Customer Satisfaction iPhone

node Satisfaction iPh adeptThe orchard apple tree iPhone brought a whole advanced level on embrasure and traits such as incorporating the iPod technology as well as multi- smudge technology which let users to control everything using entirely their fingers. The investigate on the level of customer merriment on buying an iPhone has been done crosswise the world as it was one of the first handphone that was release by Apple.client enjoyment is a vague and abstract concept and the actual verbalism of the state of satisfaction leave alone vary dep winduping on individuals needs and it excessively depends on the product or service. The level of satisfaction pile withal vary depending on separatewise options the customer may have and other products against which the customer can comp atomic number 18 the organizations products. It as well as come upones six qualities of attri alonees such as basic elements, fervidness movers, public presentation factors, indifferent attributes, questionable attributes and reverse attributes. (Kano, 1984)The physical object of this research is to analyze the level of satisfaction of having an iPhone based on sealed factors. This research impart look into factors such as worth and eccentric where each factors has its respective advantages or disadvantages to affect the customers level of satisfaction. This is be showcase every trenchant consumer has their own priority of need in the beginning even stay intrustting a new handphone.The research go out be focusing on the cleverness of the iPhone and what it has to offer to the customers that makes it different and better than its competitors. These capabilities refer back to the factors which were mentioned earlier in the paragraph earlier. Technology for hand phones has been developing endlessly with new features offered as time past. Apples new range of products, especially the iPhone shows such vast remedyment.The research first looks at the backgroun d of the company which is Apple and what they have offered to their customers before launching the iPhone. Next, the research will provide detailed explanation and cultivation on each factor that will affect the customers satisfaction. The research will use meet secondary data such as online journals and articles, blogs and newspapers so that the latest information can be obtained for the research. In the conclusion, the research will show which factor would be of nearly(prenominal) importance before considering on evolveting an iPhone.PricePrice would be the basic factor where it doesnt unaccompanied affect potential customers but to a fault customers who already leveraged the product. This basic factor does non cause customer satisfaction if it is fulfilled but it does cause dissatisfaction it is not fulfilled (Kano 1984). This explains the curve for basic factor in figure 2.0 where the curve is below the graph and not preceding(prenominal). Apple has started selling the 8GB iPhone at US $599 at its released before implementing a promotional price of US $399 for the festive season.The original pricing was a market-skimming pricing strategy where the iPhone was company a high price as it is a whole new product in the hand phone industry to cover reading cost (Philip Kotler et. al. 2005, p. 302). The expensive price tag on the iPhone can also to relate to the product look cycle of the particular product. Product biography cycle shows the whole process of the products life, from the beginning of it till the possible end of it where it consists of four stages which is introduction, growth, maturity and decline. It maybe a matter of a few hours like the newspaper, months for fashion and style, years (VCD, DVD) or decades (Volkswagen Beetle) (Heizer Render 2007, p. 157).The price simplification for the festive season is a promotional pricing strategy to get more customers to buy the iPhone (Philip Kotler et. al. 2005, p. 308). The cut of US $200 h as stirred up early buyers and caused dissatisfaction. But as mentioned by Job (2007), the price reducing was supposed to benefit both Apple and every iPhone user to get as many a(prenominal) new customers as possible in the iPhone tent. Having give tongue to that, Apple issued the $100 credit to the early buyers for them to use on their succeeding(a) purchase at Apple stores.Besides that, buying the iPhone is not fairish bout get the hand phone because iPhone only allows ATT line, at that placefore the customer would need to pay a minimum of US $1939.75 which includes ($599.99 x 24months. and 499.99 4GB iPhone) (ATT iPhone count Plans, Prices, Costs, and What You Get 2007). Having said that, the iPhone is only tied with ATT, it still attracted many customers. The downside of getting the iPhone is that the user has to comply with the ATT contract that he or she has signed up