly, simplicity is one of the values Steve Jobs held very close to his heart. For example, he built simplicity into everything Apple did and everything it stood for. Even over the last decade, Apple is still following the Steve Jobs playbook.

Apple Brand Positioning

The apple brand positioning builds everything behind the “simplicity” brand idea..

We use our consumer benefit ladder to find differentiation. Importantly, turn your brand’s features into consumer benefits. Stop thinking about what your brand does. And, start thinking about what your consumer gets. That’s when the Apple brand positioning statement comes alive.

Functional consumer benefits.

To help brand leaders kickstart their brand positioning work, I have created 12 functional zones that expand to over 50 potential functional benefits. For instance, as you look through the list, gravitate to the functional benefits you think will fit your consumers’ needs and differentiate your brand by looking for words where your brand does it better than competitors. While you might start with our words, try to layer in your own creative language with the specific category or consumer language.

Emotional consumer benefits.

Below is a list of 40 potential emotional benefits that help build an emotional brand positioning statement that differentiates your brand. Importantly, you want to own one emotional space in the consumer’s heart as much as you own the rational space in the consumer’s mind.

Functional Benefit Cheatsheet

To illustrate, click on our Consumer Benefit Cheatsheet to build the  Apple brand positioning . 

Choosing the right benefit clusters for Apple

Using our brand positioning process, the Apple brand positioning narrows in on the brand’s potential benefit clusters of the functional and emotional benefits. 

What Apple does: best features

  • Intuitive and easy to use:  Apple allows everyone to do more and get more from their devices.
  • Stylish designs: Fashion-forward designed so that people want to show them off. 
  • Integrated technology: All   devices, software, and services work harmoniously, enhancing user experience.
  • Fresh innovation: Apple   customers always have access to cutting-edge features and advancements.

What Apple consumers get: functional benefits

  • Simplifies your life:  Hassle free, easier to use, integrated.
  • Sensory Appeal: Touch/feel, subconscious, and style. 
  • Experience:  Responsiveness, rituals, and service.

How Apple consumers feel: emotional benefits

  • Feel free:  Alive, excited, exhilarating.
  • Get noticed: Cool, trendy, popular, and playful. 
  • Optimism:  Successful, inspired, and motivated.

Apple Brand Positioning

To illustrate, click on our Consumer Benefit ladder we use   to build the  Apple brand positioning . 

Apple Brand positioning statement

Once everything is settled, the overall Apple brand positioning statement focuses on simplifying technology to help you feel smarter so you can do more with every device.

Brand Positioning Statement example for Steve Jobs

To illustrate, click on the  Apple Brand Positioning Statement . You can zoom in, download it, or share it. 

Beloved Brands Playbook

Old school brand positioning vs new school

When brand positioning began in the 1970s and 80s, the goal was to stay single-minded and focused and even get down to one word. For example, Volvo was about SAFETY. I still believe in that thinking for marketing communications.  If all Volvo does is “safety,” no one would pay $50,000 to $70,000 USD for their cars. The additional benefits earn extra money for the comfortable leather seats, stylish design, and high-quality radio.

However, as brands have matured, the brand positioning should drive product innovation, the purchase moment, and the ideal consumer experience. One word might not be enough.  Now, we can see brands can own a cluster of benefits. 

Below, we can see the cluster of benefits, both functional and emotional, to create a word cloud for Apple. These words can show up as support communications to the ‘simplicity’ idea. Moreover, these words should appear in product design, in-store layout, people management, and consumer experience. These words should drive every part of the Apple brand strategy. 

Cluster of Consumer Benefits that steer the Apple Brand Strategy

To illustrate, click on our Cluster of Consumer Benefits that   we use   to build the  Apple brand positioning . 

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Our marketing training makes your marketers smarter with brand analytics, strategic thinking, brand positioning, brand plans, and marketing execution. 

Building Apple's brand idea

Everyone seems to call the short-form description of a brand by different names; brand DNA, big idea, brand essence or shout from the mountain. I keep it simple by calling it the brand idea. To win in the marketplace, your brand idea must be interesting, simple, unique, inspiring, motivating, and ownable. 

I created a brand idea blueprint with five ideas that surround it.

On the internal brand soul side, describe the products and services and the cultural inspiration, which is the internal rallying cry to everyone who works on the brand. On the external brand reputation side, define the ideal consumer reputation and the reputation among necessary influencers or partners. The brand role acts as a bridge between the internal and external sides.

brand idea for Apple based on brand positioning steve jobs Apple case study

To illustrate, click on the  Apple   Brand Idea  we use   to build upon the  Apple brand positioning . 

The Apple case study uses the brand idea for Apple is “making technology so simple that everyone can be part of the future.” Most importantly, Steve Jobs insisted they take a consumer-first mentality as they transformed leading technology advancements into “consumer-accessible” technology, helping fuel the perception among the mass audience that Apple is an innovative leader. 

Apple brand idea map

To illustrate, click on the  Apple   Brand Idea Map  we use   to build upon the  Apple brand positioning . 

Beloved Brands Mini MBA

Our apple case study is part of our beloved brands mini mba. take a look..

Below is an example video (30 minutes) from our Beloved Brands Mini MBA. We use the Apple case study to demonstrate the Apple brand positioning tools.  

To view the Beloved Brands Mini MBA video , use the   ▶️  button to play.  

Apple's Brand Key Model

A Brand Key model is a tool from consumer marketing that allows marketers to lay out their brand’s unique selling proposition (USP) elements on one page. This article will go through the Brand Key model explained with nine elements that build the USP. And, with each element, we will show you the work you need to do. 

