Critical Analysis of the ‘Place’ aspect among the 4Ps of Marketing Mix

This assignment analyzes the standing of the product iPhone XS Max in the market by critically analyzing the ‘place’ aspect among the 4Ps of marketing mix.

Running Head: Critical Analysis of the ‘Place’ aspect among the 4Ps of Marketing Mix
Critical Analysis of the ‘Place’ aspect among the 4Ps
of Marketing Mix
Table of Contents
Introduction..................................................................................................................3
Discussion.....................................................................................................................4
Conclusion....................................................................................................................7
References....................................................................................................................8

Critical Analysis of the ‘Place’ aspect among the 4Ps of Marketing Mix
Introduction
Apple claims its iPhone to be the most powerful personal technology of the world.
Besides its identical operating platform, called IOS, the company is continuing with its leaps
worldwide thereby extending the boundaries and tempting the customers with its unique
display, specifications, and innovation of the services rendered by the device. This
assignment analyzes the standing of the product iPhone XS Max in the market by critically
analyzing the ‘place’ aspect among the 4Ps of marketing mix.
About the product:
iPhone has been the most selling premium segment mobile phone, as it is also used
as a symbol of status. Apple’s new line-up of iPhones is way too expensive than ever before.
Apple launched its most awaited phone of the year 2018, i.e., iPhone XS Max, in September
2018. The product was launched having a starting price of $1099. There has been an
additional introduction of an edge-to-edge display with a notch up front in the product.
iPhone XS Max is powered by A12 bionic processor and has an OLED display. The product
gained attraction due to the implementation of dual sim slots.
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Critical Analysis of the ‘Place’ aspect among the 4Ps of Marketing Mix
Discussion
The effectiveness of marketing is portrayed by the appropriateness of selling a
product in accordance with the preciseness of time, person and place (Cheng, 2017). It is
mainly about chalking out scrupulous plans and executing them with perfection. The
indispensable factors responsible for constructing a market plan are Product, Price, Place
and Promotion. The discussion is about the “place” from the 4P’s of marketing that
elaborates the different place context for the product iPhone in the market.
The aspect ‘Product’ analyzes the importance of developing a product which is appropriate
in accordance to the current situation of the market.
The aspect ‘Place’ analyzes the appropriateness of channels for selling the product.
Dependence of various stores, either online or offline, affects the sale of the product.
Though the internet platform is way simpler and renders trouble free services.
The aspect ‘Price’ is the most crucial factor which acts as a core determinant of a product for
attaining good position in the market, i.e. achieving adequate sales. It can even critically
deviate the cycle of sales.
The aspect ‘Promotion’ is the process of reaching out to new customers and capturing the
market. The effectiveness of promotion lies in the basic concept which is to attain greater
reach than a competitive product in the market.
Critical analysis of the aspect ‘Place’ among the 4Ps of Marketing Mix:
The aspect of place can be analyzed in two different ways, one being the channels for
distribution and other being the standing in the market.
Channels of distribution:
As opined by SAM (2017), Apple has a very strong knowledge of constructing a strategy for
distribution. It has several areas for increasing their sales and for attaining a greater reach of
potential premium customers. The places for promotion are:
I-stores: It is an Apple-owned store run by highly skilled salespersons’ essential providing
pieces of advice to various consumers for further promotion as well as for enhancing the
experience of buying an iPhone. Promotion of iPhone XS Max was done effectively through
this process and thus it got a good head start in capturing the market. I-stores receive
products directly from the company itself
Independent stores: High-class stores, especially in different malls sell iPhones with other
brands. These are premium stores that purchase the product from the distributors rather than
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Critical Analysis of the ‘Place’ aspect among the 4Ps of Marketing Mix
the company. These premium stores had the product stocked thus, for this reason, iPhone XS
Max, was always in the eyes of the buyers.
Online: The products of Apple are available online on many retailing sites. iPhone XS Max,