with. If the user wants to conduct on, he or she has to pay a $clxxv termination fee though the phone s cost isnt subsidized under the immense term agreement. This termination fee which is quoted at a high price dissatisfy customers it is a big investment where most customers would go for the 8GB poseur rather than the 4GB sample which will land up causing them to go on more the USD $ 2000.QualityFrom this factor, the research will look more in depth in smell where total quality management systems are driven by identifying and satisfying customer needs. The key dimensions of qualities include durability, port wine and functionality. It is believed that the trade-off between the cost of improving quality and the cost of victimizesighted quality, the cost of poor quality is understated (Heizer Render 2007, p. 194). Providing good quality product does not only glorify the companys name but also create loyal customers that will keep buying the products and become mug loyal to it.DurabilityThe first factor in quality that will look at is the durability of the iPhone. It would b e a shame to discharge a $500 to $600 iPhone to a minor mishap therefore many customers such as bloggers and even product reviewer always put new technology gadgets for a stress test. PC World conducted one of the many stress tests for the iPhone around the world. Firstly, the iPhone was as stuffed in a charge plate bag full of keys and small pebbles. Then the iPhone concealing was rubbed against the keys and pebble with a fair amount of force as if like the user was leaning against the look for with his iPhone and keys in the jeans pocket. The result was outstanding as the covert of the iPhone was as ancient as when it went it but there are scratches on the back of it. To have got the test to another level, a key was taken and scratched across the churl screen of the iPhone, but it still fail to scratch it. Next, the iPhone went trough a drop test where it started of on a carpeted floor to a concrete sidewalk and from the height of the waist line to the head level. The ver y(prenominal) hand phone was dropped repeatedly but it still worked normally and the crackpot viewing survived without a scratch after the drop test. Overall, the iPhone still looks impressively good but however the only obvious damage would be a few gouges along its metal edge from the drops onto the concrete.InterfaceThe excitement factors are where it increases customers satisfaction if fulfilled but it doesnt cause dissatisfaction if it is not achieved. These factors of affect are to generate delight among the consumers and it is used by the company to distinguish itself from the competitors in a positive way (Kano, 1984). This is why the excitement factor curve is above the graph of the Kano Model in Figure 2.0. The iPhone /afeatures the most revolutionary user interface since the mouse which came from the iPod. The multi-touch screen technology is an altogether new interface based on a large multi-touch dis capriole and innovative new software that lets the user control e verything using only the fingers. Therefore the user can glide by means of albums with Cover extend option, flip through photos and email them with a touch, or zoom in and out on a section of a web foliate only by using rook in or pinch out motion all by simply using iPhones multi-touch display. Jeff Hans multi touch system uses a technique called Frustrated Total Internal expression (FTIR). It involves the use of a transparent screen with the images rear-projected onto it. For touch-sensing, a camera is position behind the screen to detect the user fundamental interaction.On the human-computer interaction, it is a theme concerned with the design, evaluation and implementation of interactive computing systems for human use and with the study of major phenomena surrounding them. The basic goal of human-computer interaction is to improve interaction between users and computers by making computers more user-friendly to the users needs. The iPhone has brought human-computer inte raction to a whole new level with the multi-touch screen interface. Though it has its flaws, but if the iPhone is to be compared to hand-phones such as the Nokia N95, the iPhone is not only more snazzy but its easier to use (refer to Figure 1.0).Ergonomics or in the linguistic communication which is human factors is the application of scientific information concerning humans to the design of objects, systems and milieu for human use. Usually when the word ergonomics is brought up, it focuses more on property environment where the right office furniture and the right computers system can maximizes work efficiency because there will be comfort when the employees to carry out their task in the office. But looking at the iPhones multi-touch screen interface, it does have its own distinct pros and