iPhone status

Say what you want about the iPhone… but ask yourself, how many phones are the subject of a whole page on the Forbes site?

iPhone detractors who point out that another phone has a better keyboard, or can be had with more carriers, or has great music capabilities, or a better camera, or can shoot videos are missing the point. The iPhone immediately became an iconic product because it put a good set of features into a slick package and wrapped it up in a customer experience that was different and better than the competition.

Those who point out that waiting in line for hours to buy a phone is nuts miss the point: iPhone line sitters were taking part in a fun group experience. (I still wouldn’t do it, but I get it.) If Blackberry customers wanted to have that kind of experience, where would they find it?

That’s why a simple upgrade to the product sold a million units out of the gate and dominated tech news coverage for days.

Blackberry and company have their work cut out for them; in a very short time Apple has redefined the expectations around their products.

How could you do that in your product category?

More posts about Apple and their competitors:

• If they love you, all is forgiven

• Nobody ever did a taste test against RC Cola

• Competitive analysis requires cold, hard honesty

Does it seem like Apple week here at Opinionated Marketers? It wasn’t planned, but we both write about timely marketing topics, and it has been Apple’s week. We’ll have lots of non-Apple-related material coming up, I promise.

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