The iPhone factor: To Russia with love
The summer is here and I’m on the road. I have a Lonely Planet guide, a digital camera, cargo-conversion pants, rain shell, sandals, sunglasses, sunscreen, maps, money, a passport and three iPhones.
Yes, you read it correctly: not one, not two, but three iPhones.
Why am I carrying three iPhones you ask? Well I’m travelling to Russia and I was contacted by my friends who begged me to buy them iPhones and bring them back to Russia as they are going for 20,000 rubles there, or almost $900 apiece.
A few years ago Apple Inc. CEO Steve Jobs talked about the sea of white headphones that he would see in any major city. The white headphone was attached to an iPod, a revolutionary new device that became not only an integral part of daily life for millions of people around the world, but as my Israeli friends used to say, “the new American passport.”
Today, the new new passport is the iPhone, which in its first year of existence and at the dawn of version 2 has captured 20 percent of the North American smartphone market.
Let’s take a moment to reflect on technology: it’s the new designer handbag. Fashion couture dictates that an authentic Gucci or Coach handbag is the hallmark of the fashion and a disposable income.
However, today’s iconic status symbol is the mobile phone. People are changing phones more often than they are laptops or desktops.
My friends in Russia wanted access to the status symbol of the West. They are not rich by any stretch, but moderate and middle class. Yet they are ready and willing to spend money on the cool new gadgets such as the iPhone not only for the social identifier that they are, but also because of the practical, utilitarian application: ability to make phone calls and surf the Web.
All is not roses out there in the world. The inaccessibility of iconic technological devices in certain world markets has created an overpriced black market.
This should come as no surprise. The markup for an iPhone, however, is surprising – a 200 percent-plus market is fairly shocking. But when you consider how much less the average Russian earns a month, that markup is more like 300 percent to 400 percent, if not 500 percent. And yet they are still willing and eager to own one.
As a marketer of the 21st century I have to think that my potential market is as big as the world. Digital commerce is not necessarily local anymore; it’s global.
If I know there are users in foreign countries ready to pay for digital and specifically mobile innovations, shouldn’t I be ready to provide services and content for that specific mobile niche?
The forecast for the future is this: devices will drive service and product innovations. Savvy marketers will create custom applications for these iconic innovations of technology.
The first-to-market will have legions of dedicated users who will perceive quality through integration and customization that takes advantage of their unique digital handheld devices.
Because, really, who wants a device that looks good, but does nothing? We want to be power users. Marketers that enable users to maximize their mobile experience will be poised to reap great rewards.
Len Shneyder is director of partner relations and industry communications at Pivotal Veracity, a deliverability services and consultancy provider in Phoenix. Reach him at lshneyder@pivotalveracity.com.
Friday, June 13, 2008
Monday, June 02, 2008
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
