According to MyDrivers, Apple no longer plans to use the letter “S” in the name of their smartphones, denoting an intermediate model. Moreover, the company decided to completely abandon the marketing concept, which provides for the release of the main, and then improved iPhone model.
The analysis of the market, which was carried out in Cupertino, showed that such positioning negatively affects sales. Therefore, it was decided to use “full-fledged” names even for frankly minor updates of the line, which will not cause unnecessary associations among consumers.
The name of the new iPhone
Apple’s latest smartphone with the letter “S” was released back in 2018. It was the iPhone XS, and it didn’t perform well in terms of popularity. Then the line was saved by the presence of a conditionally available iPhone XR and an enlarged iPhone XS Max, but Apple expected higher sales.
iPhone 13 sales showed Apple was right
The company even filled warehouses with large stocks of smartphones, but they – especially in comparison with the company’s own calculations – somehow did not go. According to some reports, Cupertino attributed the failure of the iPhone XS to misleading naming, and around the same time decided not to use it anymore.
The use of the letter “S” is really quite confusing for the target audience. It gives the user the impression that new iPhone with this letter in the name – it is rather an old model, just with some internal changes.
Therefore, it is logical that sales of improved smartphones, as a rule, turned out to be lower than the main lineup, which continued to be popular even after the release of a more modern counterpart. Naturally, Apple did not like such a swing, and the company made the only right decision.
In fact, it is strange that Apple has realized this only now. I well remember the disappointment of the public when the company introduced in 2011 iPhone 4S instead of the expected iPhone 5. The updated smartphone has not changed much compared to the original iPhone 4, in fact, having received only support for a voice assistant.
iPhone 13 sales
Most did not appreciate the approach and did not update. However, I admit that Steve Jobs insisted on the persistence with which Apple continued to exploit the concept of slightly improved models. After all, it was he who largely determined the course of the company, which means that he could be responsible for this too.
It is important not to overestimate the strength of the name against the backdrop of other lineup changes.
This year and last year, Cupertino did not repeat their mistakes and after the iPhone 11 they released the iPhone 12, followed by the iPhone 13. Perhaps the number in the name of the novelty is really not the happiest. But practice has shown that people for the most part do not give a damn about this. Otherwise, the iPhone 13 would not Apple’s top selling smartphone throughout the history of the iPhone line.
And he became. Even with all their shortcomings. What this is connected with is rather difficult to explain. On the one hand, the iPhone 13 has really become better than its predecessor, in almost everything. But, on the other hand, people did not expect this at all. So maybe naming really works?
Of course, the name affects how the smartphone is perceived. But its importance cannot be greatly overestimated. Still, even minor changes in design can have a much larger impact on the popularity of a product – especially a cyclical one. I admit that in the case of the iPhone 13 this happened.
Yes, he hasn’t really changed much. But after all, Apple announced both a reduction in the bangs and a change in the size of the cameras in older models, a change in their layout in the younger ones. So cosmetic transformations happened and it is possible that, coupled with the correct name, they gave the desired result.