because of its largeness and the very innovative approach of launch, captured the sales and
thus, achieved a nominal reach out required for a successful launch.
Subordinate markets: The second-hand market also captured the sale. Though iPhone XS
Max is a brand-new phone, the durability and status symbol, made it alive in the second-
hand market, and as the price of the product went down due to the concept of a second-hand
item, the customers for buying the product increased alarmingly. eBay has been one of the
main sites for dealing with this second-hand market.
After sale services rendered: iPhone has been famous for rendering efficient and effective
after sale services. The same happened in the case of the iPhone XS Max. The after sale
services offered by the company to the consumers attracted more people on the grounds of
customer satisfaction.
Standing of the product in the market:
On September 2018, iPhone launched its most awaited phone of the year 2018, named
iPhone XS Max. Though the product achieved a sober head start, it is quite evident that the
company has been through several rough patches regarding the sale of the product.
Increased duties across various nations, forced the rising of the price (Men, 2017). The
phone did not undergo any discounting strategy as the company thought it might lead to
dilution of the brand and deviation of the focus of premium customers. Thus, the stern
overpricing of the product made it undergo a reduction of 48% of market shares which
resulted in the downfall of sales in accordance with this product. Though the price of the
product was very high as compared to its other trailing versions, it was accepted worldwide
by some of the premium loyal customers. The new iPhones are still in stock and are left to
be sold thereby, dissatisfying the consumers as well as the retailers and distributors. Thus,
iPhone XS Max has been the largest phone of the company but has achieved minimal sales
in comparison to its trailing versions. A change in the pricing strategy of the product may
help to increase the sales of the product (Evans, 2016). Observing its positive aspects,
iPhone XS Max has the longest battery life in the history of iPhones, which helped the
product to keep a firm ground even though its sale is undergoing rough patches. But
observing it from an optimistic point of view, the skimming strategy of the company will
help it to overcome the prevailing problem. The introduction of a new product in the market
will inevitably trigger the reduction of price of iPhone XS Max.
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Critical Analysis of the ‘Place’ aspect among the 4Ps of Marketing Mix
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Critical Analysis of the ‘Place’ aspect among the 4Ps of Marketing Mix
Fig 1: Sales Graph for iPhones
(Source: Brown, 2019)
This graph is the outcome of an annual analysis of the variation of sales of different iPhone
models. It clearly depicts the success of the skimming strategy of the company, i.e. the sale
of a trailing version increases with the introduction of a new product of the company in the
market.
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Critical Analysis of the ‘Place’ aspect among the 4Ps of Marketing Mix
Conclusion
The company mainly competes with Google’s Pixel. Thus, the downfall of sales of
iPhone XS Max affected the competition. On the other hand, MIUI OS and Oxygen OS used
by Xiaomi and OnePlus respectively have been two additional competitors in the market. As
the market of smart phones is forever expanding, thus, for keeping the pace of the
competition, the company has to implement new strategies for reconstructing the downfall
of the product named, iPhone XS Max. Therefore, based on the present condition, the
organisation needs to strategise on their marketing objectives to gain a wider market for
business prospects.
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Critical Analysis of the ‘Place’ aspect among the 4Ps of Marketing Mix
References
Brown, C.S., (2019). Android Authority. Retrieved 31 May 2019, from
https://www.androidauthority.com/apple-iphone-sales-2018-946269/
Cheng, T. (2017, December). Research on Marketing Strategy of Electronic Components.
In 4th International Conference on Education, Management, Arts, Economics and
Social Science (ICEMAESS 2017). Atlantis Press.
Evans, W. D. (2016). Introduction to Social Marketing Research. Social Marketing
Research for Global Public Health: Methods and Technologies, 1.
Men, H. (2017). Analysis on Marketing Combination Strategy of Small and Medium-sized
Retail Enterprises under the Background of New Retail. In Modern Management
Forum(Vol. 1, No. 1).
SAM, A. F. (2017). The Effects of Marketing Mix (4P) on Companies’ Profitability: A Case
Study of Automotive Industry in France. Journal of Research in Marketing, 8(1),
636-640.
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Critical Analysis of the ‘Place’ aspect among the 4Ps of Marketing Mix
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