Apple's Mistake

Appiah's idea of "a saving truth" was obviously overlooked in the case of the Apple iphone and the $200 price cut that was given to the product, merely two months after it was released for sale. As PR professionals their are certain strongly held beliefs that should not be compromised, such as truth, justice and humanness, to name a few. None of these beliefs were strongly held in the case of the iphone and the dramatic price cut.

First of all the iphone was given so much hype and was only going to be distributed through AT&T. So many loyal Apple consumers switched their cell phone service over to AT&T just so they could be the proud owners of this high tech item. So where exactly was the justice, or righteousness, in lowering the price only after two months? This was not fair to the loyal customers who switched their phones plans just to purchase the Apple iphone. This injustice was what caused the uproar and the chaos just continued to unfold from there.

The second largest mistake Apple made was that their so called "apology" give by CEO Steve Jobs, was one of the most dry, sarcastic and unrealistic apologies ever. In my personal opinion the people who spent the full price on the iphone had every right to be upset and to have felt betrayed by Apple. There was so sympathy or humaneness in the apology that Steve Jobs gave, it seemed more like a stop your whining speech and if that isn't good enough then here take this $100 toward some more Apple merchandise. So where was the humaneness in this? When I read the "apology" from Steve Jobs on the Apple website, I didn't feel any better about people purchasing this phone and then being screwed over.

The third mistake that was made was that the Apple company was not truthful in their price cut. I don't recall reading anything in the paper about Apple making a general announcement that there was going to be a price cut. I mean yes it is a reality that eventually prices will drop, but it is not usual that these prices are dropped within the first two months of distribution. I also find it hard to believe that this was not Apple's plan from the very beginning. This was how Apple was not truthful to their customers, who had a right to know that this was going to happen.

In the long run, it seems very apparent that Apple only cared about themselves in this matter and because of it many of their loyal customers may not continue to be loyal. It is a shame when successful companies like Apple, forget what their vales should be and let go of the "saving truth" that launched them to success in the first place.