Apple iPhone Market Research: Strategy and Customer Satisfaction
This paper analyzes the market research process as applied to Apple Inc. and its flagship iPhone product. It traces Apple's transition from a company historically resistant to formal market research toward a data-driven approach centered on monthly consumer surveys and demographic analysis. The paper identifies Apple's two primary markets — the United States and China — and profiles the iPhone's core customer base by age, income, education, and digital behavior. It also examines competitor dynamics, particularly Samsung's Galaxy series, and concludes with recommendations for shifting from demographic-focused surveys to broader customer satisfaction questionnaires in order to sustain Apple's dominant smartphone market share.
- Introduction to Market Research and Apple Inc.: Defines market research and Apple's need for it
- Apple's Market Research Process and iPhone Performance: Monthly surveys, iPhone 6 sales data, and China demand
- Organization: The iPhone's Origins and Innovation: iPhone's invention, multitouch design, and screen size evolution
- Market: China and the United States: Revenue figures and market share in key regions
- Customer Base: Demographics, income, education, and digital habits of iPhone users
- Recommendations: Shifting to customer satisfaction surveys for strategic improvement
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What makes this paper effective
- It grounds its analysis in concrete sales data, such as the iPhone's ten consecutive months as the top-selling smartphone and Apple's $46 billion in Greater China revenue, lending credibility to its claims.
- It moves logically from defining the market research process to applying each step specifically to Apple, keeping the argument applied and practical rather than purely theoretical.
- The recommendations section directly extends the paper's analysis, proposing a shift from demographic surveys to customer satisfaction questionnaires in a way that follows naturally from the evidence presented.
Key academic technique demonstrated
The paper demonstrates applied case study reasoning: it introduces a general framework (the market research process), anchors it in published sources such as Kotler (2013), and then systematically maps each stage of that framework onto a real company and product. This shows readers how to use conceptual models as analytical lenses rather than as ends in themselves.
Structure breakdown
The paper opens with a definition of market research and Apple's relationship to it, then narrows to iPhone-specific performance data. Subsequent sections address organizational history and innovation, geographic market analysis (China and the U.S.), customer demographics, and finally actionable recommendations. This funnel structure — from broad concept to specific strategic advice — is well suited to a business analysis paper at the undergraduate level.
Introduction to Market Research and Apple Inc.
The market research process is a way for a business to understand a problem, determine a research design, prepare and design research instruments, sample and collect data, and then communicate and visualize results. It is a clear method for planning, collecting, and analyzing data for the assessment of product quality and customer satisfaction. Apple Inc. is a company that has long been perceived as one that does not perform market research; however, it has been revealed in recent times that the company does submit to the need for market research in order to increase customer satisfaction for its most popular product, the iPhone. Market research enables the effective undertaking of marketing activities and assists a business in handling market demand, changes in technology and consumer tastes, and changes in competitors' product ranges.
Competitors like Samsung have continued to release phones such as the Samsung Galaxy series in order to pull customers away from Apple. While Apple Inc. reigns supreme in the smartphone market, the company needs to continue performing market research in order to stay ahead of its competitors year after year. One of the main purposes of market research is to help forecast future trends, which is critical because future trends dictate consumer buying patterns. There are various kinds of market research, and each relates to a specific business marketing decision.
Target markets require the type of research that deals with purchase behavior, website traffic, and customer satisfaction (Kotler, 2013). Pricing requires optimal price setting, price elasticity analysis, and discount options. Because Apple requires market research to help with customer satisfaction, the marketing decision most connected to its type of research is target markets. Researching target markets reduces risk and uncertainty, and helps create, refine, and assess potential marketing actions. By taking the first step and defining the problem, Apple Inc. is recognizing and identifying a core problem and opportunity: how to provide a better overall consumer experience so that customers will continue to buy iPhones rather than switch to competitors.
The iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus assumed the position of best-selling smartphone for ten consecutive months, claiming the top spot in the United States, China, and the international market. While 2015 brought a slowdown beginning in March and April, market research suggests the iPhone 6 retained its position as the international best-seller through May and June. Its main rival, the Samsung Galaxy S6, lost momentum quickly as sales dropped steadily. Overall, there is a consistent pattern of the iPhone topping sales lists during the first and fourth quarters of each year, with the Galaxy S topping the second and third quarters respectively. However, since September 2014, the list remained fronted by Apple and the iPhone for many consecutive months.