Below is the Brand Key example for the Apple brand. It brings to life Apple’s unique selling proposition of simplicity. To read more on brand key models, click this link: Using a Brand Key Model to Define your Brand’s USP.

Brand Key Example for Apple bringing their unique selling proposition to life under steve jobs

To illustrate, click on the  Apple   Brand Key  we use   to express the  Apple brand positioning . 

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Use Apple's brand idea as a lens to see the problems not delivering

Apple has done a great job taking that simple brand idea and stretching it across its brand story through advertising and its innovation plan (as they have entered many new technology categories). 

They have also used their brand idea to guide how they manage the purchase moment (to make sure their retail outlets are easy for consumers) and how they create happy experiences. And, when they don’t nail the ideal consumer experience, they go out of their way to help. They also have the genius bar and on-site lessons, which help increase consumers’ knowledge.

The other beauty of having a crystal clear brand idea is that everything that goes against that brand idea almost acts like an obvious virus. Below are four examples of where Apple is missing out on “simplicity,” which puts the brand idea at risk. Above all, these should trigger action plans to build into your brand plan. In pointing out these flaws within our Apple case study, I am yet to see Apple take action. 

I wonder what Steve Jobs would think of these flaws.

Apple flaws

To illustrate, click on the  Apple Case Study diagram to show where they go aga inst the Apple brand positioning.  

Apple brand strategy

How the five elements of smart strategic thinking sets up apple's famous turnaround plan:, 1. set a vision of what you want..

To start our Apple case study, their vision is to make it easy for everyone to be part of technology in the future. The main issue was creating brand fans and then mobilizing them to spread the word to the masses.

2. Invest resources in a strategic program.

Next, Apple invested and aligned everything behind the Apple brand positioning and brand idea: “Apple makes technology so simple; everyone can be part of the future.” They use this brand idea at every touchpoint, including the brand positioning, communication, innovation, purchase moment, and experience.

3. Focus on an identified opportunity.

For decades, Apple consistently focused on empathizing with—and taking advantage of—the consumer’s frustration with technology. In the 1980s, they attacked IBM’s personal computers as too complicated. In 2005, they used “I’m a Mac, and I’m a PC” advertising to attack Microsoft. Each time, it used its “consumer-first” mentality to transform leading-edge technology into accessible consumer technology.

4. Leverage a breakthrough market impact.

Above all, the Apple brand strategy takes a fast-follower stance that takes current technology and makes it simple to use. Every platform, including desktops, laptops, phones, watches, tablets, and music streaming, delivers the brand idea of simplicity. They deploy high-profile launch hype to use vocal advocates to spread the word to their friends.

5. Performance result that pays back.

Most importantly, Apple created a consumer bond with its brand fans to enter new categories. On top of that, it is now the most beloved consumer-driven brand, with premium prices, stronger market share, sales, and profits. The Apple brand strategy used brand love to help drive a remarkable 40x revenue growth over ten years, skyrocketing from $5.7 billion in 2005 to $240 billion in 2015. This rapid growth helps cover the high costs of advertising and R&D, giving them very healthy operating margins, up over 35%. All this strategic effort has increased their market capitalization by over $1 trillion.

Apple Strategic Thinking bringing Steve Jobs strategy to life Apple Brand Strategy

To illustrate, click on the  Apple Brand Strategy diagram . You can zoom in, download it, or share it. 

Marketing Training Ad

Apple brand plan

We are going to build out a Brand Strategy Roadmap that can steer the brand for the next three to five years. And, we’ll show a one-page Annual Brand Plan. We’ll show the rough brand plan work you can do. 

Apple Brand Strategy Roadmap Steve Jobs

To illustrate, click on the  Apple Brand Strategy Roadmap . You can zoom in, download it, or share it. 

The rough brand plan for Apple

With the Apple case study, our strategic thinking model sets up the core elements of the Apple brand strategy:

Apple wants everyone in the world to be part of the future.

Continue aggressive sales growth, geographic expansion into China, and launch a major new consumer-friendly technology each year.

Key issues: 

  • How do we convey Mac’s superior user experience versus the traditional PC? 
  • How do we enter the music industry and increase the availability of online music to support our iPod?

Strategies: 

  • Apple will launch a full communications assault to challenge the PC/Microsoft Windows dominant position by finding flaws in the PC to contrast with Mac computers’ simplicity to steal significant market share by enticing frustrated PC consumers to buy a Mac. 
  • Apple will launch a full assault against the entire music industry with a disruptive innovator stance to show how iTunes provides higher quality digital music on your iPod much cheaper, faster, and smarter than CDs to gain an entry point into the music industry.
  • TV advertising to highlight new features and challenge competitors. 
  • Launch innovation each year, including phones, tablets, online music, watches, and personal computers. 
  • Launch specific products for China. Increase retail space around the world. Build out the e-commerce program.

Apple Strategic Plan Apple Brand Strategy

To illustrate, click on the Apple Brand Plan example that brings the Apple brand positioning to life.

Beloved Brands playbook

Apple advertising

Advertising has delivered “simplicity” since the 1970s.

Apple’s advertising has been relatively consistent for over 40 years and incredibly connected with consumers. As Steve Jobs was launching Apple, the early print ads of the 1970s talked about how we designed the computer, so you don’t have to worry about the details. 

How Steve Jobs built Apple around simplicity

Steve Jobs pushed for the “1984” TV ad for the Mackintosh launch that spoke about freedom from machines. Although the message was a little ahead of its time, it fit with simplicity. Above all, the brilliance of the side-by-side “I’m a Mac, and I’m a  PC” TV ads epitomized the brand idea by making the PC seem overly complicated and frustrating while setting up the Mac as the simple alternative. These ads really express the Apple brand positioning statement.

