Apple: the world’s most valuable, powerful, yet disliked corporation. Its leader, Tim Cook, has redefined the company’s strategy and values in his 9 years as CEO. Every year, supporters and critics of the brand come together for the launch of one product: the infamous iPhone. Why is the iPhone so popular? It is the accumulation of marketing, engineering, product design, and research for the entire year in one line. The iPhone is Apple’s most anticipated launch due to massive press coverage, large marketing campaigns, and, of course, a flashy event in September to unveil it all. At the same time, it is also Apple’s most criticized product, with competitors and critics noting Apple’s absurd pricing and lackluster innovation. Regardless, Apple pushes the publicity and excitement around the smartphone to its furthest limit, making billions of dollars in profit no matter the insignificant changes¹.

However, in just one year, Apple’s perspective and product release strategy has dramatically changed. In 2019, the company developed a massive amount of “Pro” branded products, including the iPhone 11 Pro, AirPods Pro, and Mac Pro². The use of the “Pro” naming strategy not only resembles a different tier of spec improvements for devices, but it also justifies a higher price point by introducing a luxury category. These “Pro” products define one-specific demographic of the tech industry, but Apple strategically uses them “to drive more revenue and profits” ^3,4. However, this strategy has become less effective over the years, with consumers being more aware of product costs, marketing, and money-grab strategies.

Over the last couple of years, the conglomerate has faced countless lawsuits questioning its business practices and characterizing Apple as an unfair monopoly in the tech world^5,6,7. As consumer’s become more aware of these tactics, they lose trust and ultimately, provide less interest for the products⁸. Pair that with an increased desire for budget phone models⁹, increased awareness of smartphone environmental footprints¹⁰, and longer lifespans for higher quality products¹¹, Apple is quickly losing their grasp on what used to be their most popular product. As much as the luxury segment appeals to consumers, the price range and lack of innovation draws consumers away from spending the unfathomable amount of money required for a simple phone purchase¹². Apple’s own CEO, Tim Cook, realizes this decrease in interest for hardware in a letter to investors, where he states “iPhone upgrades also were not as strong as we thought they would be”¹³. Clearly, consumer trends require the company to go on a different path, something that would seemingly go against tradition.

For years, Apple has refined the software that powers all of their products, steering away from industry standard operating systems, and instead, making their own. Every hardware product the company releases is paired with it’s own Apple-branded software, that works incredibly well, as expected, with all their other products. Each smartphone pairs perfectly with a MacBook, and if you want a smartwatch or wireless headset, the smoothest integration will only occur if you buy AirPods or an Apple Watch. This creates what consumers call the “Apple Ecosystem”; a bubble of Apple products that a user cannot escape, unless they want to experience major inconveniences and problems with integration. Buying only one Apple product encourages the user to switch the rest of their tech devices over to the same company, for the sake of convenience¹⁴.

Therefore, it is not surprising that Apple’s latest focus has not only been the introduction of budget-friendly and environmentally conscious products, like the Apple Watch SE¹⁵ and iPad Air¹⁶ released in September of 2020. Apple’s focus has also shifted to an entirely new spectrum: services. Rather than providing products that consumers can only purchase once every few years, the Apple Service strategy provides day-to-day reliability and connection to the brand. It forces its users to pay a monthly service to access the best music streaming, gaming applications, news articles, and cloud storage. In fact, the company recently introduced the Apple One bundle, which provides users with 6 services for a much cheaper price point¹⁷.

All in all, Apple’s perspective on Apple services is one that creates consumer culture dependent upon the brand’s hardware, software, and services. This new leap forward further expands the Apple Ecosystem, propelling the company into the future, even a future where the iPhone no longer exists.