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)
Paper App by FiftyThree featured above