Take a look at some of "I'm a Mac" TV ads. Enjoy!

To illustrate, click the ▶️ button to see the  Apple brand advertising that brings the Apple brand positioning to life . 

Our best case studies

Explore how these real-world examples demonstrate the effectiveness of our brand management tools. Click on the logo to read the case study.

Apple innovation

Building product innovation around simplicity.

Apple has taken many failed technology ideas like online music, tablets, or mp3 players and turned them into consumer-friendly platforms such as iTunes, iPads, and iPods. With each new product, Apple uses launch hype to generate excitement to spark the enthusiasm of the early adopters who spread the word. Also, Apple has successfully taken its cherished brand fans into new categories. 

The combination of Johnny Ives and Steve Jobs created many great Apple products. 

Learn how to make innovation decisions.

Apple product Innovation steve jobs and johnny ives

Video on Apple's product innovation philosophy

To view the Apple brand innovation  philosophy  use the   ▶️  button to play.  

Marketing Training

Apple retail

Purchasing apple products is very simple, including its own retail store experience.

Retail stores are a significant part of the Apple Case Study.

Steve Jobs saw a vision for retail to help Apple use simplicity to manage the purchase moment through its retail stores, ensuring the experience is simple and straightforward. All staff carry a credit card machine and complete the transaction very quickly. No lines or cash registers. 

Simplicity shines through the store layout, with the genius bar for one-on-one tech questions and support and the training area to teach classes. The brand also displays every Apple product to allow consumers to take them for a test drive. It’s all about delivering the consumer experience that Steve Jobs loved so much.

apple retail layout at the purchase moment steve jobs

To illustrate, click on the  Apple Store  Layout.  You can zoom in, download it, or share it. 

Even when Apple products are in other stores, the brand has used its power with that retailer to create a distinct store-within-a-store concept, which replicates a similar look and experience from Apple’s retail locations. Look at a few of those beautiful store locations below, or go to our article by clicking this link: Beautiful Apple stores.

Fifth Avenue Apple store in NYC

Apple Fifth Avenue 1

Tower Theater Apple store in LA

Beautiful Apple Store Location

To illustrate, click on the  Apple Store  examples.  You can zoom in, download it, or share it. 

Apple in Singapore

Apple Singapore

Milan Apple store

Apple store location in Milan Italy

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Our Beloved Brands Mini MBA program

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With our Beloved Brands Mini MBA, you get 36 training videos that allow you to learn at your own pace. We provide key chapters from our Beloved Brands Playbook and a Brand Management Workbook with exercises to try in real-time. Earn a certificate you can use on your resume or LinkedIn profile. 

Apple consumer experience

Obsessing about the consumer experience.

As Steve Jobs famously said, “You have to start with the customer experience and work backward to the technology.” Apple even believes opening your Apple products should be like unwrapping a gift. 

Steve Jobs wanted the consumer to be able to use any Apple product right away rather than spending hours loading software or setting up their machine. Regarding product integration, Apple products work together, and they work the same way, which makes it very simple for consumers when they move from one Apple product to another.

Next time you are in a brainstorming session, try to think like Steve Jobs. 

Apple Consumer Experience based on Steve Jobs

To illustrate, click on the  Apple Consumer Experience .  You can zoom in, download it, or share it. 

Apple brand loyalty

How apple's brand love leads to increased power.

As we continue our Apple case study, let’s look at the power and profit Apple generates through brand love. 

As they achieved an extremely tight bond with loyal followers, they used the tight consumer bond to generate brand power that they quietly wield in the market. Apple’s retail network generates twice the sales per square foot of any retailer worldwide, yet it is a very soft-sell environment. 

I was recently on a double-decker bus tour of New York City, and when the bus went past the 5th Avenue Apple flagship store, half the bus stood up to take a photo. And they have such power over the supplier network with an array of engineers following extremely tight procedures. 

Also, they have power over the media, generating over $2 billion worth of free media each year. Moreover, Apple fans often want to work at Apple, giving up lucrative jobs to be part of the brand.

Smartphone loyalty scores

Below, we can see the loyalty scores of the various smartphones. Apple leads the way with over 90% loyalty, moving from one model to the next. Samsung’s loyalty is below 70%. And LG has fallen to 32%. At LG’s level, you constantly need to source new consumers. That’s an extremely expensive way to manage your brand. 

Apple Case Study, brand love brand loyalty steve jobs

To illustrate, click on the  Apple Case Study diagram .  You can zoom in, download it, or share it. 

Whoever says loyalty does not exist has not talked with Apple consumers. Apple significantly outperforms its competitors and uses that loyalty to drive future sales. 

Apple's prices continue to increase

As Apple’s loyalty holds strong, they can increase their prices with each model. Loyal consumers are less price sensitive. This translates the Apple brand strategy into added profits. Steve Jobs used hype marketing to create a very tight bond with consumers. 

Explaining the Apple brand

We can see how Apple uses power over its consumers to increase prices each year. Their iPhones deliver 40% profit margins, 4x higher than their competitor’s profits. 

The power of the Apple brand

How apple's brand power leads to increased profit.

The Apple brand strategy extrapolates the power they generate into profit , with their incredible financial performance over the last 15 years. And they generate significant price premiums, relatively lower cost of goods, and moderate marketing spend ratios. Most importantly, this keeps their margins healthy for a technology firm. 

Furthermore, Apple has entered many new categories over the past 15 years. Each time, their army of loyal fans has followed, moving into laptops, phones, tablets, and the music business. In each segment, they continue to gain market share to drive volumes. 

