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Phil Schiller on History of the iPhone, Advertising, and Market Research

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Phil Schiller is currently on the witness stand in the trial of Apple versus Samsung, and Apple's marketing chief is offering a bit of insight into the history of the iPhone, making the argument that Apple revolutionized the smartphone industry with its contributions. AllThingsD has a summary of Schiller's comments, which reveal Apple's wide-ranging thoughts on what project to pursue following the success of the iPod.
People suggested all kinds of things Apple could do, Schiller recalled: "Make a camera, make a car, crazy stuff."

Schiller said the company had been working on the tablet computer that would later become the iPad, but decided to shift its attention to the phone.

"At the time, cellphones weren't any good as entertainment devices," Schiller said.
Click to expand...
As part of his testimony, Schiller was led through a number of public reviews and comments about the iPhone and iPad, demonstrating how the devices were considered revolutionary but that many observers believed Apple would fail in its efforts.

Schiller also revealed a bit of information on iPhone marketing, noting how the company's U.S. iPhone advertising budget expanded from $97.5 million in fiscal 2008 to $173.3 million in fiscal 2010. As Apple has previously revealed in public filings, the company's overall advertising budget in fiscal 2010 came in at $691 million and grew substantially to $933 million in 2011. Still, Apple's booming sales have typically meant that the company's marketing expenditures have been shrinking as a percentage of revenues.

CNET also highlights Schiller's comments on how Apple uses targeted market research surveys, which have shown how important design is to Apple's customers.
Of note, Schiller also went into how the company performs market research, a controversial topic given the fact that late Apple co-founder Steve Jobs once pooh-poohed such studies, saying the company would design products people didn't even know they wanted yet. Apple brought up market research in this case to point out how important design is to consumers, 85 percent of whom, according to Apple's own 2011 study, said design and appearance were important.

Schiller did his best to finesse how these surveys came to be, saying they did not go out to random people but to customers who had already purchased one of the company's devices. Schiller also said that Apple purchases third-party reports of market trends and other data.
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As CNET noted earlier today, Schiller will be followed on the witness stand by Scott Forstall, Apple's head of iOS software. Other Apple-called witnesses will include Samsung executive Justin Denison, Samsung engineer Wookyun Kho, Apple's early icon and interface designer Susan Kare, and a pair of independent expert witnesses.

Update: Samsung's lawyers asked Schiller whether the design of the iPhone would be changing with the next version of the device, but he declined to comment on future products and Samsung apparently declined to press the issue further.

Article Link: Phil Schiller on History of the iPhone, Advertising, and Market Research
 
Article Link
https://www.macrumors.com/2012/08/03/phil-schiller-on-history-of-the-iphone-advertising-and-market-research/
The interesting aspect is that the history books of electronics will be written in court records' language. At least, it will be an interesting read for a lot of us.
 
Study

So, long after much of their marketing targets rich women, moms, and the daughters of rich moms, their 2011 study confirms that 85 percent of rich women think "design and aesthetics" is important.

Hope they didn't pay too much for this research!
...
Ok, this is the part when you trash my statement:

Ready, and go!
 
HMI said:
So, long after much of their marketing targets rich women, moms, and the daughters of rich moms, their 2011 study confirms that 85 percent of rich women think "design and aesthetics" is important.

Hope they didn't pay too much for this research!
...
Ok, this is the part when you trash my statement:

Ready, and go!
Click to expand...

Yaaaay i must be rich, nooooo i must be a woman, wait a minute that means i have tits! :eek:
 
Schiller should be the head spokes person of Apple. I like his personality allot. Cook I think is more comfortable behind the scenes anyway.
 
HMI said:
So, long after much of their marketing targets rich women, moms, and the daughters of rich moms, their 2011 study confirms that 85 percent of rich women think "design and aesthetics" is important.

Hope they didn't pay too much for this research!
...
Ok, this is the part when you trash my statement:

Ready, and go!
Click to expand...

OK, if you're saying that the only people surveyed were " rich women, moms, and the daughters of rich moms", consider your post trashed!!:rolleyes:

:D
 
Schiller did good with Apple's lawyers. But it appears (in my opinion) that Samsung is doing a good job with their cross - getting Schiller's to bury himself. The survey, the home button, etc.

I wonder if this trial will be made into a TV movie or something...
 
I remember my initial reaction to the iPhone -- why would I buy something without a keyboard? No way! Shows they took the risk and everyone else is profiting from it now. (errr, except RIM.)
 
Kilamite said:
If only Steve were here to be in the witness stand.
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When Bill Gates was called to testify in U.S. v. Microsoft, the results were not pretty. He was snotty and evasive and did not do his cause any good whatsoever. Obviously Bill is not Steve, but something to put in the "be careful what you wish for" column.

FWIW.
 
An example where Phil is helping Samsung's case...


What was theme for the iPhone design? Schiller said, “We were trying to create a new breakthrough design for phone that was simple and beautiful and easy to use. We had a term in Apple called the “lust factor.” Is it so gorgeous that people had lusted after it?”

Now Samsung is asking about the four-button design on a Samsung phones. Schiller says he doesn’t think they’re as beautiful as the iPhone. “I think we have a lustful, gorgeous design in total.”
 
Kilamite said:
If only Steve were here to be in the witness stand.
Click to expand...
Apple's lawyers would have wanted him as far away from the trial as possible.
They wouldn't know which "Steve" would be sitting in the chair.
The smooth talking salesman or the angry and emotional Steve.
 
samcraig said:
An example where Phil is helping Samsung's case...


What was theme for the iPhone design? Schiller said, “We were trying to create a new breakthrough design for phone that was simple and beautiful and easy to use. We had a term in Apple called the “lust factor.” Is it so gorgeous that people had lusted after it?”

Now Samsung is asking about the four-button design on a Samsung phones. Schiller says he doesn’t think they’re as beautiful as the iPhone. “I think we have a lustful, gorgeous design in total.”
Click to expand...

I really don't think so. All he's saying is their's doesn't look at good. Doesn't mean that they aren't copying. it's like the chinese version of the of almost anything from america. You can tell it's a blatant rip off, but still doesn't look as good.
 
Forstall says he has 1,000 people reporting directly to him. Really? I find that hard to believe.
 
drewyboy said:
I really don't think so. All he's saying is their's doesn't look at good. Doesn't mean that they aren't copying. it's like the chinese version of the of almost anything from america. You can tell it's a blatant rip off, but still doesn't look as good.
Click to expand...

Yes. But earlier he spoke of customer confusion. I would imagine that Samsung's lawyer will bring this all up again. It's hard to claim customer confusion and that the items look alike AND also say that one product looks better than the other and that there are unique features to each one respectively.
 
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