Launching the iPhone
I’d have to say the product launch of the iPhone has to be the most successful technology product launch since say Windows 95. Everyone including the mainstream media, bloggers, and the cashier at the Diamond Shamrock has an opinion. Some love it, others hate it, but everyone knows about it. I’ll bet everyone plays with it, when it finally arrives in stores too. Who isn’t curious about it? Even if you hate it, you will be drawn to play with it.
Even the Cisco trademark lawsuit seems to be favorable thing for Apple. Just another reason for the media to keep talking about iPhone.
Personally, I believe the iPhone will be a big success but who really knows. I do know the product launch was a big success and congrats to Apple on that.
I’ll be curious to see what Ries and Ries have to say about the iPhone and the product launch. In The Fall of Advertising and the Rise of PR, they seem to recommend “starting small” with your PR campaigns. The idea is not to get everyone talking about it, but to get a core group to become evangelists for it and spread positive word of mouth. Apple tried to start big with the iPod, but its popularity seems to have followed the more organic and slower path that Ries and Ries claim is more typical of successful products (Red Bull is one of their examples).
Roger
p.s. I don’t hate the iPhone!
[...] I am already on record as saying the iPhone will be a big success. Now, my question is how many units will Apple have to sell for everyone to agree that it is a hit product? Based on this article, I would say that if Apple sells more than 10 million iPhones in fiscal 2008, then it is a certified success. [...]