Finally, the higher margins and volumes make for a beautiful profit statement. 

Apple profitability

Apple profit

We can use our eight ways that a brand can drive profit to see the impact of the magic of the Apple brand on profits. Apple uses price, cost control, entry into new categories, and driving market share in each category.  

Even though Apple gives the perception of an extremely friendly brand that is on the side of the consumer, they are now a huge mass market corporate brand, with a market capitalization of $500-600 billion, which is 2-3 times the value of companies like Coke, Procter & Gamble, Pfizer, and IBM. 

So, if you invested a mere $10,000 in 2005, you would have $240,000 a decade later. The Apple case study is indeed a glorious look at the vision of Steve Jobs.

How Steve Jobs built Apple around simplicity

To conclude our case study, we can see how Apple uses its brand strategy to drive loyalty, revenue, and profitability each year. Their P&L is a thing of beauty. 

Apple turns their brand love into higher power and profits

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Table of Contents

Apple target audience , marketing strategy of apple, 5 key takeaways from apple marketing strategy, a case study on apple marketing strategy.

A Case Study on Apple Marketing Strategy

Breaking through with several inventions in the world of technology, Apple Inc. has been carving infinite milestones ever since its inception. Even though its innovations speak for themselves, this highly-valued giant corporation has invested heavily in its marketing team to soar high up as a tech maestro. Apple Inc. realized the role of brand marketing in the success of a venture from the start as a crucial way to connect with its target audience. This brand's marketing is so vigorously carried out and well-thought that it is often an inspiration and a place of research for marketing professionals. Here we bring you a well-curated case study on Apple's marketing strategy, the key takeaways to learn from this venture, and how to incorporate the same in your business and marketing strategies. 

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To understand its key strategies for marketing Apple products, let's first understand what Apple's target audience is like. Apple's target audience consists of middle-class and upper-class users who can pay higher for products that provide them with an incredible user experience. This means that these users have a higher disposable income and are willing to pay more for as high-priced products as Apple's. 

Let's take a look at Apple's target audience with this comprehensive analysis sourced from Business Research Methodology's report on Apple Segmentation :

Besides this primary classification, Apple also explicitly targets professionals working in specialized software like music, video, photography and all kinds of design careers. These working professionals prefer Adobe’s Final Cut, Photoshop and related editing software which work well with Macbooks and IPads than other operating systems. 

Even better, business professionals prefer Apple products such as iPods and Macbooks for their day-to-day work. Products like iPads and Macbooks are lighter and portable, so they are often selected by students (upper-class), educational institutions and teaching. 

Now coming to the marketing strategy of Apple, it is a combination of well-designed products with the right user experience, promotional campaigns, distribution, and pricing. Let’s take a look at all these features of Apple marketing strategy in detail:

Focus on Finer User Experience

Apple’s branding strategy is based on its stylish, more straightforward and lush products that focus on providing a user interface that is very simple to use and learn. They are lighter, easy to carry as well as durable. This minimal look and user experience makes it a perfect sell to its target audience, which comes from the middle to upper class.

Suave Yet Simple Advertising

Storytelling is such an essential part of every Apple ad as well as a marketing campaign. Often these ads focus on minimal design as well as high-quality images. They are either blended with music or a simple story. Apple consciously ensures that its advertising and marketing don’t use too much jargon or filler language in its ads. Instead, it shines a light on the product to let it speak for itself without showing what the price is like or using complicated words for its features.

Targeting the Right Markets

Apple is excellent at tapping into its target audiences like a genuine tech witch who knows their aspirations, preferences and pain points! Its market research is always on-point and crystal clear in its products, curation, and features. 

Here are the major critical takeaways from Apple Marketing Strategy:

  • Tapping into your target markets and audience is the key to curating and selling user experiences that value the preferences of its people. 
  • With simplicity and finesse in design, the right products with minimal designs and features can create a perfect impact for your brand.
  • Incorporating emotion in your advertising and marketing can also help you connect with your audience better. 
  • Don’t exaggerate the copy and conceptualizing of your advertising and marketing campaigns and prefer the “less is more” approach. Create shorter yet emotional and empathetic ads to captivate your target audience.
  • When you create an international brand value through quality and minimal, sophisticated design, you don’t need to compete in terms of price. Instead, your price will set you apart for your user experience and design features.
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Apple Case Study

Executive summary, introduction, measuring capability performance, options, recommendations and implementations, list of references.

Since Apple was established in mid 1970s, its popularity has become immense especially in computer technology industry. Its full potential was realised when it shifted its focus from marketing and promotion of computer products to development of innovative industrial design in modern electronics, unique hardwares, operation system and application softwares and services. It provides customers with new products and solutions that are easy to use and seamless integration.

The relevant competitive models chosen for this assessment includes the Michael Porte’s five forces such as entry of competition, threats to substitutes, bargaining power, power of suppliers and rivalry, SWOT and Industrial analysis as well as micro analysis in order to assess Apple Inc. strategic capabilities and suggest future directions for the business. Apple assessment also analyses the results of a study presented to examine how it utilises customer satisfaction data obtained from formal feedback mechanism.

Company background

Apple was founded in 1970s by Steven Jobs who then became the company CEO. Apple first started as a computer company in 1976 and was fast recognised for its intuitive adaptation approach of graphical user interface that saw the adoption of the first mouse and first onscreen windows.

Steven Job innovative approach focused more on specialised products and by 2001, its full inventions came into play with the introduction of iPod, a product that ranked top in the market leader in music players. Eventually, iPhone came into play in 2008, followed by iMac, iPad and iTunes which have also been widely successful. This meant that electronic products combined with eminent good customer support throughout its product base were slowly becoming the company’s primary objectives.

