Towards a more discerning buyer

Electronics industry thrives on regular product replacement cycles to keep accountants and shareholders happy. To achieve this, they build economies of scale backed by marketing buzz and hype. The target audience is fragmented, with short attention spans, making it difficult to sustain a lasting impact. Viral marketing creates a felt demand for a product by altering cognitive states. One attributed to Steve Jobs was called as “reality distortion field”.

Rapid strides in psychometric tests and understanding of neuro physiological phenomenon with complex mathematical metrics have helped to measure advertising impact on a user. Apart from conventional media, interwebs with dedicated “tech reviewers” have spawned SEO spam. Analysts with dubious and questionable merit “quantify” millions of shipped products (but not actual sold numbers); to create a positive spin; unfortunately their underlying financial disclosures are often not stated.

Apple occupies top of mind recall and remains aspirational for a cross section of populace with access to resources. It scripted a “rags to riches” story and “path breaking” product hype was created either by selective leaks or engineered shortages. However unknown to many, it has been under cloud for shifting manufacturing jobs and tax evasion, labour issues at Foxconn and ripping away various innovations to pass them as it’s own. Jobs marketed himself as a detail obsessed maniac which rubbed off on the sales as buyers justified forking out

... contd.