I dropped by Mississauga’s well-known Square One Shopping Mall early on July 30th, the Canadian launch of Apple’s iPhone 4, and was surprisingly greeted by a lengthy line up of eager-eyed and probably sleep-deprived prospective purchasers.
For those of you who know the location, the line extended from the store itself (pictured above) down a hallway, round the escalators trickling off at the end of CitySide (pictured below).
I have to admit I didn’t expect to see as many people as I had since the line up for iPad at the same location was perhaps an eighth of what I saw on Friday!
With mounds of controversy surrounding purported antenna issues on Apple’s new device, now dubbed ‘Antennagate’, I wondered if fear would consume the buying public. I’m so glad to say that they were far from afraid, in fact, news reports quoted many patrons as citing the antenna issue as blown out of proportion.
Important to consider in this Apple scenario is what is motivating the buyer to pursue the purchase despite the bombardment of negative media? Simply put, a well-designed, well-executed product from a historically trustworthy source.
What the line ups and the frenzy and the sales success prove is that today’s buying public are much smarter than perhaps we give them credit for. Willing to do the research, parse through media bias and stand for hours upon hours. Apple has done the utterly commendable in creating a loyal customer base that continues to develop and break conventional psychographic and demographic descriptors. The average purchaser of an Apple product can no longer be boxed into the ‘young, tech-savvy, Apple-aware’ group, as the above pictures clearly show.
Apple is spreading its wings, breaking boundaries and doing so with a strong, consistent strategy that has slowly but amazingly penetrated the market.
And in case you’re wondering if I’ve made the purchase plunge, I’ve decided to hold out a while longer to see if the white version ever comes to fruition, at which point, I hope someone at Apple might find it in their heart to personally send me one!