Summary of Macro Analysis

Macro analysis also known as PESTLE is an analysis of the external macro environment in which a business operates. PESTEL analysis includes factors such as political, economic, social, technological, legal and environmental issues. For a detailed analysis, the following table illustrates the macro environment of Apple Inc:

Apple Case Analysis

Apple ranged top in customer satisfaction with phone-based technical support, feedback, face-to-face communication, email communication, and information exchange in the American Consumer Satisfaction index (ASCI) in the second quarter of 2009. These companies were credited for offering the best technical customer satisfaction service within the Personal Computers category with a base score of 77 on a 100 point scale and earned 83 points in the second quarter of 2006.

Business analysts have argued that the companies’ ability to focus on product innovation and customer satisfaction has won the company loyal customers compared to other PC vendors. Quality of customer service is always the determining factor for success of any company and not its products, and the three companies for this case have gained tremendously from such strategy.

Van Amburg, the managing director of the American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI) argues that customers from other service providers were very frustrated with company’s customer service despite the quality of its PC hence loss of loyal customers and the services continued to deteriorate as years went by (Moore & Knight 2010; Keizer 2009).

In ensuring quality satisfaction in information collection, Apple launched Consumer Privacy Policy that ensured the collection, use and disclosure of personal information regarding customer issues are kept at optimum security. The company pledges to safeguard personal information collected when visiting the company’s website, purchase of products and services and when a customer calls the sales team or support associates.

Personal information collected here is aimed at helping the company deliver higher customer service and provide convenient access to company’s products and services. Information collected from customer’s reviews also helps the company implement and post the latest product announcement on special offers, software and events (Apple 2010; Levitan 2004; Prasaad 2009).

Summary of Industry Analysis

Porter’s analysis focuses on the threat of new entrants, bargaining power of suppliers and buyers, power of substitutes and rivals on profitability in an industry.

The following table presents Porter’s five forces analysis of the micro environment of Apple Inc.

The industry analysis of our company in the market displays strong competition in the computer technologies and electronics. Apple maintained its competitive edge by progressively innovating product designs and operational execution.

Its product lines were also diversified and supplied its products to retail stores and eliminated third-party retailers. The company also opened up to 247 stores including 19 internal locations averaging to $29.9 million in sales revenues. The company has numbers of loyal, & the customer base reports the permanent growth (Keizer 2009).

Suppliers have helped Apple diversify their products. Apple entered into a multi year agreement requiring its major key components that included dynamic random access memory DRAM, LCD displays, NAND flash memory and microprocessors that included partners such as Hynix Semi-conductor, Intel Corporation, Samsung, Micron Technology and Toshiba Corporation. It also partnered with other corporations internationally to ensure final assembly of its products are concentrated on quality issues (Keizer 2009).

On market research aspect, Apple was reported to collect personal information on various occasions for market research purposes. This information is aimed at gaining better understanding of customers needs, improve products and determine how best to provide useful information (Apple 2010; Hewlett-Packard Development Company 2010).

Apple partnered with other service vendors such as MobileMe and iTunes stores to help in collection of information by requiring customers to customer’s to create an “phone company ID” before purchase of products.

The ID is strategy is designed to help customers have easier access to web services and saves them time since they don’t have to give their personal information when requesting for services. The procedure requires creation of personal profiles by adding the name, phone number, email address or credit card number together with a suitable password that will be used to access the profile.

Once the signing up procedure is completed, the customer is allocated personal ID and a password that the system generates automatically. Therefore next time the customer enters the website to re-purchases products is welcomed by personal greetings by mentioning his name and is able to access up to date information regarding the product purchased which can be used wherever the client goes (Apple 2010).

In order to survive in the competitive environment, company’s have to device a number strategies to beat their competitors like changing the price of the product-which is in fact a temporary solution, improving product features- key to success, creatively using channels of distribution and exploiting relationship with suppliers. When we look at these examples, brand recognition seemed to cut down costs of advertisements.

On this perspective, Apple diversified to digital consumer electronics such as iPod, iPhone, iMac among others widened its product markets. Apple dominated computer markets introducing itself a premier provider of technology solutions for educators, web designers and graphic artists, to digital entrainment company. The software iPod was later integrated into windows version of iTunes making it easier for everyone one to purchase and use (Keizer 2009).

Apple introduction of feedback system and outreach programs enabled customers to report on defective machines and the company to attend to problems before they occur. For example, one of the Company’s products “iMac” was widely reported for to be giving clients problems and the company responded by giving 15% refund bonuses to all faulty 27 inch iMac in the UK and was also reported to extend $300 apologies to all its aggrieved customers in the US.

In resolving the issue, the company responded quickly by offering free repairs to all the affected machines and launched a support page where it described how minor problems could be resolved and the resulting warranty extension for each affected machine. The company also reimbursed customers who used their own money to repair the faulty machines and advised them take their drives to official Apple repair channels (Moore & Knight 2010; O’Reilly & Anderson 1980).

On bargaining power of suppliers’ aspect, Apple’s primary segments included America, Europe, Africa, Japan and Middle East and other retail divisions Italy, Canada and the United Kingdom. It offered its customers wide range of products and invested heavily on R&D year after year. Apple’s products were distributed all over US retail stores where customers could easily access and report of defective devices (Mank & Nystrom 2000, p.504).

Summary of Internal Analysis

Internal Analysis also known as SWOT analysis determines company’s competitors and develops sales & marketing strategies for the company that allow it to achieve its marketing & strategic objectives.

The SWOT Analysis of the Apple Inc. position in the market is necessary for the development of the marketing plan.

