iPhone 5 Lightning Connector…Genius or ultimate failure

 

Everyone heard about the rumors leading up to the release of the iPhone 5, but no one new about the new charger that was required for the device. When Apple released the iPhone 5, one of its new features was the Lightning Connector. Not only is the new charger smaller, which leaves a smaller gap in the bottom of the phone, it is two sided, so it does not matter which way you plug it in to the phone.

Although these changes all seem positive, many people have been upset about the new change, because every Apple product (iPhone, iPod, iPad) use the same universal charger so Apple chargers were easily available wherever you went. And because of the new Lightning Connector required for the phone, stores have been selling out of the charger because not enough were produced. This has been causing people who have either lost or damaged their charger to not be able to purchase a new one right away, and not have access to a Lightning Connector because no other Apple products use that charger.

In class we have learned about generating new products and the importance of new products and the opportunities that lie within it. The most important aspect that goes into a new product opportunity is to understand the customer, and at times, new products are generated because of the users. It seems that Apple did not understand their customers when creating the new connector because many people are unhappy about this. Not only will all iPod music players need an adapter in order to use the iPhone 5, all other connections that are created for iPods will need the adapter.

Is Apple a genius for creating the Lightning Connector? They now will either make more money off of adapters for the iPhone 5, or buyers of the iPhone will not upgrade immediately because they will not want to purchase an adapter for all of their other connectors. From a business prospective, generating this new product will make Apple a lot of money, but one of Apple’s top priorities is making their customers happy. As of now, the customers are not happy about the Lightning Connector.

http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/iphone-5s-lightning-connector-is-a-bigger-problem-than-apple-thinks.php

 

7 thoughts on “iPhone 5 Lightning Connector…Genius or ultimate failure

  1. From my perspective, this is neither a genius move nor will be an ultimate failure for Apple. I think the transition from an analog connector to a digital one was ultimately a needed move, but it clearly wasn’t implemented well. This will annoy people now, but once a few more devices come out with this connector in the coming years, all will be forgotten and forgiven. Maybe they could have made a bigger deal about the change before the phone was released so people wouldn’t have been caught so off guard about this, and maybe included an adapter free with every phone. It’s not like Apple doesn’t have enough cash already. Regardless of what, Apple should have done something to soften the blow of this transition. It needed to happen eventually, but it was not well executed.

  2. From a business perspective, Apple is demonstrating their dominance in the technology industries. Apple has created such highly demanded products, that changes such as a new charger will not make significant change in their sales. Apple knows that they have strong fan base who are willing to adjust to the new charger. Apple is revitalizing their looks by adding the new charger and standardizing at the same time with rest of the products. However, these techniques that Apple is applying to their products may result in few furious consumers, but at the end of it all convenience versus cost is at debate with every consumer. As a rational buyer, you would incorporate the cost of the charger as a living expense rather than trade in all your apple products.

  3. From a business perspective its great for apple… because it causes the consumer, us, to purchase the adapter. The adapter comes with the Phone though doesn’t it? If people want more than 1 adapter then they shouldn’t have a problem in a couple of months when more people purchase the phone. From a consumer standpoint it is frustrating now do to the fact everyone i know still has the old adapter and I myself have probably 4 or 5 around the house. Having to get a new one is annoying. But like the first response says up there, in a couple of months once more people purchase the phone then it shouldn’t be an issue. I am waiting to buy the phone due to the problems that have been found within the phone and waiting for IOS 6.1 to come out and take care of the map issue.

  4. I think the new adapter was a great move for appl. They had the same product out for years which lead to a lot of cheap knock off products that could be used. Although a lot of people will be mad because of this change it will not be long until everyone transitions to the new apple products and the cord becomes available at a more reasonable price.

  5. Lightning connector says that Apple doesn’t care about you. Apple just want more money, they care about having their product unique. Apple created Lightning connector, so that they could collect more money by introducing iPhone 5s next year. The Lightning dock is for future technology, such as connecting HDMI and VGA cables. I think that’s why they moved from 30-pin connector.

  6. I can understand why people are mad about the new Iphone having a different charger. What people don’t realize is that Apple had to come out with it. The reason why Apple introduced the new charging port is because the Iphone 5 didn’t have enough space for a regular 32 pin connector. Just like how the world got used to the 32 pin connector eventually they will get used to the lighting connector. It will become the new standard Apple charging cord.

  7. I think a new advancement for a charger was needed but apple did not take the best approach at packaging it for the customer. I’m sure within the new few year people will start to understand the benefits of the charger but currently at the moment it just poses as an obstacle when every other iphone, ipad and ipod were built with compatible chargers. If the adapter for the new charger was affordable it might not be as big of an obstacle. It turns the already expensive phone into a very expensive investment.I’m curious to know how they formulated their cost benefit analysis of such a product change.

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