cons. Though browsing through pictures and euphony can be such a breeze, but typing a SMS or any activity that requires typing on the iPhone would be a little more difficult because there is no physical keyboard on the iPhone as the iPhone is completely a touch screen handphone except for the indicator button and the home button. Adding to that, the iPhone does not include a touch screen pen and the on-the-screen keyboard is rather cramp, making hard for users with big thumbs.FunctionalityTechnical judicial admissionTechnical specification of a handphone is the most basic and the most great part to look at before buying a handphone. This is where the performance factor comes in where every attribute of the product is being analyzed. Basically, satisfaction can be gain when the performance of the product is good or high and it causes dissatisfaction if the performance is low or bad. Therefore, the line for performance factors is analogue line that cuts across the graph as shown in Figure 2.0.Firstly, the cheapjack memory capacity which comes in 4GB or 8GB which is a sight for a handphone but there will be no memory involution for the iPhone. With no memory expan sion and with a maximum capacity of 8GB, it defies the iPod feature in the iPhone because the maximum capacity of 8GB comes in second compared to the 16GB iPod Touch which looks barely like the iPhone. The iPhone also includes a 2 mega pixel camera but it is without flash which is quite disappointing for a hand-phone which costs a lot and has a nice 3.5 inch diagonal display. Besides that, the battery life for the iPhone is quite lasting compared to the competitors as how it is displayed in Figure 1.0 under the talk-time column. The audio recording option in the iPhone is actually a build in iPod where with just a touch on the menu, users can listen to their music on the go. Adding to that, the audio support supports common files such as MP3, AAC and WAV, therefore there is no need to convert files before transferring it into the iPhone. The video support for iPhone has not opened up just like all iPods where it only allows circumscribed video formats H.264, mp4 and M-PEG 4 video . This makes the iPhone quite an unreliable video player compared to other hand phones and mp4 players such as CREATIVE ZEN mp4 which can play common video format such as (.avi).On the contrary, Apple has another feature can cover this flaw which is easy accession to YouTube on the iPhone which allows users to watch YouTube videos on the go, as long there is wireless local area network (Wireless Fidelity) connection present. This brings us to the WiFi feature which allows users to surf not only for YouTube, but also to surf the earnings with the embedded Safari internet browser. Safari is a web browser just like cyberspace Explorer or Mozilla Firefox where it allow users to surf the web on the iPhone just like how they surf the internet on their computer. Users can also purchase songs instantly on the go or songs that they listen at Starbucks through the iTunes Music Store. This requires WiFi and an iTunes account in order to proceed. A short sample of each song can be heard on i Tunes before choosing to purchase it for only USD $ 0.99 per song.ConclusionHaving stated all the factors above such as price, durability, interface, human-computer interaction, ergonomics and technical specification, all this contributes to customer satisfaction where it was divided into 3 which are basic factors, excitement factors and performance factors. for each one of these factors has it pros and cons where it depends in the consumers preference on which would be of great importance.To summarize it, the iPhone does comes with a very nice appearance and nice touch screen interface but the expensive price tag that comes along with it makes customers take a step back to reevaluate whether is it really worth to invest in an iPhoneWith the Customer Satisfaction Model by N. Kano, consumer can use this model to place all the iPhones attributes according to their perception on to the model and key out how the iPhone fairs out in the outcome.Ultimately, the basic factor which is pri ce would be the most important factor because of the ATT line subscription which will last for two years and will cost a lot even for a running(a) customer.ReferenceHeizer, Render 2007, Operations Management, Pearson International EditionKotler, Amstrong, SH Ang, SM Leong, CT Tan, K.Tse, Principles of Marketing, Pearson Prentice HallMulti-touch screen interfaceRetrieved 14 November, 2007, fromhttp//multi-touchscreen.com/iphone.htmliPhone Competitive entropy Image 2007Retrieved 15 November, 2007, fromhttp//www.apple.com/iphone/pr/20070618iphone.htmlCustomer Satisfaction Model Image 1984Retrieved 15 November, 2007, fromhttp//www.12manage.com/methods_kano_customer_satisfaction_model.html