Resources Analysis

Amidst the financial crisis, Apple continued to introduce strongest products lines, with most talented employees and best customers with sales revenue totalling to $10 billion in quarterly revenue of 2009 and $25 billion in cash safety bank with zero debt. Demographic & socio-economical factors like population distribution changes & increase/decrease in income levels of social group also affected the company to a considerable extent (Apple reports 2008; Hesseldahl 2009).

Dynamic Capability Analysis

Dynamic analysis refers to the innovative strategies a firm employs to gain competitive advantage over its competitors. In other words, what Apple is doing different that sets it apart from other companies. For instance, the company has progressively applied technological advancement and business diversification over the years.

Apple continues to diversify its product line from PCs inventions, to iPods, iPhones, iTunes and other peripherals. Also, the 2007 smart phone technology that saw the integration of wireless phone, music player, video player as well as internet browsing demonstrated how the company continues to diversify in our markets (Apple reports 2008).

Strategic Capability Analysis

Apple’s strategy to integrate Intel-based iMac desktop and the MacBook Pro portable softwares increased its company’s market share. Also, the introduction of feedback system and outreach programs that enabled customers to report on defective machines seemed to have gained the company a competitive edge over its competitors. The company also introduced support centre strategically designed to attend to software problems before they occur (Apple reports 2008).

Apple’s recent merger with software developers and leading voice-entry technology providers demonstrated its strong command and reputation in information technology. However, Apple should take adequate time in testing its products before rushing to introduce them to the markets like case for MacBook Air that left many customers disappointed (Apple reports 2008).

Gap analysis and assessment of current strategy

Gap analysis is a methodology that helps a company identify gaps and decide upon marketing strategies and tactics. The company has moved beyond personal computer industry to music, videos, movies, and television. Diversification is in it itself a good marketing strategy, but the company should concentrate on development of quality products to cut down on increased numbers of defective products and recalls.

Apples hiring John Sculley from PepsiCo spearheaded marketing and operations of the company while Steven Job focused on technology that lead to the introduction of more creative products like Macintosh in 1984. The new CEO enabled breakthrough in electronic products in terms of elegant design and easy use. The company should employ the same strategy in future to in employing competent workforce that will turn boost company sales revenues.

How does strategy match the macro environment?

For Apple, there is a large gap between product strategy and socio-economic and demographic changes. Keeping in pace with technology helped the company gain competitive advantage over its competitors and the uniqueness of goods and services offered facilitated the further strengthening of market position. However, its inability to adjust to socio-economic and demographic changes might undermine its market position in future.

How does strategy match the industry environment?

Apple engaged in a head to head competition with Dell in the computer markets with company CEO Steve Jobs claiming that market shares weren’t everything. This statement is in itself contradictory since company’s engage in business activities for profits. Dell was able to dominate the markets due to its efficient supply chain management although Apple outperformed it in inventions and other metrics. Apple should look into fixing sufficient price flexibility and adjustment to socio-economic changes.

Since compatible software were introduced in the markets, IBM prices dropped and Apples costs for R&D were higher industry costs since the company spend a considerable amount of its sales revenue on R&D. Scully innovative efforts were not enough to sustain the company’s poor performance. Apple could have taken time to study its markets demands before heavily investing in unprofitable deals. Since Michael Spindler came into play in 1993 introducing PowerMac, Apple moved to price-performance edge.

The new CEO’s strategy was to let other companies manufacture Mac clones, a strategy that saw many clones stealing 20% of the Macintosh unit sales. For this case, Apple should be seeking a CEO that upholds their key capabilities and strengths, whilst being able to improve in other areas that are deficient (Mank & Nystrom 2000, p.501).

Apple’s current strategy of launching more new products to expand the markets should be sustained. However, the company should also try to promote its products through media advertising and offering products at discounted price to increase the satisfaction level of the customers. Apple never seemed to experience intense competition since it had strong market power and had the ability to introduce new products.

Its strategies to beat the markets severely stretched its budgets that amounted to further losses. For example, when Macintosh was first introduced in the markets quickly became people’s favourite with large graphics but had slow performance and could not be integrated with many softwares in the markets. NeXT Computer introduced after Macintosh proved costly and did not yield the company any profits. For this case, Apple should incorporate through market analysis to avoid sipping in market shares.

Apple., 2010, ‘ Apple Customer Privacy Policy ’. Web.

Apple reports fourth quarter results, 2008. Quarterly results. Web.

Hesseldahl, A., 2009. Apple’s impressive quarterly numbers . BusinessWeek. Web.

Hewlett-Packard Development Company, 2010. Overcoming the no. 1 challenge in data center transformation . Web.

Keizer, G., 2009. Apple still can strive, sans Job. Computer World, 56 (2), pp.1-4.

Levitan, B., 2004. Improving customer loyalty through proactive communication. Consumer Interaction Solution . Web.

Mank, D. & Nystrom, H., 2000. The relationship between R&D spending and shareholder returns in the computer industry. Management of Society Proceeding , 20, pp.501-504.

Moore, C. & Knight, D., 2010. Apple Retains Lead in Customer Satisfaction, iMac Screen Problem Resolved, 64 GB for Mac Pro and More . Web.

O’Reilly, C. & Anderson, J., 1980. Trust and the Communication of Performance Appraisal Information: The Effect of Feedback on Performance and Satisfaction. Human Communication Research , 6, pp.290-298.

Prasaad, S., 2009. Establishing successful customer relationships through effective communication: An Indian perspective. Marketing and Management Communication , 64, pp.1-71.

