Ch. 12 - Services and Nonprofit Organization Marketing

Business store Home (apple.com)

Apple is not only known for the products that are sold at the stores. However, a lot of people are aware of the services the company offers to every single consumer. When a person buys a products, the Specialist on the sales floor offers the service of extending the warranty on the devices the customer is buying. Meaning, consumers will have the ability to bring in their devices and have the technicians serve that particular device. The service has already been sold when the customer first purchased the device, but let say they did not get the extended warranty. So, in this particular case, the customer will have to pay for whatever repair the technicians have performed on the device. Any customer can come in and have the technicians inspect or check their device out, and they will not be charged, at all. What some people do not understand sometimes is that even though they have bought the service, they still have to pay a small fee or what it is known within Apple a deductible if the device has had a physical damage. Keep in mind though that this only applies to mobile devices including the iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch and iPod. On the other hand, whenever a customer buys Mac with the extended warranty, they do not have to pay any deductible, whatsoever. The so-called extended warranty has also a more professional name, and it is known as AppleCare. AppleCare also has different categories; AppleCare+ for mobile devices, and AppleCare Protection Plan for Mac, Apple Thunderbolt Displays and AppleTV.

Apple has also created a special team that helps business with their devices. This team has taken the name of the Business Team. They are trained to work with the companies enrolled with this team to find solutions and/or fulfill their needs. The business customers are not charged anything extra, at all and they all have the great opportunity to work with one specific Specialist throughout the time that they are enrolled with Apple. The Business Team also prepares special workshops in which companies are invited to learn more of the service that this Team offers. Business customers also have the opportunity to finance their new devices, especially when the companies want to update the products they used at their offices.  

Apple Store for Business at apple.com

AppleCare Products at apple.com

Ch. 11- Developing and Managing Products

iPad mini4, iPad Air 2, and iPad Pro (apple.com)

Apple Inc. has always had its Special Events where Tim Cook, the company's CEO, introduces to the world the latest devices that Apple has worked on. Usually, when the device is revealed, Tim Cook explained to the audience why such products have been created. The explanation sometimes has been that they've heard the users and wanted to please them. But if you think about it, you understand that companies compete with one another. Let's go back to when Apple first introduced the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6S Plus. It was quite understandable that a two-size iPhone was in the works since companies like Samsung has stepped their game up by developing two-size smartphones before even Apple designed them. The new iPhone 6 and 6S Plus were going to be marketable products after the announcement, and somehow that was foreseeable.

The other device that Apple has always wanted to increase sales of has been the iPad. Apple keeps making this tablet faster, more portable, and has even introduced them in three different colors. The latest iPads do a little more than older generations, so users do have to give some credit to Apple for that. But it will still be the same tablet that was first introduced back in 2010. This past September, the company introduced an advanced device the Apple Stores expecting to test them and see its capability. The iPad Pro launch was never announced by the company. It was a surprise that the iPad Pro was in store for sale out of the blue, and was not on display for customers to interact with. Perhaps this was a test marketing that the company had started, but it was still odd since it was first time such thing has happened within the Apple world. One product that probably the company wanted to test market was the Apple Pencil. Although it was in store for sale on the first day, it has not been available at any location for the past three weeks. If customers were told that the Apple Pencil was going to give them a better experience while using it with the iPad Pro, why has Apple made customers wait for it? For some customers, it has been a big disappointment because the Pencil is not in stock, and all they can do is wait for it to become available online. This was a simultaneous product development, but it is, until now, unfortunate that many Apple fanatics cannot have a full experience yet.

Apple Pencil (apple.com)

Example of what users can do with the iPad Pro and Apple Pencil (apple.com)
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