Posted By Industrial Web Solutions Marketing Team on July 24, 2009

Jessica Mintz’s recent article reports that Apple enjoyed a 15% increase in profits for their third quarter, representing a revenue increase in every region including the US and Europe for both its laptop and iPhone sales. So how did they do this during a recession?

Two significant marketing initiatives appear to be responsible for Apple’s recent success: a cut in laptop prices and the introduction of new technology for the popular iPhone. Price cuts are tricky. You want to be careful not to under value your product or service. But a carefully thought out and strategically marketed price cut for the right product can actually support the sales of related products. iPhones and Mac laptops, for example, synch features like music, photography, video, et cetera. They are very closely related. It’s almost a “you can’t have one without the other” thing. The price cut coupled with the excitement stimulated by the new technology creates the consumer perception of “now I can have both.”

Many industrial businesses believe that holding the line during the recession is the key to survival. But perhaps Apple has taught us that the key is actually to make it easier for buyers to justify investing in new technologies and making new purchases by thoughtfully lowering prices and effectively managing the perception of value the new technologies offer.

What do you think?

Categories: industrial marketing
Tags: business, economy, industrial marketing, industrial sales