Apple's Market Research Process and iPhone Performance
One of the reasons for Apple's sustained success could be China's preference for large-screen devices, which proved to be the iPhone 6 Plus's largest single market driver. While Steve Jobs stated in the past that a company like Apple never performs market research — that it simply creates great products — there is evidence suggesting that Apple gathers consumer data through monthly surveys on a consistent basis.
In fact, Apple's Vice President Greg Joswiak attempted to seal information regarding Apple's market strategy and research. Each month, iPhone buyers are surveyed by Apple, and their answers are translated into tracking studies. Joswiak wished to keep this information private so that competitors could not understand which demographics derive the most satisfaction from Apple products. The market research process that has worked most effectively for Apple over the years is these monthly customer surveys. These surveys not only provide feedback on what aspects of the iPhone users love, but also indicate which demographics are most satisfied with and most likely to purchase the iPhone.
The market research process that would best serve Apple Inc. — and increase sales of the iPhone 6 as well as the then-upcoming iPhone 7 — is target market research. By defining the research objective (increasing iPhone 6 and 6 Plus sales, particularly in China), the market, competitors, and customers can be clearly identified. China is one of the biggest markets for the iPhone 6 Plus, making it the primary customer base to study, with the Samsung Galaxy series as the key competitor. In a survey administered to current iPhone customers, questions would be asked covering age, gender, and geographic location. Identifying where the majority of customers are located is an important way to determine an ideal customer profile for the iPhone. Identifying the strengths and weaknesses of competitors also provides insight into ongoing strategic objectives.
Through monthly surveys, sufficient data can be gathered and then interpreted using mind maps, tables, and diagrams to organize findings. A crucial step in the market research process, interpretation of data helps a business uncover insights gained during data collection. After analysis is complete, decisions and conclusions are made in alignment with the initial research and business objectives. By following these steps in a way that promotes systematic collection and examination, proper decisions can be made regarding marketing strategies.
China's consumer data concerning the iPhone reveals that the average Chinese iPhone customer enjoys large screens, propelling sales of the iPhone 6 Plus in China's smartphone market. By implementing surveys to determine where in China consumers purchased the iPhone 6 Plus most frequently, Apple can market specifically to those areas, reducing advertising costs and enabling a focused strategy in key regions. This targeted approach helps explain how Apple performed so strongly in 2015 across both the American and international markets.
Organization: The iPhone's Origins and Innovation
In its infancy, the iPhone represented a reinvention of the phone. When Steve Jobs introduced a new wide-screen iPod as a revolutionary mobile device on January 9, 2007, the world got a glimpse of what the mobile phone could become — an all-in-one product that customers could use to talk, browse the internet, listen to music, and manage their lives. The multitasking capability of the iPhone, coupled with the removal of a physical keyboard, produced a level of innovation the world had never seen before.
Jobs first dismantled the conventions of the physical keyboard and the stylus — features that had dominated BlackBerry, Motorola, and Palm smartphones of the era. He then introduced the multitouch interface that allowed the iPhone to smoothly pinch-to-zoom, the physics-based interactivity that included inertial scrolling and rubber banding, and the multitasking capability that let him move seamlessly from music to calls to web browsing to email and back (Ritchie, 2015).
Innovation has been a hallmark of Apple since the personal computer revolution of the early millennium. However, as competitors began updating their smartphone lines and increasing screen sizes, the iPhone began to adapt to consumer demand. Consumers, especially in the Chinese market, prefer large screens, and the Samsung Galaxy series had long offered them. In order to meet this consumer demand, Apple released the iPhone 6 Plus alongside the iPhone 6. The iPhone 6 Plus not only has a larger screen than the iPhone 6, but is also larger in overall size — comparable to the Samsung Galaxy series. This move from standard-sized iPhones to larger devices with bigger screens may well have been the key factor in Apple's achievement of ten consecutive months as the top smartphone seller across global markets, especially in China.
References
CNBC. (2015). Apple's iPhone 6s selling like hotcakes...in China. Retrieved 26 February 2016, from
Kotler, P. (2013). Marketing management. Pearson Education South Asia Pte Ltd.
Ritchie, R. (2015). History of iPhone: Apple reinvents the phone. iMore. Retrieved 26 February 2016, from
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