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50 Product Management Case Studies

We often wonder what kind of process other product teams have created, planned, and most importantly, how they have implemented it. That is why we at Producter have compiled 50 different case studies for you.

a year ago   •   4 min read

We often wonder what kind of process other product teams have created, planned, and most importantly, how they have implemented it.

That is why we at Producter have compiled 50 different case studies for you.

Brought to you by Roadmape

apple product development case study

1- Rules of Flow for Product Management: an AirBnB Case Study

“Engagement” is a term that is so overused in product management that it has almost lost its meaning. So often I’ve heard from teams, “We’ll measure the success of this test with engagement,” which could mean anything from feature click-through to bounce to we-aren’t-really-sure-this-will-drive-conversion-so-we’re-hedging-our-bet. Underneath, the reason this term has been co-opted and jargonized is that genuine, productive engagement can be ramped toward long-term customer loyalty. And loyalty pays off: a loyalty increase of 7% can boost lifetime profits per customer by as much as 85%, and a loyalty increase of 3% can correlate to a 10% cost reduction ( Brand Keys ).

an AirBnB Case Study

2- The Psychology of Clubhouse’s User Retention (...and churn)

Clubhouse’s User Retention

3- Netflix Q1 ’21 Subscriber Growth Miss: Can We Avoid Another One?

As a data analyst supporting a mobile subscription business , Netflix’s Q1 ’21 subscriber growth miss is a classic example of when I would get called for recommendations to prevent a miss in the future. I thought this would make an interesting case study to discuss my approach to finding insights to drive subscriber growth. Sadly I’m not a Netflix employee and will be limited to publicly available data but the wealth of information on the Internet about Netflix is sufficient to generate insights for this case study.

Netflix

4- Amazon Go Green

As part of the Design Challenge from productdesign.tips, our team came together to find ways for Amazon to encourage more sustainability on their e-commerce platform. As with any unsolicited design project, the challenge comes with a lack of access to application analytics and technical feasibilities. Nonetheless, the question remains: How might we design checkout screens for an e-commerce app to help people recycle the goods they buy?

Amazon Go

5- Quora Case Study – The Wonderful World of Quora

Quora has become a substantive resource for millions of entrepreneurs and one of the best sources for Business to Business market. Majorly used by writers, scholars, bloggers, investors, consultants, students this Q/A site has much to offer in terms of knowledge sharing, connection building and information gathering.

Quora

6- Building a product without any full-time product managers

kyte

Jambb is an emerging social platform where creators grow their communities by recognizing and rewarding fans for their support. Currently, creators monetize fan engagement through advertisements, merchandise, and subscriptions, to name a few. However, this only represents 1% of fans, leaving the other 99% (who contribute in non-monetary ways) without the same content, access, and recognition that they deserve.

Jambb

8- What if you can create Listening Sessions on Spotify

Summary: The project was done as a part of a user experience design challenge given to me by a company. I was given the brief by them to work on a feature of Spotify and I spent around 25–30 hours on the challenge in which I went through the entire process, from the research to testing.

Spotify

9- Redesigned Apple Maps and replicated an Apple product launch for it

Quick-fire question; what is the single most important and widely used feature in a phone — asides from texting and instant messaging friends, coworkers and family? Maybe you guessed right, perhaps this feature is so integrated into your life that you didn’t even think about it — either way, it is your phone’s GPS. It is reasonable to say that GPS technology has changed society’s lives in ways we never could’ve imagined. Gone are the days of using physically printed maps and almanacks, when we now have smartphones with navigation apps. Since the launch of the iPhone and the App Store, consumers have been able to use different apps for their personal navigation needs. Everyone has a preference, and apps have come out to try and address every need.

apple

10- Intuitive design and product-led growth

In 2018, Miro was hardly a blip on the radar in the Design world. Fast forward two years, and suddenly Miro is solidly the number one tool for brainstorming and ideation.

miro

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apple product development case study

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News / February 20 2024

How AI and New Tech Are Redefining Product Development

By Justin Heitzman

Keeping pace with the swift disruption of artificial intelligence (AI) and other trends in tech has proven to be a challenge across industries. Cornell Tech product and technology experts Keith Cowing and Josh Hartmann know firsthand how emerging technologies and attitude shifts can prompt radical changes in the world of product development.

The Product and Tech Leadership Summit , which will take place this September at Cornell Tech in New York City, is an immersive learning and networking experience for professionals who lead product teams. They will learn from industry leaders, AI researchers and expert Cornell faculty how to leverage transformation techniques to build high-performing products and tech teams. Cowing and Hartmann recently shared a preview of the Summit’s topics:

Use Available Tools and Understand New Opportunities

While the rapid pace of change in the product development space can feel overwhelming, Cowing and Hartmann suggest using existing tools rather than shying away from them. According to Hartmann, it is unlikely that ChatGPT represents the full reality of the AI-integrated future, but professionals should be familiar with it and other current tools. Familiarity can empower executives to create plans of action: “You can’t shift the entire enterprise all at once, but what are the pieces of the enterprise that you can start to move over?” asked Hartmann, chief practice officer for Cornell Tech.

Hartmann and Cowing agree that companies must continue the work to understand and harness the power of AI. Generative AI can perform data analysis and write code, potentially allowing the automation of complex processes such as optimizing web pages for mobile.

“Some companies are building as their product – they’re AI companies. Some will put AI in their product and augment what they do. And then some will just be more efficient with it, and that’s going to affect everybody,” said Cowing, a visiting lecturer at Cornell Tech.

Breakthroughs in spatial computing technology, led by Apple’s recently announced Vision Pro, also present a range of critical product development opportunities and obstacles. “It’s too early to know if the vision – pun intended – is going to stand up. If it does, then we’re also going to see major reskilling required in our teams,” Hartmann said.

