Apple is up to it again.
They did a pre-launch just a few weeks ago of the new iPhone 4.
They put a bright shiny image of the WHITE iPhone 4 right next to the black one.
However, there has been no information posted on how to buy the white one, just the black one.
No other information available up until today that is, where they released this press release:
http://www.apple.com/pr/library/2010/06/23iphonestatement.html
White models of Apple’s new iPhone® 4 have proven more challenging to manufacture than expected, and as a result they will not be available until the second half of July. The availability of the more popular iPhone 4 black models is not affected.
Is this a clever marketing tactic to create desire or really an oversight or production mistake on the part of Apple?
Just a few days ago Apple reps were telling customers that they were “unsure” if they would be for sale at the store. Obviously they already have some in hand or they would have just said “probably not” / “no”.
My gut tells me marketing tactic. They are way too smart and clever to just accidentally leave customers in the dark for weeks on end.
I think it is a manufacture challenge ( for real) because at this point, there is nothing to hold it back… they had problem at the launch too. Apple is smart enough to use the negative and turn it into something positive. You know what they stay relevant in the news all the time because of those little pieces of news ( negative or positive).
Anyway apple is the best right now with their marketing. Example: Steve job’s keynote…. Everyone saw the iphone 4 but he finds a way to show us more crazy stuff!!!!
Agree with Ricardo and think this is a lemons to lemonade issue. Rumor has it that there was a touch-screen defect that occurred too late in the process and affected total unit volume available for launch. Having been on the corporate retail side monitoring ipod/iphone demand trends for forecasting purposes, it was easy to see black models far outsold any white models introduced by Apple. So, if you are Apple – a king of branding and marketing – and are faced with a limit of key components, what do you do? Put all of the good screens in the proven bestseller, and then create an opportunity out of a mess by limiting release of the alternate color when component availability finally catches up. The black ones will sell out to those who are camped outside the Apple Stores, and then those who didn’t get in on the first action will rush in, seeking to differentiate themselves as being “cool” by buying the “hard-to-get” alternate color. Playing the scarcity card to a “T”. Apple sucks to deal with from a corporate partnership perspective, but boy do they play the game well.
Under-stocking is such a common marketing trick. Scarcity works so well in persuasion.
there is a kid who makes white iphone cases
http://mymorningjoe.com/teenager-sells-130000-worth-of-white-iphone-4-conversion-kits/