Blog #9: Diffusion Theory

 

    

    Throughout time, all products and ideas go through the Diffusion of Innovations theory of the stages they are in their lifecycle of time. When it comes to iPhones, they have been at their peak for so long in the United States, that they have to fight to stay at the top or at Critical Mass. Sales of the product has stayed stagnant since 2015, still fighting to stay on top. Although Apple has released new phones and multiple versions of the same line of product, the 'wow' factor of the iPhone just isn't there anymore.  They will soon probably start going down the maturation slope and get to saturation pretty soon after that. After they get that far, it is highly unlikely they will be able to come back from there. In 2016, the news was released that Apple was purposely slowing down their phones after over a year of use so consumers would buy new phones more frequently.  This slowdown helped to keep the iPhone sales increasing throughout the year. This is why after 2016, the sales weren't increasing as they did years prior because Apple stopped slowing down their phones which made consumers be able to keep their phones for more years. As Apple is still the number one selling phone in America, there's some worry about competition with Teslas' new Pi phone that was released. People are still iffy on the new product as Apple has been a trusted company for many years, but Teslas' new phone is an introduction to the future as the iPhone was back in 2007. Due to that maturation stage of theory coming into full swing soon, Apple is already focusing their iPhones in different parts of the world including China.  In a matter of 2 years, iPhone sales in China have increased dramatically. In 2019 they were at the bottom of the list of top-selling smartphones and in September of 2021, they climbed to be the top-selling phones in the whole country. This shows that iPhones in China have climbed close to the peak, at Critical Mass point of their life. In a few years they will catch up to America and be in the maturation stage and be fighting to stay on top of them game in the phone industry.