Focus on the Customer

A shift toward customer-focused strategy is driving change in the product development industry. Airbnb, for example, has made sweeping changes to its product with the intent of improving the customer experience. For Cowing and Hartmann, AI carries the potential to accelerate such processes.

“How do we implement AI and build a tooling around it that will help our customers get the job done? And that’s the key … the sweet spot comes when you can integrate AI and build value and context around AI on behalf of your customer. You can use and apply your deep understanding of your customers’ needs and use AI as an accelerant, a force multiplier,” Hartmann said.

Make a Positive Impact

While recent advancements in AI and spatial computing create many new possibilities, they also prompt serious ethical questions. Hartmann and Cowing contend that the difference that these technologies create in the world will depend on the people who implement them.

“Somehow [we must create] the incentives in the system so that people want to do the right thing and are encouraged to do the right thing,” said Cowing.

To influence positive change through new tech, Hartmann encourages professionals to pursue careers with mission-driven companies and leaders: “Be intentional about where you work. It really does come from the top,” he said.

Cowing and Hartmann look forward to welcoming professionals to the Product and Tech Executive Leadership Program at Cornell Tech in September. Participants will learn from experts about tech trends, AI ethics and associated market dynamics through in-depth discussions and networking events with a group of industry leaders and peers.

Space is limited in the program so interested individuals should apply early .

Want to learn more before applying?

Watch Cowing and Hartmann’s webcast “ The Future of Product Development is Here. ” Listen to Cowing’s podcast episode “ How to Navigate Transformation in Tech. ”

Media Highlights

Bloomberg law, mental daily, tech policy press, princeton university, marktechpost, related stories, news category ai, researchers win award for study on text embedding privacy risks, cornell tech part of $400 million empire ai consortium announced by governor hochul.

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Apple's First Foldable Device Won't Be an iPhone, Say Supply Chain Sources

Apple is now deciding on the design of its first foldable device as work on the project ramps up, DigiTimes reports.

FoldPad Redux 24 Magenta and Blue

Since hinge mechanisms for foldable devices have become increasingly advanced in recent years, the main problem for Apple's foldable is said to be developing a panel that meets its quality demands. The report adds that Apple's rumored suspension of Samsung foldable display panel development and internal reorganization to move Vision Pro engineers to the foldable project are not contradictory moves, since the company is overwhelmingly prioritizing quality.

The report clarified that Apple has not suspended work on foldable devices, with the company allegedly now possessing multiple departments responsible for different foldable product lines. Apple's first foldable device will not launch until 2025 at the earliest.

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Apple's freshest design might just be this puffy space-age carrying case

  • The Apple Vision Pro travel case may be the tech giant's freshest look. 
  • Product reviewers say the puffy, wrinkled case priced at $200 looks futuristic and space-like. 
  • Some believe the look is different from Apple's typical product designs. One designer disagrees.

Insider Today

Apple products appear to be sporting a new aesthetic with its case for the Vision Pro.

The Apple Vision Pro travel case is a white, bulbous pouch designed to protect the $3,500 mixed reality headset when carried on the go. The outer shell is made out of ripstop: a nylon material often used in outdoor gear to make products like tents durable and waterproof, according to Apple . It's an aspect of the case that, at first glance, makes it visually stand out from Apple's product line of cases for devices like the iPhone — and some appear to be taken aback by its design.

"I think it's the most un-Apple thing they've done for so long," Derrick Gee, a TikTok user, said in a video he posted on his thoughts about the Vision Pro case. "I think the design team had a lot of fun making it."

@gee_derrick My fav Apple Accessory is a…puffy case? #design #applevisionpro ♬ original sound - Derrick Gee

Apple didn't respond to Business Insider's request for comment when asked about the case.

Gee isn't the only tech reviewer noticing Apple's seemingly unusual product design. In a YouTube video review of the case, Faiz Aly described its look as "futuristic" and reminiscent of a NASA space suit. TechWeWant , a YouTube channel that reviews the latest tech products, said in its assessment that the bag looks and feels like a pillow and sleeping bag. Matt Gray said he could imagine himself resting his head on the puffy case during a flight.

"They want to evoke this feeling of not the recent future, but the future that we all think about, which is space travel or something from another world," Gee said in his TikTok video.

While some designers have taken notice of Apple's new, space-like product design, one argues that the case's aesthetic isn't that much different from the style of Apple's previous products.

Dr. Cliff Shin, an associate professor of industrial design at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, says the product's overall shape is "simple" and displays "visual complexity" through its usage of soft materials that create crumples on the exterior.

The minimalist, nuanced look, the professor says, falls in line with Apple's typical design strategy that he believes the company has "excelled" at when crafting the visual language for devices like the iMac.

"I believe it is aligned with what Apple has consistently pursued thus far," Shin told BI. "While Apple has chosen a different material for the Vision Pro case—a departure from the norm—it is in line with their established design philosophy."

While the innovative appearance of the case is being lauded, people still have some qualms with it. Aly said in his video the bag is "hefty" and is unsure whether he likes the size. Similarly, TechWeWant said the case takes up most of the space in the reviewer's backpack. Gray noted its white color is "loud" and could make it "susceptible to damage and dirt."

Despite the concerns, reviewers agree that the case fits their Vision Pro headsets and accessories well. They also believe it's cushion-like surface will serve as a useful barrier to protect their expensive device.

But is the extra protection really worth the $200 price tag? Gray doesn't seem to think so — at least for its intended purpose.

"I just bought a $200 camping pillow to put my Vision Pro inside,"he said.

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