Apple's Counter-Launch Strategy: How iPhone beat BlackBerry
Stay with me. I know you've seen hundreds of analyses with similar titles. But this is different, I promise!
I meant to write this like a decade ago, did my research, then forgot about it (surprise surprise).
I love/hate a good marketing strategy. So let's get it.
When the iPhone launched it had all the momentum. Apple used that momentum to execute what I guess I'm calling a counter-launch strategy.
Example 1: WiFi
July 2007—BlackBerry announces the upcoming BB820, RIM's first WiFi enabled smart phone.
Apple waits a month, just a week before BlackBerry's event, and announces "the beat goes on," a special event set for September 5th, the day after RIM's BB WiFi official launch.
Apple launches the new iTunes WiFi music store, "offering music fans the ability to browse, search, preview, purchase and download songs and albums from the iTunes Music Store over a Wi-Fi network"
Media coverage predictably favored Apple's event. It didn't help that the BB820 had WiFi issues at launch.
The BlackBerry 8820 is RIM’s first foray into integrated Wi-Fi, and sometimes it even works. The 8820 is nearly identical in every way to the well-received 8800: same form factor, same 4.8-ounce weight, same OS, same trackball navigation system. The only difference is the iPhone-like addition of a Wi-Fi radio, which offers a vast improvement \[…\]
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