Apple's iPhone 5 Marketing Plan

Apple's iPhone 5 Marketing Plan

Competitors/Substitutes

Competition is an entity in business that is unavoidable and can be viewed as a risk when a company is venturing into a new market. Nevertheless, competition healthy and should be encouraged from the optimal perspective. This applies to any company that desires to grow and deeply explore a given market. In any marketing plan, one should expect competition that becomes tough and tight at times. Competition is beneficial because it points out on the areas of weakness of a given company, and gives an opportunity for a company to improve for better service deliver compared to its competitors (Schneiders, 2011).

In the sale of the iPhone 5 to Australia, competition is inevitable. It is expected that other companies will come up with products that directly compares to iPhone 5 if not better. They will come in with a lot of vigor seeking to outdo Apple as a company, with its latest design of iPhone 5. If Apple does not watch out on this, it may fall a victim of circumstances because of poor planning. Planning how to handle this risk of competition that will come is a remarkable move that will fully assist Apple to maintain and improve its status in the Australian market.

The current and potential competitors and substitutes to Apple to its latest iPhone 5 models include Samsung, LG, Nokia, and Google. These companies are quickly establishing themselves in the Smartphone technology. They are currently strategizing on coming up with better designs of Smartphone compared to the iPhone 5 of Apple. Most of these companies have already actualized their dream visions for their Smartphone models. This has created a lot of competition to Apple in the different markets globally, where iPhone series is the leading Smartphone technology. The products from these potential competitors to Apple have diluted the market that was initially predominated by the iPhones (Gitman, & McDaniel, 2008).

For instance, Samsung has produced the Samsung Galaxy series. The Smartphone has become a serious threat to the iPhone 5; Samsung Galaxy S2 and the recently released Samsung Galaxy Note 2 have technology similar to the iPhone 5. Samsung and Apple are the two largest Smartphone producers that have come into loggerheads over the technologies used recently. This is the only problem that competition creates at times. In some countries (the U.S. recently), Samsung has been accused of patent infringement of Apple Smartphone. In this case, Samsung has already been legally forced to pay Apple. The patent infringement incident may occur again in the future. Currently, news has it that Samsung is threatening to sue Apple over iPhone 5 for its infringement rights. Such incidences are the only unfortunate things that accompany the patented technological products (Schneiders, 2011).

LG is also strongly coming up with its LG Optimus Smartphone, which is also a tremendous threat to the iPhone 5 from Apple. This is the case is for Nokia and Google, which have already come up with their Nokia Lumia and Nexus Smartphones. These alternative Smartphones are quickly earning the market accreditation, which is not favorable for Apple's iPhone 5. This means that in the near future, Apple is bound to make significant losses unless becomes receptive to such changes in the market. This should be a significant consideration in the marketing plan of Apple with its iPhone 5 as it explores the Australia promising market (Gitman, & McDaniel, 2008).

On the global perspective, Apple's competitors that have come up with substitutes for the iPhone 5 Smartphone have a high market share. This is bound to be the case in Australia as these products quickly reach the market. In penetrating the Australian market, Apples competitors are likely to use the strategies of low costs as they woo the people to buy their products. This will come along with an emphasis of some of the strengths that their products do have over the iPhone 5, which has already hit the market.

Section E: Price

In marketing, pricing is a key aspect that should be considered critically and carefully. This is because possible clients are wooed or scared when the initial prices of a given product coming to market are hefty. In a market where there are many competitors, different companies outdo one another using pricing strategies. A given company may consider lowering the prices of its products a little bit to retain its popularity in the market. With existing hard economic times and high cost of living, most potential customers will go for the cheapest product after considering the specifications that they desire. For instance, one will obviously choose a Smartphone that is cheaper between two Smartphones from different companies but with the same features (Ireland, Hoskisson, & Hitt, 2008).

In addition, pricing is a legitimate strategy to capitalize when a given company desires to penetrate a given market effectively and efficiently. Therefore, this should obviously be a serious matter of consideration in a given market plan for a given product. In the case of Apple's iPhone 5 marketing plan to Australia, pricing should be wisely considered. This will give Apple some credit as a high-tech yet inexpensive company.

In most instances, the proposed marketing structure for iPhone 5 in Australia should involve cutting off the total cost. This should be slightly lower than the prices that the company sells the same Smartphone in other countries now that Apple is a multinational company. However, while doing this, Apple should consider the manufacturing costs of the iPhone 5 and all the other expenses. Realization of profits when it sells the phone at a given proposed price is an issue that must be considered too (Gitman, & McDaniel, 2008).

Another effective pricing strategy that Apple can use to penetrate the Australian market is the adoption of special offers and discounts. In the use of special offers, the company can decide to reward the first ten or so clients who purchase the iPhone 5 in those regions that may be a bit unwilling to purchase the phone. Better still, the coupons on a number of phones, which can be redeemed for the less costly phone over a period. The company can also decide to lower the prices of the phones by a given percentage only over a given period, beyond which the prices go back to normal. These methods of offers may encourage further purchases to be made. In the use of discounts, Apple can decide to grant a certain percent discount, say 5-15% over every phone that is bought. Moreover, the company can raise discounts, especially during end months, a time which presumably most people will have enough cash. This is a strategy, which may woo most of the working class into buying the iPhone 5 for their personal use (Ireland, Hoskisson, & Hitt, 2008).