Christina Bonnington on Apple’s iPhone X Strategy

Another very astute take on Apple’s iPhone X marketing strategy, this one by Christina Bonnington for Slate:

If you’re reading an iPhone review on The Verge, or Engadget, or Wired, chances are you aren’t hemming and hawing about whether you want to buy the new device. Readers of those sites are already passionate about technology, have strong opinions about it, and often have the money to buy what they want. They’re also largely older and male. (As of 2017, the Wired audience was 57% male, with an average age of 42.) Apple doesn’t need to market as aggressively to this audience, which will seek out information about its products regardless.

Who Apple does want to market to: women and teens. According to 2015 data from Slice Analytics, older men spend the most on Apple products, while women aged 25 to 34 spend the least. Men of every age category (18-plus) outspent women of the same age range, and buyers tended to spend more money on Apple products as they got older. On top of that, women reportedly account for 70 to 85 percent of all consumer purchases and, according to Nielsen Consumer, have a buying power worth $5 to $15 trillion annually.

What all this means: Apple needs to focus its marketing efforts on millennials, teens, and wallet-controlling female buyers if it wants to expand its reach in the U.S., where Android controls 65 percent of the market.

★ Thursday, 2 November 2017