iPhone 6S Brand Positioning and Equity Identification Report - HI5004

This report provides a comprehensive analysis of the iPhone 6S, focusing on its brand positioning and brand equity within the competitive smartphone market. The analysis begins with an overview of the product, highlighting its key features and specifications, followed by an assessment of its primary competitors, such as Samsung and Sony Android phones. The report then delves into environmental scanning, examining the political, economic, social, technological, legal, and environmental factors that influence the iPhone 6S's market performance. It includes a demand forecast, estimating potential sales in Asian markets, and segments the market into distinct customer groups based on brand loyalty, technological interest, and social acceptance. The report also identifies the target market and outlines the company's market positioning statement. The conclusion synthesizes the findings to offer insights into the brand's positioning and equity.

iPhone 6S
Brand
Positioning
and
Brand Equity

Identification of the Product
• The iPhone 6S is the chosen product for
this study, which is the ninth generation
smartphone designed by Apple Inc.
• The product is designed similar to the
iPhone 6 but incorporates certain upgraded
attributes such as strengthened chassis, 12
megapixel camera, updated system-on-
chip, LTE advanced, enhanced fingerprint
recognition sensor along with “Hey Siri”
abilities.
• The new facet of the iPhone 6S is the “3D
Touch” that capacitates pressure sensitive
touch inputs.

Competitive
Information • The most significant competitor of any iPhone is the
varied range of android phones available in the
global market. For the iPhone 6S products like
Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge, Sony Xperia Z5 Premium,
Samsung Galaxy Note 5, HTC One M9 and LG G4 are
its contenders.
• The competition is based on the display technology
featured in these smartphones such as the QHD
AMOLED and Force Touch display that are present in
Samsung and Sony, however not in the iPhone 6S.
• Regarding the CPU used in iPhone 6S, it still is
limited to two while Android flagship have upgraded
the core to at least 6 in count. The cameras are also
inferior compared to the Android phones and
hence, Apple needs to upgrade varied features to
gain an edge over the wide customer base of the
Android phones.

Environmental Scanning
Political factors: Firstly, free trade policies that are often
implemented in varied countries can aid the distribution
chain of Apple across the globe. The stable political
conditions of certain developed countries can help
Apple grow and develop accordingly, as reduced
political disturbances in an economy helps industries to
flourish. Apart from these opportunities, the trade
disputes between China and the USA can pose as a
threat to the potential growth of the company. The
growing tensions between the two countries can lead to
an increase in the tariffs imposed by China on the
electronic parts that are utilized by Apple in its product
assembly. By considering these attributes, Apple can
manage its productivity accordingly.
Economic factors: The stable economic conditions
of the developed countries can procure
opportunities for Apple to expand. It must also be
noted that the developing countries shall have
more opportunities for the company. For instance,
Apple can increase its sales in Asian markets, as
the growth rate of the economies of the Asian
countries are higher.

Environmental
Scanning
Social factors: The rising demands for digital
systems is one of the major sociocultural trends
of the world, which contributes to growing
demands for Apple products due to their
premium quality goods. However, the Anti-
Apple sentiments, questionable business
practices, like lawsuits against third party repair
service providers, and such other facets have
the potential to diminish the consumer
confidence and brand image of the company.
These facets can be controlled by enhanced CSR
practices of Apple and such other
improvements in the policies of the firm
Technological factors: The increasing cloud
computing demands of the customers can
function as an incentive for the growth of Apple.
Similarly, the growing demands in the smartphone
market provides more scope for the company to
improve its sales. Technological integrations
frames opportunities for the company to augment
its market presence.

Environmental Scanning
Environmental factors: In order to strengthen
the corporate image of the company, Apple
can adopt sustainable practices, due to the
growing concerns for ecological sustenance.
Apple can also adopt the energy efficiency
trend so as to procure more customers who
are environmentally aware. Therefore, Apple
needs to exploit the opportunities in these
ecological trends and adjust its technologies
and operations accordingly.
Legal factors: the governments of varied
economies are implementing strict privacy
regulations that might cause the company to
impose expensive regulatory compliance
requirements. Nevertheless, this same
hindrance can be employed as an initiative for
enhancing the security measures taken by the
company. The legal issues of the company such
as the lawsuits regarding third party repair
services can harm the brand image.

Demand Forecasted
The company estimates a
minimum of 12 million units to
be sold in the Asian markets at
the least within the first 3-
5months of the launch of the
products. Further the company
also forecasts an increase in
the sale of iPhone 6S due to
the post sales marketing
strategies.

Market Segmentation
The market for iPhone 6S can be divided into three segments:
• First segment: This segment constitutes of the customers with high
loyalty towards the brand, who are willing to purchase the products
of the company at the premium prices to get access to the features
and services the products have to offer.
• Second segment: This segment consists of the technically oriented
customers who are curious new technological innovations that the
company introduces.
• Third segment: This comprises of the people who used the Apple
products as status symbols and are social acceptance oriented.

Market Targeting
The target market for
Apple is the individuals
possessing high income,
thereby the niche market.

Market Positioning Statements
Apple aims to fulfil the aspirations of the people, so the high price is
justified with the help of user friendly operating system making the
lives of the people easier.

Conclusion
Therefore, it can be concluded that by following the aforementioned
detailed analysis of the market conditions for iPhone 6S, the company
can estimate the brand positioning and equity in relation to the
product.