1 What Factors Contributed to the Success of Apple s iPhone
2010 Ninth International Conference on Mobile Business / 2010 Ninth Global Mobility Roundtable
What factors contributed to the success of Apple’s iPhone?
John Laugesen
Yufei Yuan
McMaster University, DeGroote School of Business
Hamilton, Ontario CANADA laugesjd@mcmaster.ca McMaster University, DeGroote School of Business
Hamilton, Ontario CANADA yuanyuf@mcmaster.ca Abstract — Unknown to most North American consumers, a mobile data and Internet service in Japan called i-mode has been highly successful in that country for the past decade.
Unfortunately, mobile data services in North America have lagged behind many European and Asian countries. However, the situation changed rapidly with the iPhone, launched in the
US in June 2007. Consumers lined up for days for the chance to purchase one, and over 500,000 units sold on the first weekend. Since that time, over 42 million iPhones have been sold, arguably making it one of the most successful mobile phone products ever launched. What is it that makes the iPhone such a success? In this paper we define a set of success criteria to investigate the success of the iPhone and propose a comprehensive success model. The success model can be used by both academics and practitioners to understand the reasons why, and ways to ensure that mobile data and commerce services become successful.
II.
To adequately judge whether the iPhone is successful, a set of ‘success’ criteria was developed. These success criteria are based on an extensive literature review as well as indepth Internet searches. The success criteria are market size, share and growth rates, average revenue per user (ARPU) and churn rates and content/services, as well as consumer satisfaction and mobile usage.
A. Market Size, Share and Growth Rates
In the 30 months from its launch in July 2007 to December
2009, Apple sold over 42 million iPhone units [2]. This translates into a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of approximately 480%. Analysts predicted anywhere
What factors contributed to the success of Apple’s iPhone?
John Laugesen
Yufei Yuan
McMaster University, DeGroote School of Business
Hamilton, Ontario CANADA laugesjd@mcmaster.ca McMaster University, DeGroote School of Business
Hamilton, Ontario CANADA yuanyuf@mcmaster.ca Abstract — Unknown to most North American consumers, a mobile data and Internet service in Japan called i-mode has been highly successful in that country for the past decade.
Unfortunately, mobile data services in North America have lagged behind many European and Asian countries. However, the situation changed rapidly with the iPhone, launched in the
US in June 2007. Consumers lined up for days for the chance to purchase one, and over 500,000 units sold on the first weekend. Since that time, over 42 million iPhones have been sold, arguably making it one of the most successful mobile phone products ever launched. What is it that makes the iPhone such a success? In this paper we define a set of success criteria to investigate the success of the iPhone and propose a comprehensive success model. The success model can be used by both academics and practitioners to understand the reasons why, and ways to ensure that mobile data and commerce services become successful.
II.
To adequately judge whether the iPhone is successful, a set of ‘success’ criteria was developed. These success criteria are based on an extensive literature review as well as indepth Internet searches. The success criteria are market size, share and growth rates, average revenue per user (ARPU) and churn rates and content/services, as well as consumer satisfaction and mobile usage.
A. Market Size, Share and Growth Rates
In the 30 months from its launch in July 2007 to December
2009, Apple sold over 42 million iPhone units [2]. This translates into a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of approximately 480%. Analysts predicted anywhere
References: Conference, 2007. P. Elmer-DeWitt, "How many iPhones will Apple sell in 2009?," CNNMoney.com, 2008, B. Worthen, "The iPhone Makes Gains with Businesses," ChangeWave Research, 2008, J. Woods and P. Carton, "iPhone Changes the Game," ChangeWave Research, 2007, P. Carton, "Ringing In The New Year with Cellular Service Providers," ChangeWave Research, 2009, Available from: D. Frommer, "Estimating Apple iPhone App Sales so Far: $50-$100 Million in Revenue," The Business Insider Slilicon Valley Insider, 2008, Conference on Intelligent User Interfaces, 2009, pp. 247256. data services," Information Systems Research, vol. 17(2), 2006, pp